Boat International – June 2017

http://www.boatinternational.com | June 2017 http://www.boatinternational.com | June 2017

01

11:05 12:15 13:22 14:40

Sunleigh takes the first

start of the seventh

annual Loro Piana

Caribbean Superyacht

Regatta. With the wind

blowing 11 to 15 knots,

the Race Committee

sets a short, 2nm beat

for the fleet before they

embark on a twisting

and turning jaunt

of the Sir Francis

Drake Channel.

The battle for Class B honours is fully engaged

between P2 and Ganesha as the pair weave

through the Dog Islands. P2 is smaller than

Ganesha by 8m and therefore starts between

three and four minutes ahead in the pursuit-

style racing. P2 leads for the first half of the

race but Ganesha overtakes her on the leg

from Fallen Jerusalem Point, at the bottom of

the racecourse, to the Dog Islands, which must

be left to starboard. On the short leg from the

Dogs to the Seal Islands, P2 finds a change in

wind allows her to retake the lead.

“Honestly, I think we were lucky today,” says P2 captain

and helmsman Wes Cooper. “We found a little wind shift

in there and were able to get ahead of Ganesha.”

Don Macpherson’s Freya is the

first boat to finish the race,

sailing the nearly 30nm course in

three hours and 12 minutes. It’s a

familiar place for Macpherson’s

crew. They won their class at the

Loro Piana Caribbean Regatta

& Rendezvous last year and are

looking for a repeat. Tactician

Kimo Worthington notes: “We’re

a polished crew and have a nice

team in the back of the boat.”

The new 37m sloop Action from Royal

Huisman sails past Scrub Island. Action

is a beautifully classic design with long

overhangs and interiors by Rhoades

Young. The crew roster includes British

sailing royalty – Shirley Robertson on the

helm and Ian Walker calling tactics. Both

are Olympic medallists: Robertson won

two Golds (2000, 2004) and Walker is a

two-time Silver medal winner (1996, 2000).

Walker also is the reigning champion of the

Volvo Ocean Race, having led Abu Dhabi

Ocean Racing to the title in 2014/15.

LORO PIANA

REGATTA

BRITISH VIRGIN

ISLANDS

11 MARCH 2017

DAY

CLASS A

CLASS B

CLASS C

CLASS D

DAY ONE

YACHT POSITION

Nilaya

Shamanna

Leopard 3

1

2

3

P2

Ganesha

Ningaloo

Rebecca

1

2

3

4

Perseus^3

Action

Sunleigh

Q

1

2

3

DSQ

Freya

B5

Grande Orazio

Ammonite

Danneskjold

Wild Horses

1 2 3 4 5 6

Clockwise from above: Ganesha exits

Virgin Gorda; the 51.8m sailing yacht Q gets

caught at the back of the fleet; Leopard 3

takes third place in the Class A Pursuit; the

32.4m Jongert-built Sunleigh is first over

the start line on day one; Shamanna cames

in just six minutes behind the day’s winner,

Nilaya, in the Class A Pursuit; Action unfurls

her spinnaker to bag second place.

Previous spread: Q digs deep

“It comes down to good

management and, of course, a great

owner. Without him you can’t put

a good team together and he puts

a lot of emphasis on teamwork. It’s

a combination of a couple of pros,

a lot of friends and a lot of history;

we’ve been sailing together for

nearly seven years now and it just

went well, the whole week.”

Bouwe Bekking, tactician, Nilaya

PHOTOGRAPHS: BOAT INTERNATIONAL MEDIA/YCCS/CARLO BORLENGHI

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