Concluding on Friday in Cres, Croatia, the VIP IMS 600 World Championship that, over last six days, attracted 19 boats from 5 countries ended with the triumph of Italian boat MAN with skipper Matteo IVALDI and his crew.
Roberto FERARESE aboard Igienstudio Shaula was second overall, and the best Croatian crew Karuba skipper Darko HAJDINJAK won the bronze medal.
In the final days seventh race, with the north wind of 12-16 knots, leading three skippers placed identically to the overall standings - MAN first, Schaula second and Karuba third. Once again Ravenna Yacht Club did not have serious opposition - they were in front from start to finish and crossed the finish line 35 seconds (corrected time) ahead of Igienstudio Shaule and 77 seconds ahead of Karuba.
Matteo IVALDI won 6 races - his only second place behind Igienstudio Shaula, another Italian crew with skipper Roberto Ferrarese, was in the first race which took second place overall.
Roberto FERRARESE had a win, four second places, a third and one fifth place. Third overall Darko HAJDINJAK Sailing Club of Rijeka aboard Karuba won two second and five third places.
Everybody agrees that organizers form Sailing Club of Rijeka (S.C.O.R.) and Reful, with the help of numerous sponsors, did an excellent job.
Besides opening day with insufficient wind , we had excellent weather condition for sailing.
During 120 NM long offshore race Cres - Male Srakane - Rovinj- Cres we had a south wind of 26 knots. Five windward/leeward races were conducted with north wind with wind gusts of 33 knots. The fact that Matteo Ivaldi reached the speed of 19,8 knots sailing downwind with spinnaker up tells us how much wind there was.
Full results are available on the event website at the address below.