Ostar race. Andrea Mura talks about his Ostar

The first interview given by Andrea Mura after his victory at the Ostar

Newport (USA) – Andrea Mura, the winner of Ostar 2017, is still in the United States for the celebrations of his victory, but he wanted to grant Solovelanet his first interview as a winner.
The Ostar di Mura, as he himself will tell us, was a tough regatta in which he had to face three storms, one of which was very intense with winds exceeding 50 knots. Of the 21 boats that departed from Plymouth on May 29, only 7 survived the treatment that gave them the Atlantic, the others had to retire or were abandoned in the ocean.
Mura, seeing the first intense depression coming, immediately decided to climb north to quickly bypass the eye of the depression and go back down with favorable winds to the south. The Sardinian navigator went as far as 56 degrees north latitude. Unfortunately, once the first one passed, two more depressions came one after the other and Mura continued to have to sail upwind.
In addition to Andrea Mura, there was also a second Italian in the race, Michele Zambelli who ran on a Class 950, who however, when he had almost passed the third storm, lost his keel and was forced to activate his Epirb . Six hours later he was rescued by a helicopter. The day before there had already been 3 rescues by helicopters and ships, of four navigators of the Ostar.
Andrea Mura crossed the finish line first in Newport on June 15 with a time of 17 days, 4 hours and 6 minutes

SVN – What is Ostar.

AM – It is the toughest regatta in the world, the greatest training ground for those who want to put themselves and their boat to the test. It's a race to be done against the wind, all upwind in extreme weather conditions, a real training ground. This then, the worst of all.

SVN – What happened.

AM – In this edition the sea and wind conditions were prohibitive. We caught a storm with winds up to 50 knots.

SVN – You had problems.

AM – Real problems actually few. The VHF antenna fell and I had a leak with the hydraulic piston that lost some oil. However, I had a spare antenna and spare oil and I managed to fix everything.

SVN – You did well compared to many others who dropped out. Fortune?

AM – No, it's not about luck but about a capillary job that I do every year on the boat. Nothing is left to chance and I check every bolt before embarking on navigations of this type. The preparation and care of the vehicle are of fundamental importance when you decide to face such demanding situations.

SVN – You won this time too: honor on merit, but you were without opponents, what do you think.

AM – Ostar is open to anyone who wants to prove their worth. I was there, the opponent that unfortunately I was unable to beat is the distance record and, to be honest, in this Ostar there were trimarans faster than Vento di Sardegna on paper.

SVN – Vento di Sardegna, a boat from 1997: it's still fine.

AM – To stop Vento di Sardegna you would have to throw it against the rocks! The boat is fine, I continue to update it continuously. From the original project I have made several modifications, appendages and mast are of new conception. Felci's design was very advanced for those years, even if, to this day, it pays for the fact that it was built with heavy materials. Now the same boat would weigh much less and would be much more performing.

SVN – Next appointment.

AM – I intend to participate in next year's Route du Rhum and repeat the success of 2010.

SVN – You have won and, probably, you will win again, you also think you have convinced.

AM – I think so, I had a lot of feedback from everyone and a lot of support, this really pleased me and encourages me to continue, but I don't know if I was able to convince even some sponsors.

SVN – The sponsors are the ones you lacked to be able to do the Vendée Globe.

AM – Unfortunately yes and in the last edition I narrowly missed the goal of being able to participate. As we well know, the situation in Italy is not easy, sailing is not taken into sufficient consideration and many athletes succeed only thanks to the coverage of organizations such as, for example, the aeronautics. For individuals it is very difficult.

SVN – You'll try anyway.

AM – Of course yes, as a good Sardinian I am stubborn! My goal is the Vendée Globe, give me an Imoca 60 and I'll be on the starting line at the next edition!

Jun 17, 2017
Alexander Balzani

Source [ solovela.net]