Solaris Cup 2023 at Porto Rotondo - Day 1

Solaris Cup 2022 © Solaris Yachts

Perfect conditions for the first race of the Solaris Cup, with 58 yachts from the shipyard (ranging from 37 to 111 feet) taking to the sea at 11 am this morning in light winds and calm seas.

At 12:29, the Race Committee, chaired by Gianluca Brembati, started the race with a wind of about 5 knots from the N/NW, which gradually increased throughout the day to 12 knots. The spectacular course was approximately 18 miles long and saw the Solaris yachts use the natural buoys of the Soffi, Mortorio, and Mortoriotto islets, with the finish line in front of the Marina di Porto Rotondo.

After approximately 3 hours of racing, the first yacht on corrected time was the Maltese Solaris 42 Unica, skippered by Jamie Sammut, who had a lead of nearly 5 minutes over the second-place finisher, the Solaris 62 Doug, skippered by Paolo Buonvicini. Maurizio Corati's Solaris 55 Angela, finished just 3 seconds behind the second-place yacht. These are the top 3 finishers of the day who, along with the other owners, will celebrate at tonight's gala dinner at the Sporting Club in Porto Rotondo.

"The Solaris Cup is a very important event for us," said Alessandro Battistelli from North Sails, who was on board the new 50' Naka One. "In addition to having a well-established collaboration with the shipyard, these occasions are valuable for directly engaging with the owners. Today, on Naka, which is equipped with a 3Di Ocean mainsail and a self-tacking jib, as well as an Helix furling gennaker, we were able to test the sail angles thoroughly in ideal conditions. The furling gennaker proved to be perfect between 80 and 110 degrees, while the running gennaker performed excellently for broader angles between 130 and 150 degrees."