Return as protagonist in the regattas for the sailor from Cagliari after five years
CAGLIARI. «I risked losing the boat twice on the first day of the race. But despite everything I managed to win and leave the strongest boats behind me ». Andrea Mura has made a comeback as a protagonist, absent from racing for 5 years. The former parliamentarian at the helm of “Vento di Sardegna” won the “Roma x 1”, the transtyrrenic (535 miles) which, after three days of navigation, ended in Riva di Traiano, from where she left to sail on Sunday towards Ventotene and Lipari and return to the small port of Lazio. A great performance, that of the Cagliari navigator, born in 1964, the first Italian to win the Route du Rhum, finished third overall but first among the boats alone, leaving in his wake two French class 40 “Reforest’Action” by Kito de Pavant and Alex Bravo, and “Teata Full Save” by Jean Pierre Balmes and Michel Cohen.
«My goal was to beat the French and I succeeded – says Mura, as soon as I landed in Riva di Traiano -, I’m happy even if I didn’t beat the distance record I set in the 2016 edition when I finished the race in 66 hours, this time it took me 80. There weren’t the right weather conditions and especially this time I experienced extreme situations that characterized the first part of the regatta both at the start and in front of the island of Ventotene “
An eventful start, the one experienced by Andrea Mura on the Open 50 Vento di Sardegna, especially when a trappa got stuck in the furler causing the sail to escape, which got entangled in the bulb of the hull. With the boat tilted 45 degrees, Andrea Mura was able to put it back in order avoiding crashing on the rocks.
The other incident occurred after sunset in front of Ventotene when Vento di Sardegna grazed an unlit signal buoy, which hooked a sheet and twisted around the bulb. Despite the darkness, Andrea Mura put on his wetsuit and mask and managed to free the bulb from the top, which had blocked the boat. «Everything is good when it ends well, the boat is always competitive. Now she is ready to go back to the ocean. My goal is to do the Global Solo Challenge, a non-stop solo tour of the world, without assistance and without a stop, which will start in September 2023 from La Coruña, Spain ».