Safe and Sound!

We've finally arrived in Antigua safe and sound on Saturday 21st December!
The tugboat reached Cape Arrow on  Wednesday evening and the operations to hook the boat started the day after early in the morning, then we've been safely towed to our destination!
In the happy end,  drinking our deserved Wadadili, Cape Arrow Crew wish to you all a Marry Xmas and Happy New Year!

Our Wadadlies have to wait again !

Yesterday was definitely a very unlucky day for Cape Arrow and her crew: we were sailing in 25 knots of wind, with a true wind angle of 110° at around 500 miles from Antigua when we accidentally hit a floating object with the rudder blade, presumably a whale...

We were all impressed about the blow that we felt at the steering wheel and understood the rudder blade had been damaged; fortunately we found that no other problems occurred to the yacht.

The situation is completely under control and we are all in good spirit. The yacht is sailing with very little steering ability but we have created a parachute anchor by using a spare gennaker to stable our course and it seems to work. We are currently keeping our route under staysail and are sailing at about 3kts with a heading of 310-320 degrees.

Pegaso boys and girls are working hard to support us and they’ve found a proper tugboat which is supposed to arrive in the next 36 hours. It will tow Cape Arrow to an Antigua yard where will we be able to repair the damage and carry on with our charter season!

Finally NE tradewinds: 362 nm in the last 24h!

Yesterday, after an endless night of upwind sailing and squalls with rough seas, we've finally hooked on to the NE tradewinds. We hoisted the gennaker at 7 in the morning local time. This allowed us to keep a great speed average and in 24 hours Cape Arrow has covered 362 miles. Unfortunately this morning we had to drop the gennaker as we were sourrounded by squalls again.

We have 999 miles ahead of us  and we are getting wet again but the morale is high onboard anyway!

Our position is 20.07,6N and 044.36,3W and we estimate our arrival in Antigua on 15th.

We should be at the bar with our cold Wadadli (local beer) in our hands in about 4 days!

The Calm after the Storm

Following our escape from the low pressure system that gave us a lot of trouble last week, we had the chance to sail Cape Arrow through a dead calm, which gave us the chance to lick our wounds .

We had the engine running for 36 hours and had the chance to dry our gear, have a shower,  run a couple of washing machines and fix all the little damages that occurred during the storm. As soon as we finished, with a perfect sense of timing, the wind started blowing again. We happily hoisted the sails and finally switched the engine off.

At the moment we’re sailing a bit lower than our straight route as we would like to avoid the tail-end of the second low pressure front.

In a couple of days we should hook on to the NE tradewinds with 25 knots that will bring us quickly to destination. At first we should get some close hauled sailing and later the winds should gradually shift aft to become a broad reach.

Despite the challenging conditions we met last week, morale onboard is good, as we are stacking up a lot of miles, cruising at 11 knots with 18 knots of wind. Our current position is 24.10,4N and 029.57,8W.

We didn’t even lose our temper as the last little "tragedy" occurred onboard. Yesterday Captain Fabrizio fought for more than 50 minutes with a massive blue marlin. He spent so much time winding the reel in that he got cramps to his arms, and when it seemed we finally had him the fish was so heavy that it bent the fishing hook and we lost him! A frozen silence fell onboard for a while, but our smiles returned again soon thanks to olive focaccia and pizza made by our great Sophie!

Sea VS man: 1-0

Last night was extremely hard. We were sailing with two reefs on the main and staysail 500 miles away from the center of the reported low pressure system when the barometer dropped and we found ourselves with the wind blowing 45knots and big waves started hitting us on the beam! The waves were continuosly breaking over the rail and washing the deck completely. We hung in for a while but in the end we took the only possible choice, and decided to surrender to the strength of the sea, and run with it.

Therefore we tacked and since yesterday night we have been heading South. The wind is blowing around 25-30knots, seas are still heavy but at least the waves are now from a more favorable direction.

We’ve covered 110 miles and we’ve lost about thirty miles on our approach to Antigua. We are considering to continue on this course all day long in order to sail away from the low pressure area and then head straight to the lush Caribbean island that is awaiting us.

