Loro Piana Giraglia
This blog is posted later than planned, as It was difficult to post blogs during this trip.
Loro Piana Giraglia is an amazing 4 day regatta in the bay of St Tropez. Then day 5 is the start of the 240nm offshore race element , from St Tropez, rounding the famous Giraglia rock off Corsica and finishing in Genoa Italy.
(Loro Piana is the sponsor of this event. They are a multi billion pound textile company making some of the best textiles in the world, using some of the rarest fibres found on the planet. Some of which they have sole rights and to maintain exclusivity own some the farms and animals that provide some of the rarest natural fibres they use. They now also manufacture clothing with eye watering cost for their garments).
We rented a crew house in Port Grimaud, locally known as little Venice. It is a really really lovely place with water taxis to our race marina and into St Tropez. Loro Paina also lay on free water taxis to cross the St Tropez harbour to save you the 15 minute walk from one side of the harbour to the other, where the waterside race office and hospitality area is. In Genoa the hospitality is in and supported by the Yacht Club Italiana.
Our race house had a 14mtr mooring right outside the rear patio. We thought it would be nice to moor the boat there and tried to do so, but our depth gauge was not working correctly and it is very shallow so decided, not wanting the embarrassment of running aground, to abandon our efforts once the depth gauge registered zero.
The regatta was, as always good fun, with a mixture of good and light winds, the hard part is always the offshore element. The crew, myself, Steve, Ian, John, Heikki, Howard, Clive and Linda split in to 3 hr watches with me, Ian and Clive on one watch and the others on the 2nd watch and so on.
The wind started well, but we knew at some point we would sail into a predicted wind hole, which is exactly what happened about 30nm miles from the finish. We had raced welland were pleased with our efforts, but when I woke from my off watch we had only covered 1nm in 3 hours, at that rate it would take another 30 hours to finish, instead of what would usually be a somewhere around 5 hours.
After continuing to just bob around, making no progress at all, the crew started to discuss whether we could finish in time and if we could, it would likely mean we would arrive in the early hours, sort the boat out, sleep a bit, then just fly home without enjoying the Loro Piana hospitality.
It was a difficult decision for Steve (skipper) to make, as the crew had flown in for the entire event, not just the racing. It didn’t really matter to me as I was staying on to help pack up the boat and moor in a different marina in any event, for me I would have preferred to keep racing. I wasn’t really involved with the discussion, but I understood the predicament and it was decided to stop racing and to motor to the finish line. (When racing you are not allowed to use your engine and must declare you have done so. You are then declared DNF), (did not finish).
As with all things sailing, if it can go wrong it usually will at some point. When we tried to start the engine, we found the engine battery flat. As was the emergency jump start unit, which Steve had forgot to recharge after its last use. I recollect, we used it 2 years ago in the Kings Cup, Palma in a similar situation. Anyway, I removed the engine battery and replaced it with the bow trustor batteries (easier said than done) and got us started. I was chuffed to bits when Steve, as an unnecessary thankyou, brought me a Yacht Club Italiano polo shirt, matching the yacht club belt I had brought earlier that morning.
As usual, the Loro Piana hospitality was amazing, with unlimited drink and food provided free every day throughout the event And they provide a Loro Piana event polo shirt to every member of crew of every boat. The skippers get a really nice Loro Piana bag and other gear too.
The prize giving, which we missed last year.was very emotional, but great fun. All in all a great and again, a very memorable trip.
Personally, I can get quite emotional to be so fortunate to be part of and to compete in these events. As a child and when growing up, I often saw the events on telly and alike. To actually be a part of it is truly something special and it does not escape me to realise how lucky I am.