Azzurra looks towards the 52 Super Series in March in Miami

by Giuliano Luzzatto on 21 Jan 2017 The conclusion of the races in Key West was worse than expected for Azzurra but her team is looking towards the second event in the USA, in March in Miami, with confidence before getting ready to head back to the Med.

Even before leaving the docks this morning Azzurra's team knew that this final day of racing in the Key West Race Week would be complicated: light and irregular breezes what were going from weak to weaker and five teams in just three points: Provezza, the leader in the provisional scores, followed closely by Quantum, Platoon and Azzurra all tied for points, then Ran, just three points behind the leader.

The games were open and Azzurra's team was staying focused. The YCCS boat got a perfect start on the left and took the lead. Quantum also got a good start at the center of the line and began to challenge Azzurra.

Azzurra's lead quickly went up in smoke and she rounded the first mark in fifth place. Her gennaker tore during the hoist and her team had to quickly peel back and sail with a sail that wasn't the best for the light conditions.

In spite of the team's efforts things just didn't work out and Azzurra finished eighth. Azzurra closes this first event in the 2017 52 Super Series in fifth place, even though it's a very close fifth. Quantum, with 43 points, is the clear winner, but a large part of the rest of the fleet is grouped with just two points difference. Platoon and Ran are tied with 49 points. Provezza has the same number of points and Azzurra is fifth with 50 points. Bronenosec also has the same score and is sixth. Interlodge is seventh with 51 points.

Quotes of the day:

Guillermo Parada, Skipper: “Obviously, we're not happy with this result. When the wind died down we realized the boat just didn't have the speed we were hoping for. But on the positive side, the fleet is very compact around a small number of points, and the damage is limited. We've got to solve our problems before we get to Miami to get the best possible result.”

Vasco Vascotto, Tactician: “Yesterday I said that it was my fault that we didn't get the results we wanted, but today I really don't think it was anyone's fault. We got a good start, maybe even too good at start, but we just didn't have the boat speed and we started dropping back. Then we tore the gennaker at the first hoist and that didn't help either. The conditions were tough, very complex and irregular, but they were that way for all the teams. We have to analyze our data, maybe I'm not aware of a mistake I made, but we can't be happy with this result.'

Klaus Lange, Olympic sailor and new entry aboard Azzurra: “In this past week I've learned a lot, it has been truly exceptional both from a sailing and from a human standpoint. This is a professional team that's very close, they've been sailing together for a long time. Lots of them are friends of my father's (Santiago Lange, 55 , gold medal in the Rio Olympics aboard a Nacra 17) so they've known me for a long time too. It's a real honour for me to be sailing with them.

I'm going to be headsail trimmer in the future so I have to learn very last detail aboard, starting from communications to the maneuver so I can be a functioning part of a well oiled team. The level of the 52 Super Series is so high that nobody can afford to make mistakes.'

In the next few hours the 52 Super Series fleet will leave Key West but will stay in Florida, where they'll be sailing from March 7 to 11 in the second event of the Series in Miami Beach. Azzurra's team is determined and concentrated and will work during this time to improve their performance.

52 Super Series 2017 - Quantum Key West Race Week final results

1. Quantum Racing (Doug DeVos, USA), (3,7,4,1,8,7,9,2,1,1) 43 p.
2. Platoon (Harm Müller-Spreer, GER), (1,1,6,6, 10,2,5,3,8,7) 49 p.
3. Rán Racing (Niklas Zennström, SWE), (4,6,9,4,3,4,6,1,6,6) 49 p.
4. Provezza (Ergin Imre, TUR) (8,9,2,2,4,5,2,5,3,9) 49 p.
5. Azzurra (Familia Roemmers, ITA/ARG), (6,2,3,8,2,6,4,6,5,8) 50 p.
6. Bronenosec (Vladimir Liubomirov, RUS), (7,4,5,3,7,3,11,4,4,2) 50 p.
7. Interlodge (Austin Fragomen, USA) (5,8,11,5,1,1,8,7,2,3) 51 p
8. Sled (Takashi Okura, USA), (2,5,8,11,6,11,3,9,9,5) 69 p.
9. Gladiator (Tony Langley, GBR) (10,10,1,9,5,9,7,11,7,11) 80 p.
10. Alegre (Andrés Soriano GBR/USA) (11,3,7,10,9,10,10,10,10,4) 84 p.
11. Paprec Recyclage (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, FRA) (9,11,10,7,11,8,1,8,11,10) 86 p.

52 Super Series 2017

• Quantum Key West Race Week - Key West, Florida, January 15 – 20
• 52 Super Series Miami Royal Cup - Miami, Florida, March 6 – 11
• Rolex TP52 World Championship 2017 -Scarlino, YCS, May 15 – 20
• Porto Cervo 52 Super Series Sailing Week - Porto Cervo, YCCS, June 20 – 25.
• Puerto Portals 52 Super Series Sailing Week - Puerto Portals, CRPP, July 23 – 28
• Menorca 52 Super Series Sailing Week - Mahón, CMM, September 18 – 23