Azzurra stays in the game at the Rolex TP52 Worlds Championship

With second and seventh places finishes in today’s two races, Azzurra is in second place overall behind Quantum at the Rolex TP52 World Championship in Cascais, Portugal. Tomorrow, July 19th, there will be a coastal race.

Just two points separate the boat flying the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s burgee from Quantum Racing. The American team placed third and fourth in today’s races that were won by Luna Rossa and Alegre; yet another demonstration of just how high the level of competition is at this event.

As planned, today there were two windward/leeward races and the wind was at 14 to 20 knots as forecast. In the first race Azzurra started on the right, by the Committee Boat and was very fast. Luna Rossa was sailing similarly, but on the other side, at the pin. The two teams arrived side by side at the mark, with Luna Rossa capturing the advantage of being on the inside. While Luna Rossa lengthened her advantage, the rest of the compact fleet fought for every metre in the wind and waves. A good show was guaranteed. The final few metres were very suspenseful with Quantum trying to edge out Azzurra and arriving less than a length behind from the opposite side of the course.

The second race was set out on an unusual windward/leeward course: after the first beat the fleet was sent on a downwind leg that was twice as long as the beat, to then head back upwind to the finish along a beat that was half as long as the run. The race saw Quantum marking Azzurra right from the start, where Azzurra was slowed down by the rest of the fleet in a fight for the right side of the course. Alegre was sailing alone on left on the pin and crossed the fleet to take control. Azzurra rounded the mark fifth and recovered at the beginning of the run only to lose positions later after a wind shift and under close control from Quantum, who stayed close on her along the final beat too.  Tomorrow a coastal race is scheduled to start at 1 PM local time tomorrow, 2 PM CEST. Conditions are forecast to be similar to today’s.

Guillermo Parada, skipper, analysed the day: “The first race went well, I’m just a little sorry that we didn’t cross Luna Rossa a little earlier because we would have been first, but we’re happy with second place. In the second race we were slowed down a little at the start and in hindsight Alegre’s choice of the left was much better. But we did well on the beat and the first half of the run then we went too wide on the right while the wind turned to the left 10 degrees. We lost two positions and Quantum did a good job, from their point of view, of marking us. They managed to stay in fourth place even while controlling us so that we couldn’t pass Provezza and Platoon who had passed us on in the second half of the run. We got a point on them in the first race and we lost three in the second: we are two points behind Quantum and there are three days left to fight back.”

Santiago Lange, tactician: “In the second race we had some opportunities that we didn’t take, so we need to keep pushing. There was a big split in the fleet at the 'starting gate' and we chose the wrong side. We lost two places, but it was a difficult call. Sometimes you win, but sometimes you lose.”

Racing can be followed in real time with commentary in English on the site www.52superseries.com and www.azzurra.it, on Azzurra’s social network pages and on Virtual Eye.

ROLEX TP52 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Provisonal Results after 4 races

1.Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) 2,1,3,4 p.102.
2.Azzurra (ARG/ITA) (Alberto and Pablo Roemmers) 1,2,2,7 p.12
3. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andrés Soriano) 4,4,5,1p. 14
4. Luna Rossa (ITA) (Patrizio Bertelli) dnf 10, 6,1,3 p. 20
5. Sled (USA) (Takashi Okura) 8,3,7,2 p.20
6. Platoon (GER) (Harm Müller-Spreer) 3,5,6,6 p.20
7. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) 5,9,4,5 p.23
8. Phoenix (RSA) (Hasso/Tina Plattner) 6,7,8,8 p.29
9. Onda (BRA) (Eduardo de Souza Ramos) 7,8,9,9 p.33
 

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