2002. Giraglia: The story of the queen of the Mediterranean

Welcome to the special section “GdV 5th Years.” We are introducing you, day by day, An article from the archives of the Journal of Sailing, starting in 1975. A word of advice, get in the habit of starting your day with the most exciting sailing stories-it will be like being on a boat even if you are ashore.

Giraglia: The story of the queens of the Mediterranean

Taken from the 2002 Journal of Sailing, Year 28, No. 7, August, pp. 68-73.

The queen of Tyrrhenian long races, the Giraglia, turns 50. Carlo Croce, son of Beppe who invented it in 1952, tells its glorious history, the protagonists, the anecdotes, the boats that won it and those that lost it

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Michele Molino, nautical engineer with the sea in his vein

His first 50 years

A beloved and hated regatta that continues to fascinate champions and amateurs, young enthusiasts and old champions. We went to St. Tropez, site of the start, to hear about it from those who live it. And does not intend to leave it.

Says Ernesto Gismondi, owner of Edimetra “I really like the Giraglia, I like things that are established over time, that have validity.” And he explains ” It’s a regatta full of contingencies; you start in a lot of wind, you struggle all the way to the Giraglia, you think you’re first, then there’s a wind shift and they pass you. I’ve done more than ten, winning two of them “. Brilliant summary of those beloved and cursed 243 miles of often tiring sea. Editions with much wind and great bonanza, triumphs and resounding defeats, celebration and suffering. Fifty years of sailing that have seen in the race, at least once but more easily on repeat, rampant managers, industrialists from the great Italian families, men of culture, nobles but also thousands and thousands of Sunday sailors who have always considered the Giraglia a sort of graduation exam that must be taken.

It is not a legend

The history of this regatta, like all those that have reached the half-century mark, is made up of anecdotes and characters, of men and boats, of tales of the sea. In the case of the Giraglia, even its birth is legend. Carlo Croce, president of the Yacht Club Italiano, was a child when his father gave birth in 1952 to this now world-famous offshore race. ” I know, many people think it is a little story, but it is the pure truth. It was a winter evening and my father (Beppe Croce, then president of the Italian Yacht Club ed.), was sitting in a Paris bistro with René Levainville, president of the Yacht Club de France. The idea was already there but only that evening, with nautical charts on the table, the route of the first edition was plotted. Having decided on the starting and finishing ports, Cannes and San Remo on that occasion, the problem of the passage buoy remained. They thought of an island, and after an overnight phone call to an experienced French naval officer to find out what the seabed was like around the Giraglia, the Corsican rock became the vertex of the triangle “.

Change the route but not the charm

The Giraglia, besides giving the trial its name, has remained the only fixed point. The starting and finishing locations changed frequently. For the next edition and until 1958 the course was St. Tropez-San Remo, and then changed starting port again, which became Toulon. After an unusual all-Italian edition in 1990, with start and finish in San Remo. For the next seven years it was run between San Remo and Le Lavandou; in 1998 the return to St. Tropez. In 2000 the transalpine port again became the venue for the start, but San Remo lost its place (to the chagrin of many who found the nighttime arrival complicated because of the thousands of city lights) to Genoa. Explains Croce:“In recent years we had had some organizational problems in San Remo and so we decided to move to Genoa, moreover the home of the Yacht Club Italiano.” In half a century, the Giraglia has experienced ups and downs, but for the past four years it has been experiencing a second youth. “The new formula, born in 1998,” Carlo Croce continues, ” which includes three days of coastal racing before leaving for the long one, added to the atmosphere of St.Tropez and especially the collaboration of Rolex, have given the event a strong boost again.

At the dock

Indeed, the impression of this particular edition was that of a regatta that bears its years well. There were thousands of sailors on the dock. Young and old, seasoned professionals and passionate amateurs, some at their first time and some now veterans. And those forced to stay home, like Riccardo Marini, tactician of Isolaria, a First 47.7, tries to console himself. “What a rage not to be able to be in the boat for this 50 Giraglia, I hope to make it to 83 to participate in the centenary.” For those who intend to live long enough to be there to those who managed to experience it at a very young age like Cloe Perrone, daughter of the owner of Virtuelle, who invited her friend Saskia Rothschild on board. Both were thrilled. “We also have duties on board,” says Cloe. we are the grocery shoppers. So this morning we went to buy sandwiches for everyone. In the regatta then we are the ones splicing the gennaker with wool. Hopefully there will be some wind but if it is becalmed we brought our Game Boy. I am excited to do this long and important regatta but my dream is to cross the Atlantic “.

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Giraglia. There were also queens

Alongside the “spaceships” with champions, packed with sponsors and electronic instruments, sea queens such as the Nina VIII, a 1972 Nicholsons 55, also took off from St. Tropez this year. Richard Eberhard, owner of the Nina and grandson of the Eberhard who founded the watch company of the same name in 1873, is proud ” I was looking for a vacation boat, safe more than anything else, since I wanted to make the Atlantic crossing. I was shown many boats, modern, lightweight and technologically advanced. Then last year a friend took me to Viareggio, to a shipyard. Under a tarpaulin I glimpsed Nina for the first time. It was raining, it was cold, I hardly focused on anything. I asked to try her out at sea. There were about 20 knots, with her 23 tons of tonnage she overcame the waves with unheard-of ease…. ” – Excuse us, but what does it have to do with the Giraglia? – ” I’ll get to that. Once I bought her I noticed a plate, behind the mast on which it said she had won the Giraglia in 1974. At that time it was called Nineight and was owned by Mazzucchelli, a glorious boat. I then decided to participate in the Giraglia. We set sail in the spirit of having fun, eating, drinking and … arrive. We hope to arrive within the maximum time, however when the beer runs out, our race will end. But we have bought plenty! And we have a formidable galley, we will even be able to make bread on board “. A different Giraglia from maxi racing: what if they were right?

Giraglia. Famous neophyte

Another jewel of the sea that participated in this 50th of the Giraglia is Samurai, a Sangermani design built in 1962 and owned by the Pavese family. She first appeared in 1963 when she finished seventh. Aboard Samurai, fate created a bizarre coincidence. On the occasion of such an important anniversary, on a historic boat, at its first Giraglia, there is Albino Fravezzi, a veteran of sailing (“In fact, a veteran” as he says) disputing his first Giraglia. Enthusiastic as a kid. Speaking of veterans and old ladies of the sea, the vintage boats will be among the stars of next year’s edition, with a start all for them scheduled for the day before the fastest sails start. We forgot: about 20 of them were fitted with a Gps position-tracking system that allowed the regatta to be updated every half hour. Who knows what the brave sailors of 1953, who often did not even know who had arrived before them, would have thought. Classic and satellite boats: after all, few regattas are as old and as modern as the Giraglia.

K.P.

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