2015 52 Super Series – Azzurra makes excellent recovery

by Azzurra Sailing Team on 12 Jun 2015 2015 52 Super Series – With a first and a second place finish today Azzurra, the boat flying the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s burgee, has climbed back up in the provisional ranking at the Settimana delle Bocche and now is just one point behind the boats that are tied for first place: Bronenosec and Quantum.

Today Azzurra showed her mettle with an excellent recovery after her lacklustre performance yesterday: a first place and a second place finish are enough to dispel any doubts about this team’s resilience. Once again, the Costa Smeralda showed itself to be one of the best regatta fields in the world giving the nine boats competing in the 52 Super Series the chance to race in both a windward/leeward race and in an eighteen mile coastal race that ran through the Pevero Gulf and past the Mortorio and Soffi Islands. Winds were from the southwest at about 14 to 18 knots.

Both races were spectacular and hard-fought. In the first race, Azzurra had Riccardo Bonadeo, Commodore of the YCCS, aboard. This race she won after long duels first with Bronensec then with her long-time rival Quantum who came in second. The onboard tactics, both upwind and down and the tack and gybe battles show that these TP52s really know how to put on a high-level sailing show.

The brief coastal race took the fleet from Porto Cervo around the Mortoriotto, Mortorio and Soffi Islands upwind. From there it was a downwind shoot to the finish. Bronensec was fastest at the start, but Azzurra was close on her and soon passed thanks to some very good tactics. Downwind, once the Island of Soffi had been passed, Bronensec managed to catch up to and then pass Azzurra thanks to her slightly faster speed on the beam reach.

So, unfortunately, no double header win, but today’s performance is still an excellent recovery that puts Azzurra just one point behind the boats that are tied for first: Bronenosec and Quantum.

Quotes of the day:

YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo: “Today was one of those typically magnificent Sardinian days even though it looks like sirocco winds have replaced the mistral, and tacticians used to sailing here have had to change their strategies.
Today I was eyewitness to the quality of Azzurra and the depth of talent of her crew. They won thanks to a well-oiled mechanism, excellent tactical choices and perfect maneuvers. The boats were so close that even the slightest error could have cost them dearly. That didn’t happen, they sailed excellently, too bad for the lost points yesterday. At any rate, Azzurra is just one point behind the leaders and in the next few days will try to get the constant results that are the key to success in a fleet this competitive. I have to hand it to Alberto Roemmers, who helmed Azzurra excellently upwind. He was perfect and I can’t help admiring his skill and style.”

Skipper Guillermo Parada: “You can’t complain with a day like today. Yesterday we didn’t have a very good day, and we needed to come back and we did. I’m happy and thinking about the rest of the week. In the second race coming back from the islands, they were able to trims the sails early, faster than us. Nothing special, we lost two or three boat lengths there and that was it.”

Tactician Vasco Vascotto: “In both races today we got the starts that we wanted and the boat is sailing well. We won the first race but made an error in the second that cost us the win. Bronenosec is leading by just one point, but it looks to me like they’re sailing better than we are. We need to be more constant.”

Tomorrow’s forecast calls for winds strengthening to 25 knots with gusts at 30. Thunderstorms may also be in the cards.

52 Super Series - Settimana delle Bocche

Provisional results after five races

1.Bronenosec, RUS (Vladimir Liubomirov RUS) (9,1,1,4,1) 16pts
2.Quantum Racing, USA (Doug DeVos USA) (3,4,4,2,3) 16pts
3.Azzurra, ITA (Pablo/Alberto Roemmers ARG) (1,6,7,1,2) 17pts
4.Sled, USA (Takashi Okura JPN) (8,2,6,3,4) 23pts
5.Provezza, TUR (Ergin Imre TUR) (5,5,2,6,5) 23pts
6.Gladiator, GBR (Tony Langley GBR) (6,3,5,5,8) 27pts
7.Platoon, GER (Harm Müller-Spreer GER) (7,7,3,8,6) 31pts
8.Alegre, GBR (Andres Soriano USA) (4,8,8,7,7) 34pts
9.Paprec FRA (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin FRA) (2,9,9,9,9) 38pts

2015 Calendar 52 Super Series
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)