Marco Negri, aboard the C-Cat 49 *Gaia*, secured second place on the line honours in the 255-mile Roma-Giraglia race with his C-Cat 48. A broken mainsail and a makeshift rigging didn’t stop *Gaia*. “We hoisted the second mainsail and the staysail, 60 square meters instead of the 120 required by the weather conditions, for the final 50 miles and finished the race like that. We had light downwind conditions for the first half of the course, from Civitavecchia to Giraglia, and then strengthening winds, up to 30 knots with scattered squalls, upwind for the second half. The whole race was a thrill, with the top three yachts engaged in continuous tacking and covering for at least 200 miles. We had a great time!” Negri expressed his gratitude: “Thanks again to Comar Yachts for the exceptional build, and to my sailmaker Alberto Manfredini, despite a minor failure of the first reef’s clew after ‘just’ 10,000 miles of sailing, and, of course, my crew. One last highlight: overtaking the two leading monohulls to windward, in close-hauled conditions, is etched in my memory. They had exited Giraglia with at least 2 knots more speed at the same angle. You should have seen their faces… passed leeward by a catamaran just 20 meters away, with the dinghy hanging off the stern!”
