Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones's Magic Carpet Cubed, first in the Giraglia.

The British Wally of Magic Carpet Cubed has been declared a real-time winner of the Giraglia Rolex Cup, the first ocean test of the Mediterranean race season. The cantabre bow Antonio Cuervas- Mons has been part of the crew led by the shipowner Sir Lindsay Owen- Jones and tactical Ian Walker. The team monitors the evolution of the rest of the fleet to see if it also gets victory in compensated time and to proclaim itself an absolute champion for the second consecutive year.

Just over a day has invested the Magic Carpet Cubed to complete the tour between Saint- Tropez and Genoa to proclaim itself a real-time winner of the Giraglia Rolex Cup 2016. The ship, armed and patronized by Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, completed the tour in 26 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds in an edition marked by light and unstable breezes conditions. The 30.5-meter-long Wally was already a real-time winner of the Giraglia Rolex Cup in 2013 and an absolute champion in 2015.

"We're delighted."I was already on the ground, Sir Lindsay Owen- Jones. "We knew before the race that we had good choices to win in real time, and I have to say that we have sailed much better than in 2013. Marcel (Van Triest, the navigator) e Ian (Walker, tactical) They were right in all the decisions. Each movement we made took us to where there was wind, which allowed us to maximize the speed of the ship at all times. ".

The British ship has counted on the cantabre Ñeti Cuervas- Mons among its crew.

The mastery of the tandem formed by Walker and Van Triest had its perfect complement in the effort and commitment of the rest of the crew, as indicated by the cantabre bow Antonio 'Ñeti' Cuervas- Mons: "We make 32 changes of candles throughout the tour, which is more than one change per hour! The crew has worked very hard, and we have come to Genoa really exhausted.".

This was the first Giraglia Rolex Cup for Cuervas- Mons, which this season is part of the fixed crew of Magic Carpet Cubed. "We arrived in Saint- Tropez directly from Porto Cervo, where we played the Loro Piana. I really like the Giraglia. You can hardly see a fleet of the level there was in Saint- Tropez. In addition, as in any Rolex event, the race has a very high level of organization and the participants are much cared for."

Record of participation, not speed
The weather conditions of this edition have prevented an assault on the record set by Eastern Europe 2 in 2012. The Slovenian supermaxi then completed the tour in 14 hours, 56 minutes and 16 seconds, almost 12 hours faster than that which allowed Magic Carpet Cubed Take the victory in real time this year.

But this edition will happen in history for having set a new record of participants. No less than 268 ships left Saint-Tropez on Monday to fight the Giraglia Rolex Cup 2016, the largest fleet in the 64 years of the event's history. The previous record was set in 2015, with 244 boats.

Suspend to the end
The rest of the fleet continues to evolve towards a goal. The slowest ships advance towards the Giraglia rock, off the north coast of Corsica, a forced point of passage and absolute icon of the test; the fastest ones rush the final section between the lighthouse and the line of arrival in Genoa. They all try to optimize their performance to try to beat the Magic Carpet Cubed in real time and avoid the second absolute title for the British Wally.

The video from the exit of the Giraglia Rolex Cup is available Here.

Previous: Giraglia Rolex Cup, an international reference of quality and tradition

Between the 10th and the 18th of June the 64th edition, in which all the records will be released.

The Giraglia Rolex Cup is one of the most traditional races in the world. Since its first edition in 1953, the event has evolved into an international reference, by spirit and tradition. Its 64th edition is held between 10 and 18 June, and the number of pre-registered ships indicates that it will set a new record of participation.

With center in the glamorous French port of Saint- Tropez, the Giraglia Rolex Cup remains true to its origins. Organized by the Yacht Club Italiano and the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, the Yacht Club Sanremo and the Cercle Nautique et Touristique du Lacydon, it is an example of the collaboration between Italy and France that justified its birth in 1953, when sailors from both countries designed it to twinning their nations after the Second World War. 63 years later, it condemns and promotes the values of sport, the spirit of fair play and the style of camaraderie common to all the events of the Rolex sailing dossier.

The environment in indescribable port

Three events in one
The organizers of the Giraglia Rolex Cup had a clear vision of how to evolve an event that began as a 243 nautical mile race between Cannes and Sanremo, via the rock Giraglia. Today, its programme consists of three well-differentiated sections: a prologue, a series of coastal races and an ocean test. The 2016 edition will begin on Friday, June 10, with a test from Marseilles and Sanremo to Saint-Tropez, which although it does not score in the final classification of the Giraglia Rolex Cup, is taken as training by many of the participating teams. The real competition begins on Sunday, the 12th, the first of three days of barlovento-sotavento trials in the Bay of Saint- Tropez. On Wednesday, June 15, the 241-mile test that gives name to the event begins in the French port, heading to Genoa via the Giraglia rock, off the north coast of Corsica. The award will be held at the Yacht Club Italiano on Sunday, the 18th.

The level of the real luxury competition

Unparalleled interest
The 64th edition points to a record of participants. 302 ships have made their pre-registration to compete in one of the three sections of the race, -32 more than the previous year. Up to 266 of them have shown their intention to dispute the ocean test compared to 244 in 2015, when they finally took exit 240, an absolute record to date. It all points to the establishment of a new historical brand this year. Among the heterogeneous list of participants there will be no lack of the title defender, theMagic Carpet Cubedby Sir Lindsay Owen Jones, the absolute winner of the 2015 edition after 15 years of failed attempts. With 30.5 meters, the British Wally will be the largest boat in a fleet in which the lower end is placed the 6.5 meters of the Mini class participants 6.50. But the length is not a guarantee of success, nor is it to have a crew full of the best professionals. In a regular race for first-level teams, six of the last ten winners were fully amateur teams, and in 2014 the title corresponded to the small 42 feet (12.8 meters) SwissTixwave. That is precisely the magic of the Giraglia Rolex Cup: that anyone can win.

Attractive and complicated
Many of the fastest sailboats in history have tried to beat the best mark of the Giraglia Rolex Cup, but after more than 60 years of challenge since that arrival in photo-finish of the 1953 inaugural race (when the ItalianEAand FrenchAmityThey crossed the goal into unison), the record has only fallen six times. The current reference was established in 2012 by theEastern Europe 2armed by the Slovenian Igor Simcic and patronized by the Olympic champion Jochen Schümann, who set a time of 14 hours, 56 minutes and 16 seconds.

Program Giraglia Rolex Cup 2016

• 10 June: Prologue from Sanremo and Marseille to Saint- Tropez

• 12-14 June: Coastal race series in Saint- Tropez

• June 14: Award delivery of coastal series

• June 15: Giraglia Rolex Cup Exit (Saint-Tropez - Giraglia - Genoa)

• June 18: Yacht Italian Club final award delivery, Genoa