Maserati-- 70' Ocean Racing Foiler

POSTPONED DEPARTURE FOR MASERATI MULTI 70
January 12, 2018
Giovanni Soldini and the Maserati Multi 70 team have postponed the departure for the Hong Kong – London sailing record scheduled for today. The reason, explains Maserati’s skipper, is a problem we discovered at the top of the mast during the last check of the boat. ”Oliver climbed to the top of the mast and discovered some problems with the rail and the main sail traveler. We prefer to replace the damaged part rather than taking unnecessary risks. This piece is produced in Europe, we are looking for a solution to either send it to us or find a way to build it here. This is the kind of damage that could have cost us a lot, it’s better to have discovered it now than once at sea. ”

For Soldini and the crew of Maserati Multi 70, it means back to standby, waiting again for a good weather window to set sail in order conquer the record.

 

MASERATI MULTI70 STILL ON STANDBY IN HONG KONG
January 15, 2018
No chance to start the record Hong Kong-London in the next 48 hours for Giovanni Soldini and the Maserati Multi70 crew (Guido Broggi, Oliver Herrera Perez, Alex Pella and Sébastien Audigane): this is the conclusion of today’s conversation between the skipper Soldini and Pierre Lasnier, the team’s routeur, after studying the latest weather forecast.

“Starting with the current models, we would have wind at the beginning, during the first days, but we risk to loose a lot of time in the calms over the Sunda Strait”, explains Soldini. “We are evaluating the possibility of a departure between 6 pm on Wednesday 17 and 6 am on Thursday 18 (UTC time) this week. For now it does not look like an ideal weather window but according to the latest forecasts, we should find more favorable conditions to overcome the first part of the route up to the Sunda Strait.”

Maserati Multi70 remains moored at the dock of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club where the crew is still waiting for the piece to be replaced on the mast which should arrived tomorrow.

 

NEW DEPARTURE PLANNED FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT WEEK
January 16, 2018

Maserati Multi70 and the crew are still in standby for a few more days in Hong Kong.
The team studied the weather situation and it persuaded skipper Giovanni Soldini to change the departure plans.
“A nice wind starts blowing from North-East at the end of this week, due to the arrival of a cold front on Japan. It would let us depart for the Hong Kong-London route at the beginning of next week” explains Giovanni Soldini. “In addition, according to the last weather models, the stationary hurricane in front of Madagascar is moving South and it’s becoming a depression: the general situation is getting more standard in the Indian Ocean. Because of this news we decided to wait for a few more days and depart with a better weather window.”

 

PANIC AS DOG FARTS ON QUAY NEXT TO MASERATI

Maserati Multi70 and the crew are still in standby in Hong Kong after a serious incident in which it was feared a farting dog might defecate. Fortunately it was chased away in time by a diligent guard armed with a bucket of water. Skipper Giovanni Soldini expressed concern that this was allowed to happen as someone could easily have stepped in it, or it might even have been collected up and posted to a forum.

 

My deep sarsacm sense is tingling.

 

So, is anyone actually sailing? Or are we still waiting? These weather windows are getting annoying.
How about something different.
Maximum distance travelled in one year - start is always New Years day but start location can be freely chosen. All longitudes must be crossed.
Like Le Mans, boat can be repaired at any time and crews replaced. but there is no towing.
Either the boat limps into port by itself or its out.
This might return racing to something more attractive to the cruiser as skippers try to fully utilize all the wind.

 

You talking about the oxymoronic "stationary hurricane … moving South" or the canine suffering from irritable bowl syndrome?

 

MASERATI MULTI70 SET SAIL TO CONQUER THE RECORD ON THE HONG KONG-LONDON ROUTE
January 18, 2018
The trimaran Maserati Multi70 left Hong Kong crossing the starting line positioned between the Tai Long Pai and Nga Ying Pal lights, at the exit of the Tathoong canal, at 10: 43′ 23” UTC (18:43 in China, 11:43 in Italy).

To beat the record Giovanni Soldini and the crew of the trimaran – Guido Broggi, Oliver Herrera Perez, Alex Pella and Sébastien Audigane – have to complete the course and cross the finish line under the Queen Elizabeth II bridge over the Thames before the 1st of March at 8: 9′ 47” UTC.

