Article Courtesy of Pressure-Drop.us
The addition of a 500 nm Race from San Francisco Bay to San Diego as part of the California Offshore Race Week was intended to provide some of the larger boats engaging in the Transpac a chance to stretch their legs a little and skip the shallow water marinas involved with other legs of the Race Week. The concept originated with Manouch Moshayedi, owner of RIO 100', seeking way to get some of Sleds and Maxi's and opportunity for a mid range feeder event for the Transpac.
Ironically, when RIO 100's main competitor, Steve Meheen's Botin 80' Cabron was unable to be ready in time for race, and Jim Cooney and Samantha Grants' Comanche still in transit, the maxi participation was quelled before it really got started.
However, in a strange twist of fate, the 3 MOD 70's that were eyeballing the Transpac for some time quickly took up the offer and will be trailblazing their way down the coast beginning Thursday May 30th . This is the 1st race on the West Coast with 3 Mod 70s competing together, sort of a rebirth of the class which showed so much promise when fist conceived in 2009. See History. With Giovanni Soldini's Maserati hooking up with Jason Carroll's Argo and Peter Cunningham's PowerPlay all set to launch a new offshore event and possibly sending a charge back in to the MOD 70 class for more level competition in these mile devouring beasts, the best may be yet to come. We have managed to get Maserati's fresh off the stove press release and insight's from PowerPlay's Charlie Ogletree and Argo's Chad Corning on their views of the boat, the race and the future.
Press Release n. 1 – May 22nd, 2019
California Offshore Race Week – CA 500
Maserati Multi 70 and Giovanni Soldini in California for the first edition of the CA 500
The race will start from San Francisco on May 30th. The Italian Team is getting ready for the challenge against Argo and PowerPlayGiovanni Soldini and Maserati Multi 70’s Team are in California, getting ready for the next challenge: the first edition of the CA 500, starting on May 30th at 13.00 local time (20.00 UTC and 22.00 Italian time). The CA 500 is the last event of the California Offshore Race Week, a series of races organized by the Encinal Yacht Club, the Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, the Santa Barbara Yacht Club and the San Diego Yacht Club.
The CA 500 course, from San Francisco to San Diego, is approximately 500 miles long: after crossing the starting line, off San Francis Yacht Club, the fleet will have to leave Farallon Light to port before heading towards the finish line off San Diego. This year for the first time the CA 500 has been added to the California Offshore Race Week. The series, born in 2016, includes 3 other races, with shorter courses: the Spinnaker Cup, the Coastal Cup and the SoCal 300.
There are 3 other boats entering the race alongside Maserati Multi 70: in the multihull category the American MOD 70 Argo, skippered by Jason Carroll, and the English MOD 70 PowerPlay, skippered by Peter Cunningham; in the monohull category Christian Doegl's Swan 461 Free sailing in a Training class.
This will be the first time Maserati Multi 70’s Team will compete against both MOD 70s, which it has already challenged individually: the Italian trimaran has raced against Argo during the RORC Caribbean 600 in February 2019; the Team has competed against PowerPlay during the Rolex Middle Sea Race, in October 2018, and during the RORC Transatlantic Race, in November 2018. Maserati Multi 70’s Team conquered Multihull Line Honours in all three regattas.
Maserati Multi 70 will sail in flying mode, unlike her direct rivals, who will sail in classic MOD mode. Through continuous research and tests to improve the trimaran’s flying performance, the Italian Team has developed new settings for the flying foils and T-shaped rudders. The two rudders, on starboard and port side, will have different settings so the Team will be able to test the new configurations during the race.
For the CA 500, alongside skipper Giovanni Soldini, there will be 6 professional sailors aboard Maserati Multi 70:
- Willy Altadill (ESP), trimmer – born in 1992, he started sailing when he was very young and began racing in professional regattas at the age of 17. In 2011 he participated in the Rolex Fastnet Race aboard maxi yacht Leopard, conquering first place; he crewed aboard MAPFRE for the Volvo Ocean Race both in the 2014-15 and the 2017-18 editions.
- Guido Broggi (IT), mainsail trimmer – born in 1971, he is Maserati Multi 70’s boat captain and has thousands of miles of ocean sailing under his belt. He has been working alongside Giovanni Soldini
Interview from Pressure-Drop.us with Argo's Chad Corning:
Pressure-Drop (PD): Team Argo has been around for quite some time and has been quite successful in the high performance sailing competition. Most recently the GC32, Elvis the Gunboat and Melges 32 circuit. Jason has managed to keep a good team going in whatever he dives into, what do you attribute to the success and longevity?
Chad Corning (CC): It’s all about chemistry. We are very careful to build our teams not based purely on talent or a particular skill set. We focus equally on sailing with friends and being sure we have fun on the water as well as off. Low ego teams with mutual respect have kept the sailing fun and rewarding, we’ve had very little turnover the years.
PD: The GC32 is a handful to sail, yet your team has done very well in the class, and the learning curve is a steep one, what in particular can you attribute to taming that bucking bronco?
CC: Yes, the learning curve was steep in the beginning! It took us a year to get comfortable in the boat and really start racing. Since then what success we have had can be attributed to rounding out the sailing team with a lot of foiling experience, excellent preparation by our shore team, and some great coaching; Rod Davis, Andrew Palfrey, Phillipe Presti and Anthony Kotoun to name a few.
