OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sardinia | Thursday 7.30pm.
A FEISTY Mistral forced the cancellation of the first day of racing at the Sardinia Cup regatta in the Mediterranean this week and South African yachtsman Geoff Meek only managed a fifth place on the second day’s 80-mile offshore race in continuing 35-knot winds.
Meek is one of five international skippers who were invited to race five ultra-fast 80-foot maxis for their respective countries in the premier European summer yachting regatta which ends on Sunday.
Meek said he was leading the first 30 miles of the offshore race when he fell into a windless hole. He then went offshore to look for wind and lost the race to the French yacht co-skippered by Pierre Fehlman and Laurie Smith who opted for an in-shore course.
Second was Roy Henier of the Netherlands, third the Swiss who are racing with the Swiss owner of the five-maxi fleet on board and fourth Ludde Ingvall racing the Swedish entry.
Meek said he expects the racing to be tight. “Both Heiner and Ingvall have been racing these maxis a lot. They will be hard to beat. I reckon it will be very close racing.”
Meek’s most recent international sucess was in July this year when he skippered the South African owned and built IMS 47 yacht Seagoon to overall victory in the Block Island Regatta off New York.