Back in the water for the 2025 season

Tested new gear and sails!

Since the end of November, Sur has been in the shipyard for annual maintenance work and some upgrades.

Four days of racing on a buoy course.

https://www.ycpa.it/it/content/151-winter-series-2024 

4° ORC 

Offshore race from Livorno to Punta Ala, starting at 10:00 PM.

https://www.ycpa.it/it/news/151-winter-series-seconda-edizione 

1° over all / 1° ORC

https://marinacalademedici.it/evento.php?ln=it&ID=144 

Start from Castiglioncello, finish in Capraia.
2nd overall.

https://www.lnilivorno.it/perle-di-livorno-2024-bando-e-moduli-iscrizione/ 

111-mile race in the Tuscan Archipelago.
3rd place in category.

The Palermo-Montecarlo is one of the most important and renowned offshore races in the Mediterranean. It is part of several international circuits, including the Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge (IMA), the Italian Offshore Championship of the Italian Sailing Federation, the Mediterranean Offshore Trophy, the UVAI Yacht Owner of the Year Trophy, the Championnat et Trophées Inshore et Offshore Méditerranée en Équipages-IRC, and the Mediterranean Class 40 Trophy.

The race starts in the Gulf of Mondello, passes through a gate off Porto Cervo, and finishes in Monte Carlo.

More info: www.palermo-montecarlo.it 

Unfortunately, our Palermo-Montecarlo race was short-lived as we had to retire after just 24 hours due to one of the crew members feeling unwell. His condition was not serious, but since there were no doctors on board, we didn’t want to risk his health deteriorating into a more critical situation, so we decided to retire in Ponza.

However, we learned a lot from this experience and covered nearly 1,000 miles between the transfer to Sicily and the return. During these passages, we had the opportunity to test the waterproof connectors and the new LiFePO4 batteries provided by our sponsor, Welt Electronic S.p.A. These new components greatly improved the boat's navigation and energy autonomy.

Crew: Giorgia, Enrico, Claudio, Emanuele, Pietro, Antonio, Gianni, and Giorgio.

https://151miglia.it/ 

A 151-mile race with two reefs in the mainsail. A tough race, full of ups and downs... I’d say mostly ups (waves and wind)! A race that really put us to the test... from first to last, but it gave us so much (especially seasickness). We did everything we could, and I feel that each of us gave their best. We encountered winds we’d never faced before, and that only made us grow! 🌊⛵️

We finished with a 10th place in ORC C and 34th/114 in ORC ALL after encountering a 36-knot gust just before the finish in Punta Ala.
Head always forward to the next one!
"Push it to the limit."
Giorgia

We raced on a different course where the Giraglia was removed, and Pianosa and Montecristo were added.

Crew: Giorgia, Enrico, Pietro, Emanuele, Stefano, Gianni, Leonardo.

https://www.settimanavelicainternazionale.it/ 

2nd place in ORC and real time at the Chica Loca Trophy.
Crew: Giorgia, Enrico, Costanza, Federico, Giorgio, Emanuele, Antonio.

First race of 2024, after a delayed start to the season due to the completion of the rigging refit. We began testing the new sails and getting the team into shape with this first coastal race organized by the Yacht Club Livorno.

We arrived late at the racecourse, crossing the starting line 2 minutes after the "start," behind all the other participants. The initial conditions were characterized by light wind around 4 knots from the north, which seemed to decrease and shift towards the Maestrale. We rounded the first mark in second position, after catching up with the entire fleet during the first upwind leg, pushing the boat to its maximum to keep it fast.

We managed to maintain our position for the rest of the race during the various buoy rounds, despite the constant changes in wind direction and intensity. By the second lap, the wind increased to around 8-10 knots from the Maestrale, allowing us to close the gap with the leader. After several tacks, we overtook them in the final upwind leg and won the race in real time.
In compensated time, we also won 1st place in Class 2.

This sail was the first time for Claudiu and Marcello on Sur, and one of their first offshore experiences. Both are highly experienced dinghy sailors.

Below is the article published in Qui Livorno:

https://www.quilivorno.it/news/sport/veleggiata-memorial-bruno-livori-i-premiati/ 

We approach the starting line with fewer than ten training sessions under our belts, at the first offshore race for all members of the team, finishing the last preparations the morning of the race during the transfer from Marina Cala de' Medici to the starting line in Livorno. The tension and stress are palpable in the air, but so is the eagerness to start and take on the challenge.

We start, with wind between 5 and 10 knots, and manage to free ourselves from the dirty air after the start. We round the first marks in good positions and head towards the Giraglia after rounding the buoy off Marina di Pisa. The course is a broad reach, with the island of Gorgona ahead of us, and the wind gradually weakens as the evening approaches, eventually dying out completely by sunset. Night falls with little to no wind, and we begin taking shifts to rest and try to keep our nerves steady.

As dawn breaks, the wind starts to pick up, reaching up to 12 knots after sunrise, with the Giraglia Island in sight. We're unsure if we've lost positions during the night, but observing the boats around us doesn’t give us a good feeling... We change sails, switching to the medium-wind genoa, but soon have to return to the light-wind genoa as the wind dies again, eventually reaching Giraglia, where it drops to about 4 knots.

We round the Giraglia, hoist the spinnaker while trying to take advantage of every little gust of wind left, and make the strategic choice to move away from Corsica, heading toward Capraia and Elba. We face a nerve-wracking morning and early afternoon with light winds, but by the afternoon, the wind starts to pick up again, allowing us to close the gap on the group downwind and overtake many boats at the Fetovaia mark at sunset, where, unfortunately, the wind dies again.

After rounding the Fetovaia gate at Elba Island (the course was shortened due to the light wind), a night full of spinnaker hoists and drops begins to take advantage of whatever wind remains. We find a stable, good wind of around 7-8 knots on the broad reach, which allows us to fly on the water at 7-7.5 knots and reach the finish line in Punta Ala during a surreal, silent night under the full moon with calm seas, only the gentle rustling of water against the hull... simply magical.

We cross the finish line at 04:48:00 on Saturday, June 3, 38 hours and 18 minutes after the start.

This allowed us to finish our first offshore race 33rd out of 126 in the ORC category (the rating category with the most participants), being one of the few boats still using a spinnaker, despite the outdated electronics that began malfunctioning after the first night and the "patched" sails.