The 58th Giraglia Rolex Cup came to an end after the 36 footer Viva Corte crossed the finish line some 56 hours after it set off on a long journey covering 241 nautical miles in the ocean. The title was won by Neville Crichton’s Shockwave (NZL), a mammoth craft twice the size of the puny Viva Corte. The tournament featured 220 yachts with most of them the size of the Viva Corte; one reason why Ivo Olivero’s achievement brought so much cheer to so many.

The main attraction of the Giraglia Rolex cup is the long distance race that starts from Saint-Tropez to San Remo, via the Giraglia rock.  Neville Crichton is no stranger to this event having won line honours five times and broken the course record twice. His win is the culmination of his good form at this tournament. Speaking after the win, Neville Crichton said that he would have loved to take the line honours but the presence of the 100 footer Esimit made it impossible. However, he was happy that he managed to win the competition.

Later at the awards presentation ceremony he was presented with a Rolex Submariner Chronometer for his efforts. Commending the hard work put in by the organizers he said that he would come back to defend his title next year.  However, he refused to comment whether he will be back with the Shockwave or some other boat.

Line winner, Igor Simcic is a newcomer to this event, having attained the second position in the 2008 tournament. That year, the winning yacht, Alfa Romeo II, raced by Neville Crichton, made a deep impression on him and he decided to acquire the yacht with an eye on winning the future competitions.    Ahead of this year’s race, Igor Simcic was confident of setting a new tournament record. However, the winds combined with some technical problems made sure that his plans were dashed to the ground. Commenting on the race, he said that they were satisfied that the yacht was the first over the line and had it not been for the technical issues they would have surely done better.

Simcic won almost all the major awards including the Trofeo Beppe Croce for being the first to the Giraglia rock.  He was also presented with a Rolex Yacht-Master Chronometer for his efforts.

Other awards included the best results obtained over both the offshore and the inshore race. The award went to Frank Noel, owner of the Near Miss (SUI) who received a Rolex Submariner chronometer as recognition of his feat. He was modest of his achievements saying that the result was due to the hard work put in by the team and other factors like a favourable wind that helped the yacht to keep up with the more powerful boats

Tags: 58th Giraglia Rolex Cup, Frank Noel, Neville Crichton, Neville Crichton’s Shockwave, rolex, Rolex Submariner Chronometer, Rolex Yacht-Master Chronometer

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