Postponing further our ETA was a hard decision for our Captain but it was the only reasonable option he had for the safety of Cape Arrow and his Crew!

Hope to write back to you soon in better conditions!

Our Challenging Crossing has begun!

Waiting for a spare part in the sunny Canary islands and unfavorable weather conditions have brought us substantial delay in our crossing schedule as we left Tenerife yesterday evening at long last.

Two stationary  areas of low pressure don't allow the trade winds formation in the south but give us strong headwinds which requires close hauled sailing. We will sail Northbound until the wind becomes too strong for us and then we will turn to the south towards calmer seas and wait for the wind to turn around until we head to the North again.

At the moment it seems that we will be beating upwind for the next ten days, gaining 200 miles per days but sailing many more.

In this scenario life on board is not easy, although someone migt expect us to be drinking Pinacolada in shorts pants and reading Conrad books to kill the time. Even though we cannot eat so comfortably, our great chef Sophie delights us with excellent and varied warm meals. It is a wonder how she can cook such delicious foods in these extreme conditions! 

Stay Tuned!

We have left the Mediterranean behind on our crossing adventure!

After our departure from Genoa, we've sailed along the French coast in challenging  wind conditions. With winds ranging from 20 to 30 knots we've kept  an average speed of 12 knots and enjoyed  Cape Arrow surfing up to a maximum speed of 16.5 knots.

The intense sailing carried on with a challenging night that required sail changes, reefing, squalls with strong rains and cold!

The following day has been milder and we enjoyed a sunny day of close-hauled navigation. Another challenging night welcomed us to the Alboran Sea with strong winds blowing from the West around 25-40 knots. We've been sailing conservatively close to the coast until sighting the Gibraltar rock on Tuesday afternoon.

The last gift of the Mediterranean Sea to Cape Arrow was a delicious 5 kilos Tuna that didn't see the day after!

Yesterday we left the strait and a striking red moon on our shoulders welcomed us and Cape Arrow in  the Atlantic waters.

As the wind blows strongly backward on our straight itinerary to the Caribbean, we've decided to take the direction to Tenerife.

There is still a sparkling air but the sun is shining and we are looking forward to take off our oilskins soon and put our brand new t-shirts and bermuda shorts on!

It's all for this moment from North Atlantic !  Stay tuned!

Ready for 2014 Caribbean Season!

After one month passed under the careful and dedicated hands of Pegaso/Southern Wind Customer Care team, Cape Arrow is now ready to leave for the forthcoming winter Caribbean Season.

Due to bad weather conditions, the departure had to be delayed by a few days due to fierce weather conditions but we are now ready  for another exciting Atlantic crossing. If the winds will be as favorable as we hope we would like to sail all the way to Antigua with no half way stops.

Our charter season will begin very soon and we would like to prepare and set Cape Arrow at her best for our first guests who will join us in St Maarten before Christmas.

Not only relaxing charter is on our booking calendar. Every year Cape Arrow attends the most breathtaking regattas of the Caribbean and also for 2014 we already have a racing charter booked for the RORC 600 Caribbean Regatta that will be held from 24^th to 28^th February.

We will keep you posted from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! 

Stay tuned and wish us safe winds and following seas!

Cape Arrow is pleased to introduce to you her new crew!

SY Cape Arrow is pleased to introduce to you her brand new crew that is going to run this winter’s charter season through the stunning waters of the Caribbean.

The owner has selected the new crew members amongst very high professional profiles.

With a great experience in the command of race and luxury cruise yachts Fabrizio Oddone, is the new captain of Cape Arrow, after spending an intense and successful summer charter season in Med onboard of Southern Wind 94 Windfall. At his side Carlos Carrer is his first mate, with a great number of SW deliveries from South Africa including the maiden voyage of SW82 Feelin’ Good, the most recent yacht to have been launched by Southern Wind Shipyard. The new chef Sophie Jenot will not only delight guests with her flavored and sophisticated recipes, but she will also help Fabrizio and Carlos on deck thanks to the expertise she has gained working in onboard for the past few years. She has also participated to  several regattas and deliveries. Last but not least, with a long experience as hostess onboard of Southern Wind 100 Farandwide, Lana Fruhwirth will assist  guests in all their various requests giving a touch of elegance and glamour to the Cape Arrow charter experience.

