5.5 Metre class: Ali Baba of Flavio Marazzi with Julie and Eline Marazzi wins thrilling edition of Scandinavian Gold Cup.
This week was the first time Eline and Julie, his 14 and 16 year old daughters, had won a race at a 5.5 Metre regatta, yet alone the whole event.
With the remainder of the fleet having been eliminated after the first three races, only these three boats were competing Saturday, and all three boats finished the first race just six seconds apart.
Ali Baba and John B now both held two race wins, while Artemis had one.
In Race 6 Artemis showed impressive boat speed and height on this leg and little more than 10 minutes after the start had built an unassailable lead that she extended to the finish.
With all three boats now tied with two race wins each, the final race became an all-or-nothing finale in which the tables turned on the very last windward leg.
The two leaders tacked onto starboard at the start of the final upwind leg, while Ali Baba again split off to the side, this time going to the right.
Ali Baba then hooked into an advantageous wind shift, accompanied by marginally more breeze and by the end of the second beat had converted a 12 length deficit into an equally large lead that she held to the finish.
This result also means three generations of the Marazzi family have won the trophy – Flavio was crewing for his father when they won it in Sydney some 20 years ago.
The older Evolution and Classic boats have also been competing this week, ahead of next week’s world championship, which is also hosted by the Yacht Club de l’Odet in Benodet, south Brittany.
Two boats in these divisions put in stunning performances to win their six race no discard series with an unbroken run of first places.
Another Ali Baba, previously owned by Flavio Marazzi’s father and now sailed by former Olympic Star class sailor Wolf-Eberhard Richter, with Beata Kallkowski and Jorg Grunewald, won the Hankø Evolution Cup.
Italian boat Manuela V of Guido Tommasi, Matteo Barison and Andrea Racchelli also proved unbeatable in the Royal Haag Classic Cup.
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