Royal Cork's Nin O'Leary together with Cian Guilfoyle of Dublin Bay and other Irish crew are lying third on Aragon in the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta this week.
The Costa Smeralda put on its best show to deliver a second unforgettable race day for the fleet. A fresh wind from east-southeast of around 15 knots, sunshine and clear skies made for ideal sailing conditions, and perfectly highlighted the incredible scenery that this part of Sardinia is famous for.
As Afloat reported previously, the Irish crew are racing the latest 29-metre Aragon at the prestigious Italian regatta.
Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Cian Guilfoyle came fresh from the RC 44 Cup as Afloat reported here, to join the Aragon team for the first time. His knowledge of handling 400+ square metre spinnakers will see Guilfoyle assisting a bow army of six crew.
Yesterday, there was a spectacular and challenging course of around 30 miles was set by the Race Committee, which included an upwind leg to the islands of Mortorio and Soffi, before returning past Porto Cervo, through the Bisce pass to the Secca Tre Monti in the Golfo delle Saline, and from there leaving the Monaci islet to starboard and heading back to the finish line off Porto Cervo.
The Southern Wind fleet set off at 11.30 a.m. for their daily sail in the SW Rendezvous and Trophy, which in part followed the race route: once through the Bisce pass, the yachts from the South African yard headed for the bay of Liscia di Vacca and returned to port towards evening.
The Multihull division started on schedule at 12.30 p.m., with the Gunboat 68 Highland Fling pulling ahead from the off and gradually stretching her lead to claim first place in both real and corrected time
The Superyacht division's staggered start saw individual departures spaced 3 minutes apart, with the fastest boat being the last off the line.
Victory in corrected time once again went to Missy, the 33-metre yacht designed by Malcom McKeon and built by Vitters, which with two wins now sits firmly at the top of the provisional rankings. Claiming second place of the day, the Swan 115 Shammana also sits in second in the general classification followed by the SW94 Aragon in third. Y3K, which placed second yesterday, was forced to retire today due to a technical issue, causing it to slide into fourth in the provisional overall classification.
