7-15 June 2024

The 71st Loro Piana Giraglia has just finished, with more than 130 boats competing in this event that combines inshore races and an offshore race.

After a light wind start on Wednesday in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez it was difficult to imagine the 100-foot Maxi yacht Black Jack skippered by Tristan Le Brun, member of Yacht Club de Monaco’s Captains’ Club, was going to finish her race at a near-record pace. The Maxi crossed the finish in Genoa at 03:23:43 on Thursday, after 15 hours 11 minutes 43 seconds of racing to take line honours.

Loïc Pompée’s Le Joy with a delegation of keen young sailors from the Sports Section on board came 58th in real time and 50th in corrected time. “It was intense,” said Loïc, “at times we reached peaks of 18 knots with the wind blowing strongly at 30-35 knots”.

The first few days were all about tactics for the inshore races in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez for the Maxi yachts, while in IRC and ORC there was a 22 nautical mile event. Yacht Club de Monaco’s Benoît de Froidmont (Wallyno) won in the IRC 0 – Maxi B while Peter Harrison (Jolt) clinched a superb 2nd in the IRC 0 – Maxi A group.

Note that the Loro Piana Giraglia constitutes the fifth event of the International Maxi Association’s Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge 2023/2024.