Gazprom Swan 60 Worlds - Spirit of Europe rises up the leader board
by Jessica Francis on 9 Aug 2014
Palma Bay offers close racing for day 5 of the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship Nautor's Swan/Carlo Borlenghi
A pair of race wins for Spirit of Europe on the fifth day of racing in Palma at the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship has moved her from fourth to second overall with a four point lead over third and fourth place.
Although defending Gazprom Swan 60 World Champion Bronenosec (RUS) continues to lead the standings at the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship after a steady day conserving their position at the top, it was Swan 60 Spirit of Europe that showed her colours taking both windward leeward races by a comfortable margin. Solid tactics and smooth crew work in the brisk sea breeze made all the difference for the team’s results.
Tim Kröger, Spirit of Europe Boat Captain commented, 'It was a wonderful day; with two firsts it couldn’t have been better. On the course area we raced on to the east of the Bahia de Palma we sailed exactly how you should sail here; start at the pin, go to the left hand side of the course and we were away. We also have very good speed, very fast and I think that is paying off.
'It is really tight for second place and after our performance today it is all to play for tomorrow. Copa del Rey Mapfre and sailing the Gazprom Swan 60 Worlds under the umbrella of the Copa del Rey is fantastic, you can’t have a better event, especially with the Swan 60s, they are so close and it really is one design racing at its best.'
After the eighth race of the series was completed, the Swan 60 teams were able to discard their worst result of the series from their final overall score. While the Chinese team onboard Windward benefited most, being able to drop eight points for their disqualification earlier in the week, Spirit of Europe and Petit Flamme (RUS) were also both able to drop points from previous races in the event.
The final day of racing on Friday 9 August 2014 will start at 13.00 on course area Bravo, located further out in the Bahia de Palma. Two windward leeward races are scheduled for the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship and celebrations to crown the 2014 Gazprom Swan 60 World Champion are anticipated at the dock upon their return.
Provisional Results:
Bronenosec (RUS): 1 – 4 – 3 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 2 – Total 14
Spirit of Europe (BVI): 4 – 6 – 6 – 3 – 2 – 6 – 1 – 1 – 1 – Total 24
Petite Flamme (RUS): 3 – 7 – 1 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 3 – 4 – 6 – Total 28
Windward (CHN): DSQ – 3 – 4 – 6 – 3 – 2 – 5 – 2 – 3 – Total 28
Gazprom Youth Sailing Challenge, Tsaar Peter (RUS): 2 – 1 – 5 – 7 – 6 – 3 – 6 – 5 – 7 – Total 35
German Offshore Challenger, SGM (GER): 6 – 2 – 2 – 4 – 7 – 4 – 7 – DNF – 4 – Total 36
Vertical Smile (DEN): 5 – 5 – 7 – 5 – 5 – 7 – 4 – 6 – 5 – Total Gazprom Swan 60 Class website
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