Winners at Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta 2019

The 12th edition of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta concluded on Saturday with victory for Magic Carpet 3, Silencio and Grande Orazio.  

Racing began with a north east wind of 8-10 knots for the first warning signal at 12.40 pm, but was cancelled due to the wind dropping off after the Performance division rounded Monaci island with the WallyCento Magic Carpet 3 in the lead. A few minutes away, the wind had also dropped drastically on the Cruising race course, leaving the Regatta Committee no choice but to send the fleets back to port.

With a perfect run of three first places in as many races held, Magic Carpet 3 owned by YCCS member Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones won in the Performance division ahead of the 33m Inoui and the Wally 107 Open Season owned by YCCS member Thomas Bscher.

The Silver Jubilee Cup, assigned to the top yacht over 30m with an interior cruising set up, also went to Magic Carpet 3, although on equal points with the Perini Navi Silencio. The deciding factor for the award of the trophy was that Magic Carpet 3 belonged to the division with the most competitors.

YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo and Pier Luigi Loro Piana award the Silver Jubilee Cup to Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi

Magic Carpet 3's tactician, Olympic sailing legend Jochen Schuemann, was celebrating his 65th birthday on the same day. "This is the reason for the victory," the German champion joked "because it is my birthday! Today we were leading the race when it was cancelled, so at least we had more time to celebrate... But really, we prepared the boat well over the winter, in the past few days the indications from the navigator Marcel Van Triest were perfect, the whole team is very close-knit and it was important to race in the Palmavela, that was the dress rehearsal for our orchestra."

The Cruising division also saw a hat-trick for the 50m Perini Navi Silencio, with two prominent names in the world of sailing on board; Ludde Ingvall at the helm and Chris Dickson calling tactics. The two schooners, 39m Mariette (1915) and 47.67m Meteor, followed in second and third place respectively.

"It was amazing!" declared Silencio's owner, Nikita Bourtakov, "I'd like to thank the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Loro Piana for creating this amazing platform where people with a shared passion can come and enjoy sailing, we had four days of amazing sailing. I'd like to thank the crew, which was really international, for getting us through the race and achieving this result. We are definitely going to be back next year."

The Southern Wind Trophy went, a second time, to the SW82 Grande Orazio owned by YCCS member Massimiliano Florio. In second place the SW105 Kiboko Tres, making its racing debut, improved constantly throughout the week, showing excellent promise for the future.

The SW82 Ammonite finished in fourth place on equal points with the SW RP90 Custom All Smoke in third. Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo and Pier Luigi Loro Piana awarded Australian Marcus Blackmore, owner of Ammonite, the Willy Persico Prize dedicated to the memory of the founder of the Southern Wind shipyard, who was a YCCS member. Blackmore had won the Millennium Cup in New Zealand and arrived in Porto Cervo after sailing half way around the world, showing that he fully shares Willy Persico's philosophy on life and sailing.

Massimiliano Florio, helmsman and owner of Grande Orazio commented: "Winning is always nice, and even more so in a beautiful event organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, where I am a member. Sardinia is an ideal place for sailing, with its courses between the islands and the continuous changes in the wind. I really liked the atmosphere over these five days, both ashore and on board, on the water. I think I steered the boat well, we dealt with a lot of unexpected problems but we got through them thanks to our tenacity and a touch of luck. I would like to dedicate this victory to the engineer Willy Persico, an almost father-like figure who believed in me and accompanied me on this journey with the Southern Wind, for me it is an honour to have brought Grande Orazio to victory".

The Perini Navi Silencio, winner in the Cruising division followed by the schooner Mariette. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi

During the prize giving, the Commodore of the YCCS, Riccardo Bonadeo, said: "I would like to thank all the owners and crews who have returned in great numbers to Porto Cervo for the 12th edition of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta and everyone who made this event possible, both at sea and ashore, starting with the main partner, Loro Piana. Beside me sits a close friend and member of our club, Pier Luigi Loro Piana, who attended the event despite the accident with his beloved My Song. Together with him we have created a prize in memory of our dear friend, a YCCS member and, above all, the founder of the Southern Wind shipyard - Willy Persico."

The date of the next edition of The Superyacht Regatta in Porto Cervo was announced at the prize giving: 23 - 27 June 2020. 

The YCCS regatta calendar continues with the Star World Championship from 16-22 June with 70 crews including some legendary names in sailing.

Also marking World Oceans Day on 8 June, YCCS's One Ocean Foundation organised the cleaning of Mannena beach (Cannigione, in the municipality of Arzachena) with the support of 100 volunteers.