PalmaVela 2015 – A winning debut

by Azzurra Sailing Team on 4 May 2015 It has been a winning debut for the new Azzurra, the TP52 that is the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s sporting symbol.

With another first place finish in today’s only race held in breezes that never topped 10 knots, Azzurra won PalmaVela, the test event for some of the most competitive TP52s before the 2015 season kicks off next month. Quantum Racing placed second overall followed by Interlodge.

Azzurra looked good in today’s light air after yesterday’s two first place finishes in the fresh breeze. She dominated from the start straight on the pin, controlling the left-hand side of the course and tacking first on the windward mark. From then on she stayed at the head of the fleet, lengthening her distance from the others until she finished first with almost a minute’s lead on Interlodge. Quantum finished third followed by Alegre.

Azzurra’s next event will be on May 19th in Valencia, the beginning of the 52 Super Series. Azzurra’s official christening will be held there on Friday, May 22.

Quotes of the day:

Riccardo Bonadeo, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda Commodore: “We’re off to a good start and Azzurra’s participation in PalmaVela has been very important for getting ready for the 52 Super Series 2015. The YCCS will host an event in the Series in June, but winning the first event in a new boat has to be a good sign. Congratulations to the crew and a heartfelt thank you to the Roemmers family, YCCS members and owners of Azzurra.”

Pablo Roemmers, Owner: “Yes, we’re very happy, the boat is showing that our investment in time and effort is paying off. This is a very fast boat and the crew is very competitive. We feel that we can have a good year. In Valencia it’ll be interesting to see how the boat performs against the rest of the fleet. Here we were only four boats and all Botin designed, so it’s going to be challenging because in Valencia there will be over twelve boats.”

Guillermo Parada, Skipper: 'I think we had a good series. The reality is that we are happy but mostly because we feel like we did a good job in terms of learning the boat and testing new things. The results are a good bonus but they are just a consequence of our previous work. It is always very good to win the first regatta of a new boat, it is a good christening, so we are happy with that also. But the most important thing is we ticked a lot of boxes and we still have a lot of stuff to test in the next few days.'

'Today three boats were all tied for first place. Our goal was start to the left of the fleet and stay left and we were able to achieve that, we had a good start. From there on we were able to just let the boat do its job. We were really quick and once we got the left on the start we were able to control the fleet and have a quiet race.'

Vasco Vascotto, Tactician: “This wasn't a regatta that we had to win, but I don’t mean to say that I’m not happy that we did. I think everything went as it should have, both on the boat and with the team. But this is just a starting point for us and from here we have to get even better. We know that we have to make progress, our competitors in the 52 Super Series are really tough.”

52 Super Series 2015 calendar
18 to 23 May: Valencia (Spain)
8 to 13 June: Porto Cervo (Italy, Sardinia)
13 to 18 July: Puerto Portals (Spain, Mallorca)
3 to 8 August: Palma de Mallorca (Spain)
15 to 20 September: Cascais (Portugal)