Everything is ready aboard Maserati Multi 70 for the start of the 16th edition of the Cape2Rio, on January 11th, at 14.00 local time (12.00 UTC, 13.00 Italian time).
Giovanni Soldini and his Team will have to fight a tough battle for the first place: they will face off with the maxi 80 feet long trimaran LoveWater, skippered by Craig Sutherland. The goal of the French-owned trimaran’s team is to conquer the race’s record, set by Soldini himself in 2014, when aboard VOR70 Maserati he sailed the 3.600 miles from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro in 10 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 57 seconds.
From Table Bay, the bay before Cape Town, the 25 boats who entered the regatta, divided in two starts (the first tomorrow January 4th, the second January 11th), will head North West towards the island of De Trindade, from where they will then set course towards Rio de Janeiro.
Soldini explains: «LoveWater is a super trimaran, without flying appendages: they could be very fast both with light wind, because of the smaller wet surface, and with strong wind, since LoveWater is 3 meters longer than Maserati Multi 70. It will be quite a battle and we will do our best!»
Aboard LoveWater will sail a very experienced crew, including the English Brian Thompson, former skipper of MOD70 Phaedo3 and currently part of Argo’s crew, both challenged many times by Maserati Multi 70.
The Cape2Rio, organized by the Royal Cape Yacht Club, has been held every 2 or 3 years since its first edition in 1971 and is the Southern Hemisphere’s longest intercontinental yacht race. Cape Town has always been the starting point since the first edition, but the finish line has been moved between Punta del Este in Uruguay, Salvador de Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.
Maserati Multi 70’s crew arrived in Cape Town in November, after a quick delivery from Singapore, and started working in the boatyard right away. Giovanni Soldini explains: «After many miles of sailing we had to do ordinary maintenance work aboard, but most important of all we’re very happy that we were able to implement some of the improvements to the trimaran’s aerodynamics, studied with the Maserati Innovation Lab’s engineers. It’s a long process that will last for some time and we can’t wait to test the latest developments in a regatta!»
