QUEBRAMAR GP42 CUP - St Tropez preview

Just one mile separates the GP42 race area from the Saint-Tropez old harbour, giving spectators the unique opportunity to follow the races from ashore, both from the port and Sainte-Maxime, less than two miles apart. A stunning backdrop, fast boats and top-notch sailors will offer the general public a great sailing show.

Racing promises to be even closer this time, given the ever-increasing level of sailors. America’s Cup champions, Olympic medallists and world champions will all be competing on the waters of the famous French resort city. For the first time, two women will also sail in the GP42 fleet. Alicia Ageno, navigator aboard Canarias Puerto Calero, will be joined by Claire Puvost who will work the mast in Near Miss.

The entire GP42 fleet is already in Saint-Tropez, either putting the final touches on their boats or training in order to get a better feeling of the bay. Some of them arrived in the French city under their own sail, facing extreme conditions and gusts reaching 30 knots. In fact, a strong, constant Mistral has been blowing throughout the region during the whole week.
The forecast for the weekend calls for slightly lighter conditions that will force tacticians aboard the white hot GP42 fleet to think harder and sniff the wind.

The fleet consists of the same 8 boats that took part in the Trofeo Pirelli; AIRIS, Canarias Puerto Calero, Desafío, MADRID, Near Miss, Roma GP42.1, Roma GP42.2 and Seawonder 007.
Racing starts on Sunday, June 8th and finishes on Tuesday, Jun 10th. The starting gun will be fired at noon and a maximum of 9 races are scheduled, 3 per day.

The Giraglia Rolex Cup is organized by the Yacht Club Italiano (YCI) in collaboration with the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, the co-organizer for the 7th consecutive year. It is run under the supervision of the Federazione Italiana Vela, the Fédération Française de Voile, and with the collaboration of the City of Saint-Tropez and the Yacht Club de France. Racing will take place right inside the Saint-Tropez bay, a couple of miles from the city’s Vieux Port and unlike the rest of classes taking part in the event, the GP42 fleet will only sail windward/leeward races.

The remaining four events of the Quebramar GP42 Cup 2008 are the Rolex Trofeo de la Reina in Valencia (July 10th to 13th); the Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE in Palma (July 26th to August 2nd); the Trofeu Quebramar-Chrysler in Cascais (August 28th to 30th); and the grand finale, the Trofeo César Manrique in Puerto Calero (October 16th to 18th).