2015 TP52 World Championship - Hard fight to defend overall position

by Giuliano Luzzatto on 15 Jul 2015 2015 TP52 World Championship - Azzurra has finished the first day of racing at the Puerto Portals 52 World Championship with a provisional score that puts her just behind the current leader, the German boat Platoon. The racing is very close with just three points difference between the top five teams.

The first day of racing in the 52 World Championship saw the fleet of twelve boats race in the bay off Palma de Majorca in light south-westerly breezes between eight and ten knots. Unexpected shifts and wind holes made today’s racing complicated for tacticians.

In the first race Azzurra got a good start to the left avoiding the temptation to go for the pin, a strategy that allowed the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s boat to round the first upwind mark in second place. A position she held onto throughout the race, fending off an attempt on Quantum’s part to recover on the last downwind leg. race one was won by the German boat Platoon, currently at the head of this event’s provisional score followed by Sled who won the second race.

The beginning of the second race was chaotic because of an unexpected breeze shift just seconds before the start. Boats that were vying for the pin found themselves off course and had to tack starboard to get back. Azzurra sailed through the chaos and recovered positions but found herself involved in an accident at the busy first mark. Two broken stanchions meant that the crew couldn’t hike against the lifelines so the boat didn’t sail to her top potential.

In spite of it all, Azzurra stood up well, getting a good seventh place finish in the second race thanks to her crew’s talent and seamanship.

Guillermo Parada, Azzurra’s skipper had these words: “It was a tough, tough day on the water. The wind was very shifty and puffy and very hard to predict and read. In the end it was strong to the left in both races so it was a matter of getting a good line to the left. In the first race we managed to do it so we had a good second place and we’re happy with that. In the second race we were in a bad spot from the start and from there on we were trying to recover and get into the top positions. We were involved in the accident between Phoenix and Gladiator and that made us break two stanchions and lose a lot of ground so it was even tougher because we had to be very, very patient and recover meter by meter. At the end we were we able to get a good seventh, so overall we’re happy. As I said it was a tough day, but we still have some points against our rivals and are looking forward to tomorrow.”

Tactician Vasco Vascotto’s comment: 'Today we didn’t sail in typical Puerto Portals conditions, but with a really light and shifty breeze that’s more like Copa del Rey conditions. There were huge wind holes that made for up and down performances for everyone. Platoon sailed well, at the head of the first race and always on the wind in the second. We sailed conservatively in the first race and in the second we were held up at the start by a wind hole. We sailed well and recovered points that at the end of the Series could be very precious.”

Racing will start tomorrow at 1:00 PM. The weather forecast calls for light air, with thermal breezes no stronger than twelve knots. Racing with commentary in English can be followed live via Virtual Eye on our website.

TP52 World Championship Puerto Portals after two races:

1.Platoon, GER (Harm Müller-Spreer GER) (1,5) 6pts
2.Sled, USA (Takashi Okura JPN) (6,1) 7pts
3.Azzurra, ITA (Pablo/Alberto Roemmers ARG) (2,7) 9pts
4.Rán Racing, SWE (Niklas Zennström SWE) (5,4) 9pts
5.Alegre, GBR (Andres Soriano USA) (7,2) 9pts
6.Bronenosec, RUS (Vladimir Liubomirov RUS) (9,3) 12pts
7.Quantum Racing, USA (Doug DeVos USA) (3,11) 14pts
8.Phoenix, BRA, (Eduardo de Souza Ramos BRA) (4,12) 16pts
9.Xio/Hurakan, ITA (Marco Serafini ITA) (8,8) 16pts
10.Provezza, TUR (Ergin Imre TUR) (11,6) 17pts
11.Paprec FRA (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin FRA) (10,9) 19pts
12.Gladiator, GBR (Tony Langley GBR) (DNF/13,10) 23pts