Steiner X-Yachts Gold Cup at La Marina di Scarlino - Preview
by Marina di Scarlino Press Team 30 Aug 2011 22:22 UTC
31 August - 6 September 2011
Great international sailing returns after the summer break at Marina di Scarlino with the Steiner X-Yachts Mediterranean Cup, an event organized by X-Yachts Italy, the Club Nautico Scarlino and Marina di Scarlino. The regatta includes the X-41 World Championship, the Italian X-35 Championship, the X-Yachts Mediterranean Cup Sports Division and Family Division, plus the Over 50 rendezvous. After two days dedicated to measurement racing in the X-41 and X-35 one-design classes starts tomorrow. On Thursday the Sports, Family and Over 50 division will also be lining up on the starting line. A total of 46 boats of Danish X-Yachts representing 5 nations are docked at Marina di Scarlino with about 500 sailors ready to go racing.
15 teams have entered the X-35 Italian Championship and 12 will be taking part in the X-41 Worlds with crews from Italy, Japan and Estonia. The Steiner X-Yachts Mediterranean Cup is organized by the Club Nautico Scarlino and Marina di Scarlino together with X-Yachts Italy and in partnership with Steiner.
Amongst the X-35s vying for the Italian Champion title, the recent winner of the European Championship Hotelplan Spirit of Nerina with tactician Roberto Spata, Giochelotta with former Luna Rossa skipper Francesco de Angelis calling tactics, Karma with Gabriele Benussi, Margherita JST with Tommaso Chieffi, ReadyXSea with Branko Brcin, Ave Maria with Pietro D'Ali, Strix with Enrico Fonda and Tep with Roberto and Simone Ferrarese.
In the X-41 fleet, noteworthy teams include Mascalzone Latino owner Gianclaudio Bassetti, with the crew led by Vincenzo Onorato and Lorenzo Bressani calling tactics; Raffica with Flavio Favini and Paolo Semeraro; Siderarcordis with Daniele Cassinari; Extra 1 with Gabriele Bruni; Malafemmena with Matteo Ivaldi; Le Coq Hardi dei Pavesi with Vittorio Pavesi. All the way from Japan Yamada’s crew will be racing in Tuscany’s water and from Estonia Mati Sepp.
Vincenzo Onorato is ready to race: “Scarlino is a fantastic place, in the heart of genuine Tuscany. A race course that brings back many fond memories and that gives me the opportunity of racing on a wonderful yacht with my original crew.”
In Sports and Family divisions, which include an Over-50 class, 19 yachts are enrolled. The Race Committee of the Club Scarlino, chaired by Carlo Giuliano Tosi, will set up two racecourses, one for the one-designs and the other for the Sports and Family divisions. The Over-50 class will be racing off the pristine coastline of Maremma and rounding the islands of the Archipelago as buoys with the Island of Elba serving as a natural backdrop.
Fabio Donadono chairs the International Jury and the staff of the Club Nautico Scarlino presided by Commodore Guido Spadolini, is coordinated by Claudia Tosi.
Piergiorgio Ravaioni, president of X-Yachts Italy, commented on the upcoming event: “Thanks to Steiner’s sponsorship and to the support of the Club Nautico and Marina di Scarlino, we will have a great Cup this year as well! This is an event that allows owners to stay in the X-Yachts world, in fact it the owners themselves who always ask us to organize the Cup because they can relax, be together and have a great time in a lovely venue even at the end of the summer holidays. The regatta includes four different types of events that include the whole range of X-Yachts: we have two highly competitive championships like the X-41 Worlds and the X-35 Italian Championship plus the Sports and Family divisions together with the Over-50 rendezvous. An event that satisfies the needs of those searching for both competitive spirit and relaxation in a breathtaking environment.”
The new Xp 44 will be at centre stage in Marina di Scarlino: owners, customers and friends will have the opportunity to test the new model during the Steiner X- Yachts Mediterranean Cup. Tiziano Nava, tactician on Azzurra in the unforgettable 1983 America’s Cup edition, will be skippering the brand new Xp 44 as she sets sail every day during the competition.
Steiner began its partnership with X-Yachts in 2010, sponsoring the Steiner X-Yachts Gold Cup at Marina di Scarlino. The winners of each class will receive Commander XP 7x50 binoculars that are considered to be the world's top professional marine binoculars. Sailors present the prize giving ceremony will take part in a raffle and the winner will go home with Steiner Commander XP 7x30 binoculars.