PD: The Gunboat must have felt like a luxury cruise in comparison, yet the team made some magic with Elvis, your favorite memories on her?
CC: Though her DNA was cruising she had a race boat captain in Scotty Bradford. He slowly transformed the boat into a leaner, more powerful machine that could certainly provide some thrills. I can remember a fresh Heineken regatta where we started being comfortable fully flying the hull and pushing hard. This led to a good result one of the days and we snuck in one bridge opening earlier than the rest of the gunboats. Liberal use of the rum pump meant there was not much left of us when the rest of the fleet got to the dock! The real beauty of the boat was that it could be raced hard and still provide an excellent social platform after sailing. Nothing but beautiful memories from that yacht and we all miss it a lot.
PD: When did the possibility of a MOD 70 program first come into focus?
CC: We raced the 2018 Caribbean 600 in Elvis, which was a windy, rough race. The boat held together well but we needed to slow her down to stay in one piece. We were taking poor Elvis well past what she was designed for and to continue to race offshore we needed a boat built for the job. We could see the efficiency and fun on offer with a MOD and started to seriously give it a think. Once we competed the Bermuda Race that summer on Elvis we had really accomplished all of our goals and then some with that boat and it was time to move on.
PD: Team Argo took possession of the MOD 70 in September of last year, and it's been a whirlwind of activity with the boat since. I see Brian Thompson is aboard, and he was a big part of Phaedo 3's success, what does he bring to your program? Other big players?
CC: Busy times since we purchased the boat in early August. A transatlantic delivery just in time for our 1st race then a busy refit period before delivering down to Florida. We called Brian concurrent with the decision to buy the boat. His demeanor is a perfect fit with the team and his vast experience made him an excellent choice for sailing master. He’s been great along with Thierry Fouchier who have been our two additions to the regular squad. Some guest appearances by Francois Gabart and Sidney Gavignet have helped raise our level as well.
PD: The learning curve of the MOD 70 is a steep one as well, how key is the time on the GC32 to lessening the steepness?
CC: From a technical standpoint there are few similarities between the two boats. What the GC gives us is experience is sailing close to the edge and being comfortable staying there. Having guys with experience in the boat has been the biggest help along with doing a lot of miles in her since last fall.
PD: You had a good scare while training with Maserati prior to the Caribbean 600, walk us through that incident and how lucky you guys were to have shallow
water in the area and a quick response by Carlo Falcone to get her back on her feet?
CC: Used up most of our 9 lives in that one. We were just getting ready to reef when a big lifting puff took the boat away from us. It was a foregone conclusion very quickly. What happened next was beautiful as our shore team led by Jim Condon swung into action and were on scene very quickly. Shannon Falcone had some experience from righting the cup boats and we all came up with a safe, solid plan to get the mast back pointed in the right direction. In the end she righted quite easily but was a near wreck from a systems standpoint.
PD: The team managed to get the rig and mainsail back in shape in time to race the Caribbean 600 and Giovanni and crew were kind enough to delay their start so you could both
start together... Sensing a keen spirit of sportsmanship within the MOD 70's at present. Your thoughts?
CC: Gio and his team are cool cats and were there with offers to help get back on the water and were gracious with their offer for the later start. Though we have not raced against them yet we’re getting a similar good vibe from PowerPlay and have some good friends involved over there. We’re excited for the next couple of races!
PD: You later set a record in the Pineapple Cup, the key to that run?
CC: The weather went from sub-optimal to perfect. The MOD’s ability to break through to the next weather system was key and it allowed us to sail in great breeze while the fleet behind was swallowed up by high pressure and parked. From there it was pretty easy sailing and the boat did most of the work.
PD: Was the Transpac Race in the crosshairs from the beginning?
CC: It was always an option that swung to a yes once we had done the first few races on the boat and realized how much we were enjoying offshore sailing.
PD: With 3 MOD 70's on the West Coast, ARGO, Powerplay and Maserati, was enlisting in the California 500 a no brainer?
CC: Yes, especially after the accident in Antigua and a long refit in San Diego. The boat needs to be pushed to make sure we’re reliable and ready for the race to Hawaii.
PD: What do you anticipate for the run from SF to SD?
CC: We’re hoping for the usual conditions and a nice downwinder to San Diego. Seems like plenty of tactical options around the start and finish and some straight line push the boat as hard as you dare type stuff between the Farallon’s and the turning mark west of San Diego.
PD: Ironically, the West Coast's longest MOD 70 Orion is on the hard at the moment, but is for sale, any rumors you would like to start on possible buyers?
CC: It’s surprising to us how fun and rewarding these boats are. There is so much speed on offer for pennies on the dollar compared to a maxi-monohull. We’re surprised Orion has not been snapped up as well as Race for Water and Spindrift in France. There would be some amazing racing if all seven of these boats came together again.
PD: Has there been any communication with Beau Geste team for future events?
CC: None. Believe she is committed to staying in Asia/NZ/AUS.
PD: Team Argo's short term and long term ambitions?
CC: To keep having fun is our 1st and foremost goal. The MOD campaign will certainly go at least through the end of 2020 and we’ll keep sailing the GC 32 as well. Doing well in the Transpac and having a solid season in Europe with the GC cover the short term. Longer term perhaps a Bermuda Race and a Capetown Rio record for the MOD?
PD: Thank you and good luck.
