The Gentleman Magazine Issue 12 | December 2018 | Page 40

MASERATI MULTI 70 AND GIOVANNI SOLDINI CROSS
THE FINISH LINE FIRST IN THE 5TH RORC TRANSATLANTIC RACE
At 06.54 34” UTC (02.54 local time), Giovanni Soldini and
Maserati Multi 70 crossed first over the finish line of the
5th edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race in Grenada,
Caribbean, with an elapsed time of 6 days, 18 hours, 54 minutes
and 34 seconds. The Italian Team places first in Line Honours
Multihull (first boat to cross the finish line in the multihull
category) and second in the MOCRA ranking (which keeps
in consideration the Time Corrector Factor, with a corrected
time of 14 days, 23 hours, 32 minutes and 28 seconds). Their
direct rival PowerPlay, Peter Cunningham’s English MOD 70
skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, crossed the finish line at
07.40 12” UTC (with an elapsed time of 6 days, 19 hours, 40
minutes and 12 seconds, and a corrected time of 14 days, 20
hours, 18 minutes and 35 seconds). Since the start of the regatta, Maserati Multi 70 sailed in
asymmetric asset – with a flying T-shaped rudder on the port
hull and a classic MOD rudder on the starboard hull – because
during the delivery to Lanzarote, the Italian trimaran lost its
right-side T-shaped rudder’s blade.
Aboard Maserati Multi 70, alongside skipper Giovanni Soldini,
are 6 professional sailors: the Italian Guido Broggi (mainsail
trimmer), Nico Malingri and Matteo Soldini (both grinder and
trimmer); the Spanish Carlos Hernandez Robayna (trimmer)
and Oliver Herrera Perez (bowman); the French François
Robert (pitman). Three hours after the start, Maserati Multi 70 suffered damage
aboard: while lowering the starboard foil, the adjustment
system’s rope broke the top part of the horse, on which it
leverages. The Team got to work right away and solved the
problem with a new lamination.
A few minutes after crossing the finish line, Giovanni Soldini
commented: “It was a very close race: for days and days we
sailed at close distance and we even crossed routes on sight for
three times in the middle of the Atlantic. PowerPlay is a very
strong team, they know the boat really well, it was a fantastic
experience for us: we were able to carry out many tests, to
enhance and improve the way we sail Maserati Multi 70. We
learned so much in these days and we’re very happy about this
result. Really, a hard but exciting race!” During the night between Sunday and Monday, Maserati Multi
70 set course to South, to exit the area of high pressure with
little wind. PowerPlay is able to sail faster with light winds: they
gybed later and gained a few miles of advantage. From that
moment the two Teams chose different strategies: PowerPlay
kept its West route longer, while Maserati Multi 70 headed
further South. Moving away from the centre of the area of high
pressure, the Italian trimaran was able to reach the rising wind
faster.
40 | The Gentleman Magazine “Powered by
Giovanni Soldini and his crew started the race from Lanzarote,
Canary Islands, on Saturday November 24th at 12.00 UTC,
aligned on the starting line alongside PowerPlay and 8 other
Teams, with a SW wind of 9 knots of speed. Since the first day
of the race, Maserati Multi 70 and PowerPlay battled in a fierce
duel: for the first 36 hours there were never more than 3 miles
between the two multihulls.
, Security in Motion”