Fabrizio, Carlos, Sophie and Lana are already onboard in Marina Molo Vecchio (Genoa) working hard to prepare Cape Arrow for the upcoming Atlantic crossing.

You may see their full profiles in the dedicated section and stay tuned for further news!

Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta 2013 day #4

Cape Arrow left Yacht Club Costa Smeralda dock  at 10.30 this morning, and just outside the port we found a flat sea, no wind and a cloudy sky which was threaten rain ... We waited instructions from the Jury and we were afraid the race wouldn't have started, since the conditions were so miserable.

Around 11.30 the race jury decided to postpone the departure of half an hour with a shorter race course, division A and B together, since there were just 10 kts. We finally started the race and we made a very good departure with the gennaker on and we were about to pass Salperton, when the jury announced that the race was cancelled! We were all very disappointed, especially since we sail very few today.

Anyway, the good point about today is that we kept our position, which means that ...CAPE ARROW IS THIRD OVERALL!! We are all very happy: Cape Arrow showed once again to be a great yacht, comfortable and also able to race....and win!

See you soon for new adventures!

Cape Arrow's crew

Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta 2013 day #3

Another amazing day passed on board Cape Arrow, enjoying the warm Sardinian sun and racing @ the Loro Piana Super Yacht Regatta! 

The wind conditions were a little bit different that what was announced ("very light wind"), with  15-20 kts from North West. 

We went out on the water at 10.30 a.m. and we were happily informed  that the jury had chosen to group the three divisions (Cape Arrow is in the B one) all together, so that all the 21 yachts were racing following the same course. This latter was of 37 nm, passing by some of the most beautiful spots of the Maddalena Arcipelago, such as Isle of Lavezzi, Ilse of Spargi and Isle of Spargiotti. 

Cape Arrow started well, sailing for two boards close hauled to the wind; in the board where we should have gone on a close reach, we had some problems with the gennaker, so its lifting took us couple of minutes...unfortunately this little delay cost Cape Arrow some positions and we closed the day on the fifth place. 

We are still third overall of our division, let's see tomorrow, the last day of the Regatta, what we would do! Cape Arrow is not equipped as a 100% racing boat, but still she goes very fast...good job Cape Arrow and crew! 

Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta 2013: Day #2

Second place!! Cape Arrow did an amazing race today, winning the second place and being - at the moment-  third overall at just two points from the first one for now...not bad! 

Today has been a sunny and windy day, with 13-18 kts from S/SE. Today's itinerary race of 30 nm was a "slalom" among the most beautiful spots of this area, such as the Isle of La Maddalena, and all the people on board enjoyed a lot the astonishing view.

Cape Arrow crossed the start line around 12 a.m., with gennaker and mainsail on, towards the Monaci buoy, which they left at left, then they continued towards Cape Orso, and the Tre Monti shoal. 

Everyone on board really enjoyed being on the water and at their arrival at the deck, they cheered to the good day of sailing and to the result! 

Tomorrow is expected to be as windy as today, so hopefully is gonna to be fun...!

Stay tuned for the next adventures and follow Cape Arrow live every day at http://yb.tl/LPST2013!

Good Job Guys!

Race day #1 of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta  has come to an end and we are all  very satisfied about Southern Wind Yachts performance.

No wind conditions woke up the crew this morning and the expectations on the race were not so promising. Starting procedures have been delayed of an our , when a light breeze coming from South has called the yacht to get out of the Porto Cervo Harbor.

Cape Arrow , racing in Class B, has been the fourth yacht to pass the starting line and everybody on board was truly concentrate and committed on the crew manager directions.

The course selected for Cape Arrow division was a quite demanding one; about 18 miles long, it drove the yacht trough some of the most fascinating passages of this wonderful Archipelago: from Mortorio sailing in downwind side trough the Monaci rocks, where  a quite perfect gybing drove the fleet along Caprera trough a final upwind side .

The Pevero Golf welcame Cape Arrow and her enthusiastic crew.

