Porto Cervo, 14th September 1999

Highlights

The fleet sailed two windward/leeward races (only first race results available).
The south-easterly breeze built quickly after the start, before settling at 12 gusting to 15 knots. Then building to a steady sixteen knots for the second race.
It was a big day for the Dutch board Innovision 7, racing with their new rig for the first time.
Brava Q8 takes the first race, but by only seven seconds from Innovision 7.
Innovision 7 is expected to have won the second race.
Italy also leads both the middle and small boat fleets after one race.
Tomorrow the offshore race starts.

THE INSIDE STORY

Of all the battles that will be fought to win the title of Rolex IMS Offshore World Champion, past form indicates that the most intense will be in the big boat fleet, between Pasquale Landolfi's Brava Q8, and Hans Eekhof's Innovision 7. These boats have already been through two weeks of tense conflict this season, in the battle for the Admiral's Cup. At the end of which, Brava Q8 came out as top IMS boat, but Innovision 7's Dutch team took the Cup itself. Both boats have come to Porto Cervo packed to the gunwhales with talent, to make sure that this time, they take home all the prizes. Flavio Favini, Chris Larson, Stevie Erikson, Kevin Shoebridge and Paul Westlake on Brava Q8, and Dee Smith, Gavin Brady, Stu Bannatyne, Chris Mason and Sean Clarkson aboard Innovision 7 - these are just some of the familiar names.

But the terms of the contest have changed, with the modifications that Innovision 7 has made to her rig. She has swopped the conventional, in-line spreaders, topmast and running backstays used at the Admiral's Cup, for swept-back spreaders and just a topmast backstay, with non-overlapping headsails. The sixty four million dollar question is - how will the IMS rule treat the rig? Is it a rule-beater, or a lemon? Is this rematch with Brava Q8 going to be Ali versus Frasier - or Lennox Lewis versus Evander Holyfield? Dee Smith is happy with Innovision's rating, but aware that there could be big holes in their performance - particularly upwind in light air, because of the lack of headsail area now that the sails do not overlap the mast. Another possible effect is that she will struggle downwind - because the swept-back spreaders will not allow the mast to be raked forward over the bow.

So if any of the crew of Innovision 7 had glanced outside, while the water in the shower was warming up this morning, they could have been excused an extra little shudder. The sea off Porto Cervo was flat enough to use as a shaving mirror. But perceived weaknesses are not the same as real ones - if the IMS rule accounted for the changes accurately. And that was what we would all discover today.

The breeze filled in, and after a short postponement, the first race got underway in a ten knot south-easterly. Already, the fleet had sorted itself into divisions, with all the big boats at the left hand end. Vasco Vascotto and Merit Cup (formerly Breeze) won the start at the buoy, forcing Innovision to bear away and search for clear air to leeward. But a little further up the line, Brava Q8 had grabbed a tiny edge. It was enough to let her sail her own beat, while both Innovision 7 and Merit Cup had to tack to clear their air, from Brava Q8, or each other. The big boat fleet headed out to the left hand side of the course, sticking together. And it was Brava Q8 that took the first blood - rounding ahead of Innovision and Merit Cup. For Vascotto that already spelt trouble, he had to be ahead of Brava Q8 in these conditions. But Eekhof's crew just had to hang on - Brava Q8 had to beat the Dutch by about a minute and a half to correct out ahead.

The middle and small boats meanwhile, had been heading out to the right - with the exception of Dutch Admiral's Cup winning owner Peter de Ridder. Sailing here with his family in the Bashford Howison 41 Checkmate III, de Ridder followed the big boats left. It was the left that paid, and Checkmate III came into the first mark with a decent lead. Unfortunately, she was over the line at the start - and her efforts would count for nothing. With two separate groups in the middle boat fleet - one around forty feet and the other around forty five feet - the winner is going to have to fight two battles. They must beat the boats around them, but not get so involved in that race, that too much time slips away against the other group. It was no surprise to see Tommaso Chieffi and his talented crew - which includes British navigator Ian Moore - aboard Winterthur Yah Man, putting their marker down with a win in this first race.

While back in the big boat fleet, at the half-way point of the first race, it looked as though Brava Q8 would struggle to get enough time to beat the Dutch. Certainly, Innovision 7's fears about downwind speed will have been quieted. But then Landolfi's crew got a break, Innovision 7 followed Brava Q8 out to the left hand side of the second beat, while Merit Cup went to the right. Vascotto's crew came out in front of Innovision, but not Brava. And now Innovision had double the trouble. Engaged in a race with Merit Cup, they couldn't quite keep Brava Q8 close enough - and Landolfi's crew took the first race by seven seconds of corrected time.

There will have been mixed feelings on both boats. The swept-back spreader rig is not a disaster, or a rule-beating success - the IMS seems to rate it evenly. This World Championship is going to be a real contest, decided by all the things that usually settle boat races. And the second race quickly established how crucial the start and first beat are going to be in this championship. A left hand shift put Innovision ahead by five lengths at the first windward mark. Brava Q8 now had the problem, in-fighting with the rest of the fleet, while Innovision surged ahead. Although corrected results were not available at the time of writing, it looks as though the honours will be split for the day, with Innovision winning and Brava Q8 second. Chris Larson, tactician aboard Brava Q8, commented, 'In these conditions we have a good race going on. The boat that is ahead at the first mark has the advantage. But we'll see how it shapes up in different wind conditions, it's expected to be breezy tomorrow.'

In the small boat fleet, so far, it's a very Italian battle. Front runners after the first race are the two Beneteau First 40.7's of Marinuzzi Ronconi and Bechi Paolo - Drake and Malinda Blue Star. Split by the ILC 30, Moby Lines, of Admiral's Cup owner Vincenzo Onorato.

Greece only - Yannis Costopoulos and his crew aboard Okyalos X made a solid start to the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship. For most of the first race they held a fourth on the water, in the big boat fleet. But the Spanish boat, Castellon Costa Azahar, and the Italian, Moby Lines, were always close behind, and rounded a couple of marks overlapped. Okyalos X slipped behind them both by less than a minute, on the final corrected times, for a sixth place. In the second race they were in the thick of the action with Brava and Merit Cup, taking a close fourth on the water. The second race corrected results were not available at the time of sending. Written by Mark Chisnell, for the Strategic Organisation.