Azzurra wins a race and is in second place in Cascais

It was a good day for Azzurra in Cascais, where the third event in the 2019 season, the Cascais 52 Super Series Sailing Week, is being held. With first and third place finishes today Azzurra is currently in second place at this event, just three points behind the leader, Quantum.

The breeze has been fresh and from the northwest with gusts at over 25 knots for both days of racing at the Cascais 52 Super Series Sailing Week. In these conditions Azzurra usually sails well and she did today too, with a bullet in the first race and an excellent recovery in the second race where she finished third. But the fight at the top is close, both the provisional leader, Quantum, and the third placed team, Platoon, have the same number of points as Azzurra does: four.
The first race got underway in breeze at 18 knots that built to 21 over the course of the race. There was a fight for the Committee Boat at the start and Azzurra joined in, loosing a couple of seconds to be sure that she would be the first to tack to the right hand side of the course. It was a good choice and Azzurra lead the fleet along the first beat, lengthening her lead thanks to her boat speed and excellent, clean manoeuvres surfing on a broad reach. Behind the boat flying the YCCS’s colours, Quantum and Platoon.

The second race saw the wind build with gusts at 25 knots. The situation became more complex when Quantum and Bronenosec copied Azzurra’s strategy from the first race and went for the right even if it cost a second or two. Azzurra found herself following her closest competitors but hard work, especially along the runs, brought Azzurra back up to fifth place, then fourth at the end of the second beat. She finished third behind Platoon and Quantum.

Skipper Guillermo Parada had these words: “Today we maintained the same difference in points from Quantum and we’re tied with Platoon and Quantum now so let’s say it was a good day. The first race was a little easier for us than the second: we fought for the right and we got it, but we paid for it too but especially after the first run we were able to extend and manage the race from there. In the second race we wanted the right but I got a terrible start and we were in a bad place from the beginning. The fleet was much more mixed up with lots of shifts coming in from the left and we were trailing at the first mark, so we had a lot of work to do. Luckily we were able to recover and we finished third which will keep us alive in the standings at this event and also overall for the season.”

Racing continues tomorrow in conditions that are forecast to be similar to day’s. The first warning signal will be moved up to at 11 PM local time, 12 PM CEST. Fans can follow the action on Virtual Eye on the website www.52superseries.com or on www.azzurra.it. Updates from the course will be posted on Azzurra’s Facebook page, while the best racing shots will be on her Instagram account: www.instagram.com/azzurrasailing/

Cascáis 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week after four races
1. Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) (2,1,2,2) 7 ps.
2. Azzurra (ARG/ITA) (Alberto/Pablo Roemmers) (3,3,1,3) 10 p.
3. Platoon (GER) (Harm Müller-Spreer) (5,4,3,1) 13 p.
4. Bronenosec (RUS) (Vladimir Liubomirov) (4,2,4,7) 17 p.
5. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) (1,5,7,5) 18 p.
6. Phoenix 11 (RSA) (Hasso Plattner) (6,6,5,4) 21 p.
7. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andrés Soriano) (7,7,6,6) 26 p.