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The first match yesterday kicked off in five knots of breeze and was filled with incident, with the umpires assigning three penalties to the two crews in quick succession. DE ANGELIS and his team were firmly in command until a poor spinnaker drop at the end of the second run forced the boat to a standstill. SPITHILL seized his opportunity and after catching up, past his opponent and cut across the finish line in first.

In the second race SPITHILL's crew on Luna Rossa 1 was in control from the get go after forcing a penalty on DE ANGELIS in the pre-start. The race is sewn up with Luna Rossa 1 maintaining a 13 second advantage at every buoy rounding, to win the match and more importantly the event.

The third place went to the Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team (ITA) thanks to the final rankings in the Round Robin, whilst the +39 Challenge (ITA) was fourth.

'I am very happy,' said SPITHILL. 'We raced well and made fewer mistakes that de Angelis. We were also very lucky however. This is a fun and technical race, a match race different from all others; the larger boats allow us to improve our efficiency and group cohesion. We will certainly do our best to be back next year.'

DE ANGELIS and his crew received the Pasquale Landolfi Trophy at the award ceremony. This prize is dedicated to the memory of Pasquale LANDOLFI (ITA), a renown blue water yachtsman who passed away recently. It was instituted this year by the organizers of The Heat, in collaboration with the monthly Italian sailing magazine Fare Vela. The trophy is awarded to the helmsman who during the qualifying round robins, was first in rounding the first windward buoy the great number of times.