Maserati Multi 70 and Giovanni Soldini set sail today, Wednesday October 16th at 15.10 local time (7.10 UTC, 9.10 Italian time) for the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Nha Trang Rally (ex Hong Kong to Vietnam Race). Maserati Multi 70’s Team and their competitor, Orma 60 SHK Scallywag Fuku, set sail from Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, and will arrive in Nha Trang, Vietnam, after sailing predominately downwind for 673 miles.
With an Easterly wind of 12-15 knots and a calm sea, Maserati Multi 70 crossed the starting line in the Hong Kong canal, in front of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, on the wake of SHK Scallywag Fuku. After the first few hours, Maserati Multi 70 should find a North-Easterly wind of 25 knots that will last for the first half of the course. After that, the wind will drop to 20-15 knots and then drop again approaching the finish line.
A few moments before setting sail, Giovanni Soldini commented: «It will be important for us to prevent our competitor from outdistancing us at the start in the canal, where there will be less wind». SHK Scallywag Fuku is a 60-foot trimaran, much lighter than Maserati Multi 70, so the Hong Kong based trimaran will be very advantaged with light winds. Soldini continues: «With a strong wind and a rough sea we are surely more at ease, we will try to monitor our competitor and to avoid leaving lateral distance. Lighter boats are very strong with downwind like the one expected for this race, but I’m sure that with long waves we will be able to make a difference. Maserati Multi 70’s Team is definitely pumped and we will fight tooth and nail as always!».
Skipper Giovanni Soldini will race aboard Maserati Multi 70 with a 7-man crew: shift supervisors Guido Broggi and Oliver Herrera Perez; grinders Furio Carboni, Lorenzo Jovanotti Cherubini and Nico Malingri; trimmer and grinder Matteo Soldini; tactician Ronan Cointo.
Today, October 16th, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, organizer of the race, has delayed the multihull start by 4 hours and modified the course at the arrival in Nha Trang. To preserve the records of the previous editions, the Hong Kong to Vietnam Race is now called Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Nha Trang Rally.
The Hong Kong to Vietnam Race speed record, of 1 day, 18 hours, 17 minutes and 24 seconds, was set in 2015 by Sydney Fisher aboard the monohull Ragamuffin 100. The multihull record was set in 2006, when Benoit Lesaffre finished the race in 1 day, 23 hours, 40 minutes and 25 seconds aboard the catamaran Atmosphere.
