THE PRIMO CUP ENDS WITH A SWISS & ITALIAN SHOWDOWN

Dimitri Nicolopoulos reports from Monaco - The Primo Cup 2004, twentieth edition is over and the domination of the Italians over the 32 racing teams from 6 nations (FRA,GBR,GER,ITA,MON,SUI) have been uncontested throughout the 8 races of the series. Blu Moon, Franco Rossini's Swiss entry helmed by Flavio Favini won the regatta for the third time in a row. Ale Ali, now helmed by Nicola Celon and Andrea Rachelli on Altea take the 2nd and third place. The only boat that could threaten the Italian domination this year was Alain Roig in Flor Direct who were in first position sunday morning but lost it all with a bad 15th place in the 7th race.

The conditions were mostly as usual: very light and shifty with alternatively south, west and east winds on the three days of the racing. For sure, this is the least difficult Melges racing worldwide when it comes to hiking! Full hicking was not necessary for more than one race over the whole series... In this light wind, a good start to be able to reache the favoured side of the course (most often close to the shore) was very desirable and those who couldnt achieve were left with the choice of piling slow tacks or searching for fresh air on the unfavoured side. All teams had their bad races and even Blu Moon scored a 11 and a 14 in races 4 and 5. In addition to that, crews had to manage the crossing with the SWAN 45s on a couple of the windward marks. Ducking a Swan 45 is a long long trip for a Melges!

The Monaco Yacht Club, as allways treated their guests to first class cocktails and dinner. The prizegiving ceremony was the occasion for the sweepstake of a (small) gold plate offered by Credit Suisse won this year by Jimmy Pahun and the Andaska Team.

The next important racing scheduled in Europe will be the 'Coupe de France' in Saint Tropez (Team racing with a Mumm, a Melges and a Dragon per team) and the Massilia Cup closely followed by the SNIM in Marseille.

1st BLU MOON (SUI) Favini/Rossini

2nd ALE ALI (ITA) Nicola Celon

3rd ALTEA (ITA) Andrea Rachelli

4th FLOR DIRECT (FRA) Roig/Bequemie

5th ALINA (ITA) Luca Valerio

6th BANCA BSI (ITA) Gabriele Benussi

7th SNUGASABUG (FRA) Nicolopoulos/Mizzi

8th SOGETI (MON) Cohen/Frickey

9th MU (FRA) Nebout/De Pavant

10th J GAULO (FRA) Douchy/Lambert