A 4th place has been achieved today but with some boat arrangements and crew fine tuning Cape Arrow is now ready to improve her performance in tomorrow race.

For more information on the race results , click here:

http://www.yccsresults.com/lp13/lp13b.htm

A relaxing atmosphere can be breathed on board of the two yachts, where a fantastic and fresh champagne has been offered to guest and crew.

Stay Tuned!!

Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta 2013 @Porto Cervo....get the race started!!

Today has been a tough day of training for Cape Arrow! There was the racing crew in its entirety and a good vibe immediately settled on board.

This morning, after a careful briefing given by Captain Andrea and the assignment of the positions on board during the race, Cape Arrow left the berth at YCCS and took the sea.

 The crew simulated different maneuvers in order to improve the timing of the performances.

The weather conditions were perfect, with a constant wind from NW, 10-15 kts, a blue sky and a  great visibility.

In the late afternoon the skipper briefing was held in the beautiful YCCS, followed by a warming welcome cocktail open to all the participants. The atmosphere in  Porto Cervo is thrilling and exciting, and there’s a great trepidation on the docks for Windfall and her fierce crew’s debut!

Keep on following Cape Arrow's adventures!

Southern Wind Shipyard will be proudly present at the 6th edition of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta

Cape Arrow is the Raised Saloon version of the successful SW 100 project, designed by Farr Yacht Design and Nauta Design. Cape Arrow races in Sardinia after an amazing winter season and a tough transatlantic crossing back to the Med. 

The yacht left the Mare Nostrum in November and participated to the Maxi Transatlantic Race, arriving in the beautiful waters of the Caribbean. She spent the following months sailing over there, doing relaxing and confortable charters, as well as sporty races, such as the RORC Caribbean 600 Race, the Bucket Race and the Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta. In Virgin Gorda Cape Arrow, brought by top level sailors, made an amazing job and confirmed all her racing qualities winning the second place of the Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta. 

Cape Arrow, winner of the 2012 Southern Wind Trophy, hosted every two year by the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta, will race in Porto Cervo with a high professional crew, as well as with many Southern Wind friends.

Cape Arrow is back!

After 20 non-stop days of sailing and almost 5.000 nm, Cape Arrow is safely moored in Genoa! We arrived on Sunday, unfortunately under the rain, after 4 days of sunny Mediterranean…!  We celebrated the arrival with some good champagne, we were all really happy of being back and touching the land after so many days.

Cape Arrow is now in the Southern Wind customer care’s careful hands: she needs some minor works to shine at her best for the summer season. Her first rendez-vous will be in June: she will participate at the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta Porto Cervo, in Sardinia, definitely one of the most beautiful places to sail in Italy!

Stay tuned for Cape Arrow’s new adventures!

Cape Arrow’s crew

Gibraltar ahead of us

Here we are, approaching to Gibraltar after 16 days of Ocean: tonight we should pass the Hercules's Columns and enter into the Mare Nostrum.

Today Aeolus and Neptune gave us a "Mediterranean" day: a blue, pure sky, a flat sea and a gentle breeze. It was perfect, we needed a little rest after this tiring delivery. For the first day since we left St Marteen, we stayed outside when we finished our watches, enjoying the "dolce far niente" and the sun.

In the last post we said that Cape Arrow would not have been ranked among the "most easy deliveries" ' top 10. Well, that's definitely true, but she surely wins the gold medal for the "Greenest Atlantic delivery ever"! 

In fact during these 4,000 miles we used only 300 lt of fuel, and just for generators!!

The beauty and the privilege about sailing is that you can go anywhere you want just benefiting of Nature's gift: the wind. 

Cape Arrow crossed the Atlantic in her way back home just sailing, enjoying - sometimes suffering! - every single wind breath. 

Enjoying the silence full of noise that only the sea and wind can offer..

  

See you soon in Med!

Cape Arrow's crew

Celebrating 15 days in the Ocean

15 days of ocean! Today Cape Arrow celebrates half a month at sea, always beating! 

Certainly, this delivery won't be among the "most easy deliveries" top 10! Since the last two days the temperature has significantly decreased, now it's pretty cold during the day. The sky is cloudy almost all the time and when there's a little bit of sun that comes out, we all go outside, like lizards do! 

