The TP52 Red Bandit wins the Rolex Giraglia 2023. After winning it in 2017 under the name of Freccia Rossa, the TP 52 with the same white and red livery but a different owner and a different name, has won the Rolex Giraglia 70
“We are still incredulous but happy,” said Peter Forster, owner of the TP52 Red Bandit which the corrected time ranking decreed the overall winner of edition number 70 – we’ve had the boat since 2021 and mainly do offshore regattas. With Red Bandit it was love at first sight after we charted her for a Rolex Middle Sea Race that was particularly windy. That time we sailed in complete safety and we realised the potential of that yacht since then we have consolidated the crew, mainly consisting of a fixed nucleus of youngsters – the average age on board is 29 – all coming from Olympic classes. We are a tightly knit crew and though we sailed well throughout the first part of the regatta in conditions that were not exactly our strong point (upwind sailing), we lost some time becalmed at the Giraglia and watched Lisa R sail away in the night. We thought that was the end of the race for us and so, in the last stretch towards Genoa, we decided to go and look for more wind to the east, a choice you make when you’ve got little to lose, but it went so well for us that in the last 10 miles we recovered a great deal. Obviously, that risky decision led to our victory.
On board everything worked fine, it’s a pleasure for me to sail with this young crew and I am happy to be able to frame this anniversary Rolex Giraglia among the most important and enjoyable trophies of my sporting career.”
Carl-Peter Forster, a German of 69, has behind him a long sporting career and a great love for offshore regattas that led him to take place in the world’s most important regattas including the Rolex Fastnet several times, the Rolex Middle Sea Race and the Baltic Race. Last year he won the Copa del Rey and always sails with a crew from the Bayerischer Yacht Club – one of the most ancient and important in Germany and whose colours he bears.
Red Bandit finished the Rolex Giraglia 2023 in a real-time of 29h17m19s and was ahead of the Ker 46 Lisa R owned by 2022 winner Giovanni di Vincenzo who was close to an unprecedented double, by more than 16 minutes.
Third overall was Pepe Cannonball, Dario Ferrari’s Botin 75, which stood out in the coastal races in Saint-Tropez and sailed a very fast long race. In the ORC class, the winner was the Argentinian Swan 45 From Now On owned by Fernando Chain, who also came very close to winning in 2022, in front of Antonio Venneri’s Swan 42 Suspiria the Revenge and Stefano Rusconi’s Italia Yachts 11:98 Concrete Investing – To Be.
With some boats still to finish, the Rolex Giraglia 70 is drawing to an end that will be marked at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning, the time limit for crossing the line, and the prize-giving ceremony at 11.30 at the headquarters of the Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa.
