Podium finish for Azzurra in the Rolex TP52 World Championship

by Azzurra on 20 May 2017 Azzurra won big time on the last day of the Rolex TP52 World Championship for a well earned third overall. Platoon is the new world champion; the circuit’s next event will be in Porto Cervo.

The fresh northwesterly 15 to 18 knot wind forecast for today didn’t fill in until after 2pm, allowing only one race to be run; on the last day race instructions do not allow for any starts after 3pm. A further challenge for Azzurra, giving her only one chance to recover the two points necessary to beat Alegre and gain a podium finish.

Azzurra dominated the race right from the beginning with a perfectly timed committee-end start. Then, with Quantum to leeward, she disengaged, taking off on port tack to the favored right side. Sled started off well with a pin-end start and took the left side, but Vascotto’s tactical choice of the right soon paid off. Platoon, who had to fend off Quantum for the world championship title, had an incredible comeback, finishing second after a lackluster start. After rounding the top mark in first, Azzurra increased her lead on the downwind leg, keeping a weather eye on Bronenosec at first, then on Platoon. On the first beat, third placed Alegre tried hard to get into second to keep Azzurra, already in the lead, off the podium. But the during the race Alegre fell back into fourth, a solid position but not enough to keep the YCCS yacht from winning the bronze.

Riccardo Bonadeo, Commodore of the YCCS: 'Congratulations to the entire team on their third place, especially when we see how it was won. They had to get through a championship that was much harder than foreseen, but nobody gave in, the team stayed united and gave the decisive blow at the right time. Looking at the season as a whole, the game is still wide open, and we’re expecting exciting racing here in Porto Cervo in June, when we will welcome Azzurra and all the other competitors in the 52 Super Series with open arms.”

Guillermo Parada, skipper: “This was a good way to finish the regatta. We knew that with a proper steady breeze we are better than we showed so far this week. It’s good to finish on an upswing. Congratulations to Platoon, they deserve the world title, they were the best this week. It’s a bit of a bittersweet feeling for us, but it’s good to finish on the podium and win the last race. We obviously would have liked to sail another race today, which is really what we were looking for, but, it is what it is. The wind didn’t fill in until really late in the afternoon so could only run one race. But overall I’m very happy, especially with our attitude: we held tight when we were having a bad week and that’s very important. When everything’s coming your way, it’s very easy to win and put points between you and your opponents; when the week doesn’t go your way, you have to hang tough and minimize the damage as much as you can, and I think that somehow we were able to do that these last two days.”

Vasco Vascotto, tactician: “We’re continuing to recover important points in the circuit’s overall standings; we’re in second only four lengths behind Platoon, a trifle. To keep fired up over the last few difficult days we pretended we were already competing in the next events in Porto Cervo and Portals. It was just a game, but it worked. Last year here in Scarlino we lost a lot of points to Quantum, this time we are right in the running. We are also pleased with our podium finish, even though we didn’t come here to come in third.”

In the 52 Super Series overall standings, Platoon is in the lead with only a four point advantage over second placed Azzurra. Quantum is in third, seven points behind.
The next event is the Audi 52 Super Series Sailing Week at Porto Cervo, from June 21st to the 25th, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.

Final Results - Rolex TP52 World Championship (eight races)
1. Platoon (GER, Harm Müller-Spreer), (2,3,2,2,2,6,3,2) 22 points.
2. Quantum Racing (Doug DeVos, USA), (1,2,8,1,1,7,2,7) 29 p.
3. Azzurra (Alberto and Pablo Roemmers, ITA/ARG), (3,1,6,8,6,4,4,1) 33 p.
4. Alegre (Andrés Soriano GBR/USA), (5,6,4,4,3,2,6,5) 35 p.
5. Gladiator (Tony Langley, GBR) (6,10,1,3,8,10,1,6) 45 p.
6. Rán Racing (Niklas Zennström, SWE), (10,5,5,7,9,3,7,3) 49 p.
7. Sled (Takashi Okura, USA), (4,9,7,9,7,1,8,8) 53 p.
8. Provezza (Ergin Imre, TUR) (RDG6.3,8,10,6,4,5,5,9) 53.3 p.
9. Bronenosec (Vladimir Liubomirov, RUS), (8,7,9,5,5,9,9,4) 56 p.
10. Sorcha (Peter Harrison, GBR), (7,4,3,10,10,8,10,10) 62 p.