We are heading towards Gibraltar which is distant around 300 miles: hoping that Aeolus will be so kind to let us arrive fast to the Mare Nostrum. 

There's around 25 knots from north east and big waves, so that steering is quite tiring. Everything is fine on board, our little routine is well established and we live following the watches' rhythm.

Hasta pronto!

Cape Arrow's crew

Strong 51kts vs Cape Arrow!

Something doesn't seem really hard until you do something harder..

The last 36 hours have been really "hardcore" for Cape Arrow. On Tuesday late afternoon we entered into a depression that was placed between the Acores and Madeira and we went out of it few hours ago. 

Later on Cape Arrow was still heading East, so that the waves - 4/5 mts high - were coming from a "bad" side for us. Steering with 30-35 kts wasn't an easy game at all! With no moonlight, doing it was even harder because we couldn't see the waves and consequently anticipate them. 

We were really concentrated, every error could have been really dangerous for us and for the boat. 

Yesterday morning at 8 a.m. we finally jibed and started heading towards Gibraltar. After this epic night, Neptune gave us a little gift: a bunch of little dolphins came to play between Cape Arrow and the waves. Beautiful!

Yesterday afternoon the sea was still really rough but at least the waves were coming from behind, so we could surf it (we reached 26 kts!). 

There were 28/35 kts from South and the 3 hours watches were really exausting for everybody. All of a sudden, around 2 p.m., a path of over 51 kts almost knocked Cape Arrow down, and we had some damages the genoa but nothing too serious.

Tonight we were surrounded with squalls and we have been almost all the time under the rain. This morning the sea calmed down a bit, and now there are about 20 kts from South East: we should be finally out of the depression. We are completely wet, the air is really humid, but luckily Cape Arrow keep protecting us gently and comfortably.

Stay tuned for new adventures!

Cape Arrow's crew

The Ocean is finally giving us some rest!

Break! The Ocean this morning gave Cape Arrow a break after long days of rough sea and lots of wind! 

Yesterday has been very windy, 20-25 kts from North East-North and this night has been really humid. The horizon, until midday, was surrounded with squalls and some of them passed on us: the lucky watchers made free showers! 

We are still in the back of a depression that made the wind we had last days. According to the forecast, another big depression will come down from the Acores in the next three/four days...we'll see!

Cape Arrow is behaving really well, offering us a cozy shelter from the rain and the hard sun and giving us soft beds to sleep and to dream of the ocean! Everything's fine on board, we are making Cape Arrow going as fast as possible: we sleep, we eat, we laugh staring at the horizon's infinity.

Cape Arrow's crew

Ahoy, a ghost story in the middle of the Ocean

Yesterday and today have been really tough for Cape Arrow: the wind doesn't whisper anymore but it screams instead. Since Friday night the sea has become higher, this morning waves were up to 4 mt. 

They are "messy", coming from everywhere and steering it's quite challenging! The wind has increased yesterday evening up until 25 kts and we sail under mainsail with two reefs and foresail. 

Tonight, when we passed under a squal, we reached 35 kts. In the middle of the Atlantic, with no moonlight, no stars, just water everywhere, the panorama it's quite spectacular! And tiring: the watches require the greatest level of concentration and at the end of them we are quite shacked.

But let me tell you what happened yesterday morning! We were sailing, when we saw from far away a sailing boat with no sails on it: we called them at the VHF but no one answered... 

It was an abandoned sailing boat!! The main sail was roughly plied, there were ropes in the sea and the sides of the boat were scratchy, as if there have been a contact with another boat. It was pretty scary, a ghost abandoned ship in the middle of the Ocean.

Hence the Captain promptly reported the wreck to the authorities: they confirmed that the wreck was known as they rescued the crew not so long time ago!!

Stay tuned for the next adventures!

Cape Arrow's crew

Position: 26,49.92N , 47,21.50W

Shiver me timbers...a whale!!

Yesterday and this morning Aeolus and Neptune have been really kind to Cape Arrow, giving her a perfect 15-18 kts from East and almost a flat sea.

