At 22.30 local time (14.30 UTC, 16.30 Italian time), around 7 hours after the start from Hong Kong, Maserati Multi 7o and SHK Scallywag Fuku are sailing neck and neck.
At 22.30 local time (14.30 UTC, 16.30 Italian time), around 7 hours after the start from Hong Kong, Maserati Multi 7o and SHK Scallywag Fuku are sailing neck and neck.
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.
Maserati Multi 70 and Giovanni Soldini will set sail tomorrow, Wednesday October 16th at 11.10 local time (3.10 UTC, 5.10 Italian time), for the 9th edition of the Hong Kong to Vietnam Race. The regatta, organized by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, will start from Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, and will finish in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Maserati Multi 70 and Giovanni Soldini are ready to participate in the 9th edition of the Hong Kong to Vietnam Race, organized by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. The fleet will start from Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, on October 16th at 11.10 local time (3.10 UTC, 5.10 Italian time) and will arrive in Nha Trang, Vietnam, after sailing predominately downwind for 673 miles.
At 21.30 UTC, Maserati Multi 70 arrived at its destination and is now moored at Hong Kong Yacht Club.
Because of the unusual lack of Trade Winds, the delivery was longer than expected. Giovanni Soldini explains: «We’re all very happy to have arrived. For the first ten days we were forced to sail North, to try and find the winds created by the depressions and the cold fronts. Fortunately in the last days we found normal downwind conditions, in which we were able to sail very well and to glide on the waves: we regained quite a few miles. Maserati Multi 70 is in great shape, after almost 6000 miles in the Pacific Ocean we’re ready for the Hong Kong to Vietnam Race!»
After a long delivery, Maserati Multi 70 is approaching the destination and is now 24 hours away from Hong Kong. Giovanni Soldini says: «The weather is perfect: there’s a 18 knots wind on broad reach and the sea is almost flat. The long waves from North East help us accelerate over 30 knots! There’s a big typhoon following us, but fortunately it’s two days behind us. Out solar panels did a great job and with this sun they give us so much energy!»
Maserati Multi 70 is 2000 miles away from Hong Kong: the trimaran’s delivery continues in the Pacific, riddled with plastic debris. Giovanni Soldini explains: «We keep seeing floating objects whizzing by. Last night something hit a rudder, but our fuse system worked perfectly and we were able to put it back in use with no damage. Yesterday we also bumped into a big plastic sheet, fortunately we were able to pull it on board: it’s one less plastic piece in the ocean, but there are so many. It’s really scary to see the state the sea is in, when the plastic has been introduced only a few decades ago».
At 8 UTC, Maserati Multi 70‘s Team is passing the third low pressure zone, with 20/25 knots of Southerly wind, that will first turn Easterly then North-Easterly. Because of some problems with the alternator, the trimaran’s only energy source are the solar panels, but the weather is not the best, Giovanni Soldini explains: «Our energy situation is quite delicate, it’s been raining for 36 hours so the panels charge very little. We will have to sail with our instruments switched off today, to save the energy for the most difficult moments. In the past few days we’ve been seeing so many floating objects whizzing between our hulls, it’s really sad to see».
Shortly after 18 UTC on September 29th, Maserati Multi 70‘s Team crossed the Date Line and is sailing with a 16/18 knots South-Easterly wind, but the delivery is proving to be difficult.
Giovanni Soldini explains: «In the last 24 hours we had a fair wind and we made some headway, now (at 18.24 UTC) we’re at 30°N 179.54°E, but in the next few hours the wind will drop and the next night there will be no wind again. The crossing will take longer than expected: there’s no sign of the Trade Wind. We’re also having problems with the alternator and we’re forced to save energy. The Solbian solar panels are saving us, we hope it’s going to be sunny all the time!»
