Fresh breezes push Azzurra to a third place in Race 6

Azzurra placed third in today’s second race so hopefully her losing streak is coming to an end. Phoenix is the new leader overall. Tomorrow will be the final day of racing at the Zadar Royal Cup.

The Race Committee had to wait until 2:40 PM to call the start of Race number 5 at the Zadar Royal Cup, second event in the 2018 52 Super Series. Only in the afternoon did the thermal breeze from the northwest manage to get the better of the morning’s gradually dying Bora wind. From eight knots at the start of the race the wind, unstable and shifty in both intensity and direction, gradually built to 16 knots during the day’s second race.

The fresh breeze pushed Azzurra to a result that was more in keeping with her usual performance, a third place finish in the day’s second race. Azzurra was neck to neck with Quantum at the finish line after the American team, sailing on the right hand side of the course, caught a puff while Azzurra, sailing to the left along with the major part of the fleet, was edged out by a hair. It was a photo finish, but over the course of the race the boat flying the YCCS burgee was always in second place, fighting off Platoon, with John Kostecki as tactician. It was a close fight and fun to watch, but at every marker rounded Azzurra was second only to Phoenix. This team, sailing with Ed Baird tactician, dominated the race right from the start and is the new leader in the overall results.

Skipper Guillermo Parada had these words: “Today it finally felt like we’re getting our groove back after a very difficult week where we weren’t getting things right. We haven’t been sailing well and we’re paying dearly in points for every mistake. Let’s hope that today’s third place finish will bolster us up, to keep on working and improving. Obviously, we’ve dropped back overall, but tomorrow we’ll head back out determined to sail well without thinking about our current score. We want to finish on a high note tomorrow and concentrate on Cascais where we’re hoping that the wind conditions will be better for us.”

Tomorrow is the final day of this event. Racing will begin at 12 noon and can be watched in live streaming on the website 52superseries.com and on azzurra.it. Azzurra’s Facebook and Twitter accounts will have real time updates directly from the regatta course.

Provisonal results after 6 races
1. Phoenix (RSA) (Hasso/Tina Plattner) (3,7,1,6,4,1) 22 p
2. Luna Rossa (ITA) (Patrizio Bertelli) (1,2,5,3,7,7) 25 p.
3. Platoon (GER) (Harm Müller-Spreer) (5,5,2,2,8,4) 26 p.
4. Sled (USA) (Takashi Okura) (6,4,7,1,5,5) 28 p.
5. Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) (9,6,3,7,3,2) (2 penalty) 32 p.
6. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andrés Soriano) (2,9,9,4,1,10) 35 p.
7. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) (11,3,4,5,10,9) 42 p.
8. Azzurra (ARG/ITA) (Alberto/Pablo Roemmers) (4,10,10,9,9,3) 45 p.
9. Gladiator (GBR) (Tony Langley) (7,1,11,11,2,12) (2 penalty) 46 p.
10. Onda (BRA) (Eduardo de Souza Ramos) (10,11,6,8,6,6) 47 p.
11. Paprec Recyclage (FRA) (Jean Luc Petithuguenin) (8,8,8,10,11,8) 53 p.

52 SUPER SERIES 2018

Sibenik 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week
May 23rd - 27th, Sibenik, Croatia

52 SUPER SERIES Zadar Royal Cup
June 20th - 24th, Zadar, Croatia

ROLEX TP52 World Championship Cascais 2018
July 17th - 21st, Cascais, Portugal

Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week
August 21st - 25th, Mallorca, Spain

52 SUPER SERIES Valencia Sailing Week
September 18th - 22nd, Valencia, Spain