Since midday, the situation has become a bit stronger, with 2 mt waves and 20-22 kts, but the sun shines and everything is fine on board. In the early afternoon we tacked, so now we are sailing for good towards home!

In the afternoon we also saw the second animal since we left St Marteen: yesterday a little flying fish...this afternoon a whale!!

We saw her when she was very close to us, she was chilling on a side and we saw her eye! Unfortunately everything happened really fast, so that we didn't have the time to take any picture. Next one, promised!

Inside the boat is still a rollercoaster but it's fun! We are seeing beautiful skies at sunset and at sunrise, and the temperature is still warm, which is always good!

Ciao!

Cape Arrow's crew

Goodbye Caribbean...we are coming back to Europe!

The first 24 hours of ocean have passed smoothly and gently.

We left our berth in St Marteen yesterday at 16h30, local time, passing the bridge of Simpson’s bay. We moored outside the bay for a little hour and Captain Andrea made the safety briefing, giving everyone a role in case of emergencies on board.

The wind outside the island was what we expected, 18-20 kts from East, so we put on the mainsail with one reef and the foresail, heading for 30° towards the Acores.

The Ocean rhythm is already guiding all of us on board. We have been sailing for 24 hours while we are beating and it’s quite sport! Cape Arrow is speeding at 8-10 kts and you can really feel it inside the boat..!! Doing anything requires a lot of balance!

We have watches of three hours, of two people. After the watch we will be in “stand by” for three more hours in case additional support on deck would be needed, then finally we'll have three hours “free”. 

Most of all, we can say everything on board is fine, the crew is happy and the sun shines on Cape Arrow!

keep staying tuned!!

Cape Arrow’s crew

Ready to go back home in Med!

The pantry is full, the postcards have been sent and the new foresail is onboard. Cape Arrow is about to leave St Marteen for Europe: after a great season of races, charter and holidays in the Caribbean, it is time to go back “home” and dress up for the Mediterranean summer.

The expected conditions during this Atlantic crossing are quite tough and challenging. Cape Arrow will leave this afternoon, and for the first couple of days she will sail under 20 kts from east, to north east. Then the situation should become rougher… we will see!

Keep following us,

Cape Arrow crew

Cape Arrow moral winner of St Barth Bucket 2013

Today "Les Gazelle de mer" class gave the best story of the event.

After the first two races, Cape Arrow, Visione and P2, were all tied with six points going into today's race: a "Wrong Way Around" race of 24.5 nm.

Francesco De Angelis' clever tactic was well responding against Unfurled, which was our direct competitor of this final race: Cape Arrow leaded the fleet for almost the first half of the race.

Ph. Carlo Borlenghi/Sea Way

The first place overall was just few miles in front of us, when a silly but fatal damage to the Genoa, forced us to dramatically slow down our run to the podium!

The bitter taste of our final forth place is nothing if compared to the performance and results gained by Cape Arrow during these two weeks, both at Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta and here at St Barth.

Ph. Carlo Borlenghi/Sea Way

Now it is time to turn page, set the boat to welcome our next customers for the last charter of the season and then to leave the Caribbean for the Med.

A racing and charter summer season is waiting for us and we are really looking forward to sharing Cape Arrow's performance and comfort with new guests.

See you all,

Cape Arrow crew

Waiting for the overall results

The race just finished: third place after Unfurled and Rebecca. Let's wait for the results after two races. Yesterday, Unfurled did not well... Maybe some good news will come! 

Fingers crossed! 

Day n° 2 : ready to start

St. Barth, day n° 2, 10:15 a.m.

Under an annoying raining, which is hopefully going to stop soon, Cape Arrow is leaving the dock for the 27 nm race "Not So Wiggley Course"  Long version.

Our departure time is scheduled  at 12:33:00

Follow us!

Good start :III place in the "Gazelles de Mer" class!

Today, first day of race!

Course n. 2 "Around the island - medium" of approx 20 miles was chosen to unveil the St Barth Bucket Race 2013.

Cape Arrow and the other "Mademoiselles, Gazelles e Grand dames de mer" raced pushed by light breezes around St Barth island leaving to port side  Ile de Boulanger, Ile Pelè and Ile Fourchue.

