Copa del Rey Mapfre - Azzurra on the podium in Palma

by Azzurra Sailing Team on 10 Aug 2014 Azzurra claimed second place today, behind Phoenix, in the day's only race. The 33rd Copa del Rey Mapfre, third stage of the Barclays 52 Super Series, was won by Quantum, Ran claimed second place while Azzurra stepped on the third step of the podium.

The thermal breeze took longer than usual to settle in on the last day of the 33rd Copa del Rey, the first under the reign of Felipe VI, who personally raced at the helm of Aifos, the Spanish Navy TP52 that competed in the IRC class. The breeze came in today further from the east as it was linked to a gradient wind that reached 20 knots, allowing the fleet of 52 Super Series Barclays to plane spectacularly downwind.

Azzurra, together with Phoenix, had a good start in the middle of the line, while Quantum and Ran were battling it out at the committee-boat end. In the first beat, the Americans attacked Azzurra, while Ran, following a late start, was on the right-hand side of the course. Phoenix was in command at the first weather mark, followed by Azzurra that had cleverly managed to fend off Quantum's attacks at the approach to the mark. In the remainder of the race, the YCCS boat was hot on the heels of Phoenix, nearly succeeding in overtaking them in the second beat, while Quantum and Ran held on to their positions, third and fourth.

The third stage of the Barclays 52 Super Series concludes with Azzurra standing third in the season's overall leaderboard, behind Ran and, the leaders, Quantum. The final attack will take place in Ibiza, from September 17th to 21st, with the fourth and final leg of the Barclays 52 Super Series.

In the other classes racing at the Copa del Rey Mapfre, Robertissima, the Minimaxi flying the burgee of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, took third place. In addition, Italy's Hurakan and Lelagain were victorious, respectively, in the in IRC1 and X-35 divisions, while the Italian-Russian crew of Bronenosec was proclaimed Swan 60 World Champion.

Guillermo Parada, skipper: 'It was a really nice race, much breezier than the other days, and these are the conditions in which we feel comfortable. We had a very nice fight with Phoenix for the victory, apart from the rest of the fleet because Quantum went to cover Ran. It is a shame the Race Committee didn't move the course earlier to the area where we finally raced. If they had done it an hour earlier, we could have held the two scheduled races. Conditions today were amazing and we came back with the desire to sail last race (however the time limit had expired at 3:45pm, ed).'

'We will now have a meeting in view of Ibiza, to optimize the setup of the boat and the sails. Azzurra is a boat that doesn't give up and we will continue on this line in Ibiza as well, till the end. I don't know whether we can win because we will have to sail constantly well while Quantum will have to show a performance inferior to their standard. We will also have to attack Ran, that stands ahead of us in the overall standings and is doing very well.'

Bruno Zirilli, navigator: 'We are pleased to have concluded the Copa del Rey with a second place in the day, racing well and with perfect maneuvers even in brisker conditions. Today we put our bow in front of those of our rivals. It will not be easy to beat them in Ibiza but in September there should be more breeze than last year in June. One thing is for sure, we will give all that we have and even a bit more!'

Final Results: Barclays 52 Super Series - Copa del Rey Mapfre

Overall after ten races

1 Quantum Racing, USA, (Doug De Vos USA) (2,1,2,2,6,1,2,2,4,3) 25pts
2 Rán Racing, SWE, (Niklas Zennström SWE) (1,7,6,3,1,3,1,1,2,4) 29pts
3 Azzurra, ITA, (Alberto Roemmers ARG) (3,5,4,1,5,2,5,4,1,2) 32pts
4 Phoenix, BRA, (Eduardo de Souza Ramos BRA) (6,3,3,6,2,5,3,3,3,1) 35pts
5 Gladiator, GBR, (Tony Langley GBR) (DNF/8,2,1,5,3,4,4,5,7,5) 44pts
6 Paprec, FRA, (Jean Luc Petithuguenin FRA) (4,6,5,4,4,7,6,7,6,7) 56pts
7 Provezza 7, TUR, (Ergin Imre TUR) (5,4,DNF/8,DNS/8,7,6,7,6,5,6) 62pts

Barclays 52 Super Series - Overall after three events

1 Quantum Racing, USA, (Doug De Vos USA) (23, 10, 25) 58pts
2 Rán Racing, SWE, (Niklas Zennström SWE) (24,13, 29) 66pts
3 Azzurra, ITA, (Alberto Roemmers ARG) (17, 21,32) 70pts
4 Phoenix, BRA, (Eduardo de Souza Ramos BRA) (30,12,35) 77pts
5 Gladiator, GBR, (Tony Langley GBR) (34, 24,44) 102pts
6 Provezza 7, TUR, (Ergin Imre TUR) (35, 33,62) 130pts
7 Paprec FRA, (Jean Luc Petithugenin FRA) (- ,40,34) 74pts
8 Vesper USA, (Jim Swartz USA) (21,50, - ) 71pts
9 B2, ITA, (Michele Galli ITA) (46,43, -) 89pts
10 Hurakan, ITA, (Giuseppe Parodi ITA) (60,37, -) 97pts