Closing Race at Loro Piana

Inoui and Hetairos Move into Top Spots, Seahawk and Freya Hold Lead

Day Two of the Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta & Rendezvous (Oil Nut Bay Race Day) brought more bright and breezy conditions and some hard-fought tactical duels on the water. Classes A and B saw changes at the top of the leaderboard as the 33-metre Inoui and the largest boat in the fleet, the 60-metre Hetairos, posted bullets which moved them to the top of their respective divisions.

Inoui now leads Class A on equal points with Dutch boat Nilaya while Hetairos sits 3 points clear of both Ganesha and the Perini Navi P2 in Class B. In classes C and D, meanwhile, the 59-metre Seahawk and the Swan yacht Freya both claimed their second consecutive win today and maintain their leadership positions. With just one more race day to go before overall prizes are awarded, all will be decided in tomorrow's final contest.


Ohana, Seahawk, Bella Ragazza. Class C. Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta Rendezvous 2016.

Hetairos Class B. Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta Rendezvous 2016.

Today's race brought the four classes on long reaching and running courses through the smaller islands off Virgin Gorda. Heading into the final day, things couldn't be closer in Class A where the Baltic-built Nilaya finished less than a minute behind winner Inoui. Both are now tied on 3 points ahead of Samurai, the former offshore racer Mari Cha which has been converted to incorporate cruising interiors.

Nilaya's designer Mario Pedol was on board today and explained how the smallest of errors can weigh heavily in this highly competitive class: "We made a mistake approaching dog island, the kite we had was too fast so we had to drop it and did a tack. Without that we would have won the race."

Things are tight at the top in Class B too where Hetairos achieved a fairly comfortable win while yesterday's winner Unfurled was unable to compete due to an equipment failure. Ganesha and P2 were close throughout today and just over thirty seconds separated the two across the finish line with the Dubois-designed Ganesha gaining the upper hand at the finish.

Skipper Wes Cooper - who is competing aboard the 59-metre P2 this week together with the most of the crew he regularly sails with on Marie - is enjoying the close competition generated by the ORCsy rating rule: "Another fantastic day on the water. The breeze was up a little from yesterday and we are having a fantastic battle in our class with Ganesha and Elfje, so it's been an exciting day. It's great to be on P2, we have got a lot to learn about the boat, but it is going really well. I really think that the rating, that's been around for a year now, is still developing but it's very very good, such a big step forward for such a diverse fleet."

After a battle with Ohana - a non-starter yesterday due to a problem with her sails - Seahawk chalked up her second bullet in Class C and now holds a 4 point overall lead over first-time competitor Bella Ragazza.

The 28-metre Freya had another great day in Class D but with the Oyster yacht Maegan hot on her heels the crew cannot afford to make any mistakes tomorrow.

"Today was a lot of fun." said tactician Mike Toppa. "We raced inside the sound, we didn't go out in the open and we stayed on the flat water. We had a nice little course down by The Baths and to Ginger. We didn't really gain on the smaller boats we were trying to catch until the last long beat. But the owner did a phenomenal job driving and we got to within about a minute behind our competition at the last mark and we just passed them 100 metres from the finish by about a boat length - what's not to like about that?"

Racing is scheduled to continue on Saturday at 10 a.m. with winds set to remain east north-easterly at approximately 18-20 knots.


Fleet: Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta Rendezvous 2016.


Westport Rendezvous: Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta & Rendezvous 2016.

The motor yachts taking part in the Westport Rendezvous set off bright and early this morning for a cruise in company. Starting with a scenographic line-up just off Leverick Bay, guests on-board were then able to take in some of the racing action as they cruised to Scrub Island Resort and Spa for a relaxing lunch.

Owners, guests and crew from all of the yachts will enjoy a "Fire and Ice" themed party at neighbouring Oil Nut Bay Resort this evening, while tomorrow's final prize giving is scheduled for 3.30 p.m. at the YCCS Clubhouse.

Daily video highlights, images and race reports:
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*Photo Credits: Photo YCCS - BIM Borlenghi



About YCCS 
The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda was founded in Porto Cervo, Sardinia in 1967 by current president H.H. the Aga Khan and a group of founder-members as a non-profit sporting association for fellow sailing enthusiasts. The YCCS is renowned for organizing international sailing events such as the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the Audi Sardinia Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup as well as World and European championships for top one-design fleets. In recent years the Club has focused on promoting new superyacht events such as the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta, the Dubois Cup and the Perini Navi Cup.

The Club has also promoted international challenges such as Azzurra - the first Italian challenger for the America's Cup in 1983 which became a legendary Italian brand and was relaunched by the YCCS in 2009 with a victorious participation in the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice, the participation in the Volvo Ocean Race with a two boat campaign one of which had an all-female crew, and the motor yacht Destriero which to this day holds the transatlantic crossing record set in 1992. The YCCS continues to expand its activities and in 2012 inaugurated its winter base in Virgin Gorda overlooking the island's new YCCS Marina.