We are very satisfied about our perfomance which is reflected by a good third place, just two seconds after P2 and by our elapsed time close to those of larger yachts such as Zefira and Lady B.

Tomorrow "Not so wiggle course" is scheduled. A much more technical course out of islands to the North West of St Barth. We will have to work and trim a lot, but day n° 2 will be a promise of fun and strong competition.

Today evening: dock party and fleet open house.

Welcome onboard of Cape Arrow!

Lying in St. Barth

Here we are, just arrived in the wonderful frame of St Barth Island! A puffy white clouds parade through a clear blue sky and a warm balmy breeze make our presence here really nice and agreeable.

Unfortunately Loro Piana Superyacht Trophy has been cancelled by the race committee, so we'll have to wait until the next year edition to join this amazing adventure!

In the meanwhile we are now getting ready for the Bucket Regatta, which is a very good chance for us to refine and improve our Virgin Gorda performance...!

Tomorrow we will register the boat and start the first training session..the race is supposed to begin on Friday 29th, at 11:00 a.m (local time).

For further information please visit the "Notice of race" on the event website or by clicking on the following link:

http://www.bucketregattas.com/stbarths/announcement.html

Stay tuned!

Moving to St Barth

After almost a week spent in Virgin Gorda at YCCS for the Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta, we are now getting ready for the Loro Piana Superyacht Trophy, which will take us to the nearby St Barth Island.

About 100 miles of pure adrenaline sailing are waiting for us; both the boat and the crew are ready and galvanized by the recent results and we hope to do our best!

The time for the first signal is scheduled at 10.00 a.m and you can truck us online on the dedicated page of this blog!

We hope you'll join us in this really new charming adventure!

Loro Piana Final Result: Cape Arrow rencked II in Class A

As forecasted, today the wind was lighter, about 11-13 knods, and course n° 8 (Virgin Gorda circumnavigation clock wise) was decided for the third and last day of race.

Profs crew and guests (we had some press onboard and some special guests of Loro Piana) were all excited for the competition. Few points separated us, the first 3 classified, so the games were still open.

We finished second, an absolutely satisfactory result, fighting to gain any precious seconds

Photo by Superyacht Media

On Monday we will leave for the Feder race, the new race organized by Loro Piana from Virgin Gorda to St Barth. A good opportunity to make the delivery of the boat for the Bucket Race more excited.

Now we look forward to confirming our good performance also at the St Barth Bucket Race.

So,  see you there!

I place overall: great satisfaction!

Day n° 2. Sun, 13-14 knods of wind. Just a little surprise to know that the race commitee chose a course not included in the selected ones. Anyway, we and Cape Arrow really did our best.

Everything went smooth and the final result shows it: third place and an excellent I place overall after the first two races.

Mr Pierluigi Loro Piana, at the helm, enjoyed the day a lot. A double satisfaction for all of us.

Photos  courtesy of YCCS

Tomorrow the last race. Let's keep the fingers crossed!

This evening an exclusive beach party at Oil Nut Bay is waiting for us.

III Place for Cape Arrow !!

Here the results of the first race: Cape Arrow is at the third place after  Salperton IV and Zefira!!

Photo by Superyacht Media

Tomorrow's forecasts suggest slightly lighter winds for racing, but in the meanwhile tonight the Owner's dinner is coming!!

Here we are at the starting line!

There’s no two without three.

Perfect weather conditions really bring us joy to our first racing day: blue sky, sun and a southeasterly breeze of about 14 knots were waiting for us at the starting line.

Course no. 9 foresees a Virgin Gorda Tour of about 28 miles: we started with a first windward mark and then the fleet went on a fetch inside the Dog Islands and down to Ginger Island, where we have been the first A Division yacht to arrive!

We ended with a long leg at close reach along the western side of the Island. Everything was going really well apart from a wind hole that met us firstly and that involuntarily warned our opponents, so that they avoided in loosing some really precious minutes!

Nevertheless we are really satisfied of an honorable third place and of the yacht performance! Now the crew is arranging their plans for tomorrow race to do even better.

..but tonight everybody is going to celebrate at the Crew Party!