Cippa Lippa wins Rolex Middle Sea Race ORC Overall

The Italian Cookson 50 Cippa Lippa 8, owned by Guido Paolo Gamucci and skippered by Francesco Diddi, has won the ORC Class overall for the 2016 Rolex Middle Sea Race and will be awarded the Boccale del Mediterraneo Trophy. It was the third Rolex Middle Sea Race for the all Italian crew representing the Yacht Club Punta Ala, Italy and the first time they have won the trophy.

After their finish on October 25, just 15 minutes behind Cippa Lippa on corrected time was the British Infiniti 46 Maverick, owned by Quentin Stewart and skippered by Oliver Cotterell. The Italian M37, DHL-Adelasia di Torres owned by Nobis & Azara, and skippered by Caterina Nitto was third.

Cippa Lippa 8 Crew: Guido Paolo Gamucci, Francesco Diddi, Roberto Spata, Andrea Caracci, Massimo Segnini, Matteo Holm, Gian Grasso, Andrea Venezian, Davide Rosa, Nicola Stedile, Giuseppe Incatasciato, Carlo Simoncelli and Lorenzo Garosi.

Italian yachts dominated the ORC Classes racing at the 37th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race with eight yachts from Italy making the podium across six ORC Classes. 63 yachts were racing for ORC honours six more than last year.

ORC 1
Marton Jozsa’s Hungarian RP60 Wild Joe was second last year, both in class and overall. However, this year the Hungarian Team will lift the ORC 1 trophy having won by a huge margin. Johannes Schwarz’s Austrian Volvo 70 Green Dragon was second and Sergio Giglio Italian Mylius 76 Egi 4, skippered by Pierpaolo Mori was third.

ORC 2
Cippa Lippa and Maverick were joined on the podium by Pablo Garriga’s TP52 Audax Energia. The Spanish crew representing the Real Club Maritim Barcelona was skippered by Toni Guiu.

ORC 3
There was Sicilian success in ORC 3 with Lia Natale’s Milius 49 Zenhea Takesha winning the class. The Classic Swan 65 Lunz am Meer, owned by Marietta Strasoldo and skippered by Riccardo Genghini, was second. Sergey Bryuzga racing Russian Ker 40 Frogfoot was close behind in third, by just over eight minutes after time correction.

ORC 4
French skipper, Yves Grosjean from Société Nautique de La Trinité-sur-Mer, was the victor in ORC 4, racing his J/133 Jivaro. Maltese skipper Timmy Camilleri, racing Xp-44 XP-ACT, was second just ahead of Maltese First 45 Elusive 2, sailed by Aaron, Christoph and Maya Podesta, members of the Royal Malta Yacht Club.

ORC 5
There was more joy for the Royal Malta Yacht Club, Lee Satariano’s Maltese J/122 Artie was the winner of ORC 5 for the second year in succession. Last year, Laurent Charmy’s French team racing J/111 SL Energies Groupe Fastwave just missed out on the podium, but this year the team was second and less than two minutes behind the winner after time correction. Italian First 40, Canevel Spumanti, skippered by Ottavio Persico was third, making the podium for the second year in a row.

ORC 6
Three Italian teams filled the podium. DHL-Adelasia di Torres was the winner, adding to their third overall. In second place was Leonardo Servi’s Comet 38 Scricca from the Yacht Club Punta Ala. Peppe Fornich’s Sicilian team racing Grand Soleil 34 Sagola Biotrading was third.

Event details – Entrants – Tracker – Facebook – Team blogs

Organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, 107 yachts began the 37th edition of the 608 nm yacht race on October 22. The race takes place in the heart of the Mediterranean and covers one of the most beautiful courses in the world. Starting and finishing in Malta, the route includes the deep azure waters around Sicily including the Aeolian and Egadi Islands, as well as Pantelleria and Lampedusa. One of the most stunning vistas is Stromboli, the active volcano which is a course mark.

Challenging, enchanting and historic, the annual Rolex Middle Sea Race is one of Europe’s most popular and respected offshore races. Supported by Rolex since 2002, the event’s fascination is largely drawn from its alluring course – a rigorous and scenic anti-clockwise loop around Sicily, which introduces numerous ‘corners’ that present changing and complex meteorological shifts.

Source: Rolex Middle Sea Race