 

Well, there is that, but also this bit: "Skipper Giovanni Soldini expressed concern that this was allowed to happen as someone could easily have stepped in it, or it might even have been collected up and posted to a forum."

 

Tracker: Cartography – Soldini http://maserati.soldini.it/cartography/

 

Updates from on-board: Soldini – Maserati Multi 70 http://maserati.soldini.it/

 

Unfortunately they lost a rudder following a collision with a floating object :
Hong Kong-London / Maserati Multi70 lost a rudder following a collision with a floating object

 

Thanks for the heads up , Dolfiman! Thats the third time they've lost the stb rudder hitting something. If Maserati didn't have bad luck they wouldn't have any luck at all! They are a one boat campaign proving how disastrous the worlds oceans have become. I guess their decision not to use the foils this time was a good one. I think ocean going fast boats are a crapshoot without some effective electronic means to identify shallow submerged or partially submerged objects ahead.


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“Unfortunately we hit something at 20 knots of speed and we lost the rudder under the right hull”, explains Giovanni Soldini, skipper of Maserati Multi70. “Luckily we have got one spare with us and it seems there are not too much collateral damage”.

Soldini continues: “This morning we heard a great blow and we immediately realized that the rudder had broken. We get organized to remove the carbon axis that broke just at the exit of the hull, but the remaining piece came out dangerously and went sideways. Fortunately it seems that it did not cause serious damage. Once the axis was removed, we resumed on our route, without a rudder, heading to 230°, towards the center of the high pressure in front of us that will slow us down in the next 24, 36 hours. We will take advantage of these favourable weather conditions to install the new rudder. Then we will head full speed towards Cape Town”.

The incident occurred today in the morning, at the beginning of the tenth day of navigation. Maserati Multi70 is located in the Indian Ocean about 3,000 miles from the Cape of Good Hope. Despite the damage, Giovanni Soldini and his crew (Guido Broggi, Sébastien Audigane, Oliver Herrera Perez and Alex Pella) continue to sail fast in the trade winds (around 25 knots average speed), 587 miles ahead of the record to beat.

Started from Hong Kong on last January 18th, to beat the record set in 2008 by Lionel Lemonchois on board the 100 footer maxi catamaran Gitana 13 (41 days, 21 hours and 26 minutes), the 21.20 meters trimaran Maserati Multi70 must complete the 13000 nautical miles route and cut the finish line under the Queen Elisabeth II bridge over the River Thames before 1 March.

 

During the last Vende globe, if I have a good memory, they were 7 (on 29) hitting a floating object (De Broc, Riou, Lagranviere, Atanasio, De Pavant, Ruyant, Thomson) , leading to 5 abandons (inc. one boat lost (de Pavant) and one quasi broken in two parts (Ruyant)), a high delayed (Atanasio) and a slight but determinant disadvantage (Thomson / Hugo Boss).
It is really the Achille heel of these oceanic racers, and there is no evident parade : a crash box and spares ?

 

Team Maserati:
Less than 5,000 nautical miles to the finish line for Maserati Multi 70: at 7.57 UTC ranking, the cartography marks 4,997 remaining miles until London, on the shortest theoretical route.

This is precisely the option of the shortest route that skipper Giovanni Soldini has decided to take to cross the Equator and its doldrums.

“For us onboard Maserati, the time has come to choose the route definitely”, explains Giovanni Soldini this morning. ” We had two options. The first one was to pass the Equator where we always do it, it means between 30° and 27° W of longitude.” So closer to Brazil than to the African continent. ”The other option we have seen in these days”, continues Soldini, ”is the possibility of following a route much closer to African coastline. All the models agree, at the end we’ll play it and we’ll follow this unusual route that I’ve never done before but should work well.” Crossing the Equator at around 10° of longitude and then continuing towards Guinea will make save a lot of miles compared to the western usual choice, but it is not just a shortcut as Giovanni explains: ”We may gain at least 24/36 hours on this option that will get us out of the Senegal with a better angle in the north-eastern trade winds, to go then towards the Azores, turn the high pressure and take a front for England.”

Maserati Multi 70 sails off the coast of Angola, at 15 ° S of latitude, always with light southern winds and with a 1,392 miles advantage on the record, after 19 days of navigation.