Sardinia Cup - Italy leads the charge

by Jill Campbell on 15 Jun 2012 In the 2012 Audi Sardinia Cup, with two races held, Team Italy leads the overall classification thanks to two bullets claimed by Andres Soriano's Soto 40 Alegre and solid third and second places from the TP52 Audi Azzurra Sailing Team, owned by Alberto Roemmers. The team classification sees Quantum Racing (TP52) and Iberdrola (Soto 40) representing the USA in second place while Sweden, represented by Niklas Zennstrom's TP52 Ràn and the Soto 40 Black Pearl, round out the provisional podium in third place.

Alegre, with New Zealander Chris Main on tactics, therefore leads the provisional classification for the Soto 40 class - in this second leg of their European Championship - ahead of Black Pearl and Bigamist. Doug DeVos' Quantum Racing, skippered by Ed Baird, also took two bullets to dominate the fleet of TP52 and IRC52 yachts - with points also valid for the 52 Super Series - ahead of Azzurra, with Francesco Bruni on tactics, and Tony Langley's Gladiator in third.

Both of today's windward-leewards were held in light breezes of approximately six to eight knots which rotated from 10° at the start of race one to 085° by the early afternoon and the start of race two. Race one for the TP52s saw Quantum trailed by Gladiator and Azzurra. Meanwhile among the Soto 40s Alegre made an impressive recovery after being over early on the first start to win ahead of Bigamist and Iberdrola.

Race two saw French boat Paprec round the first windward mark ahead of the 52 fleet before slipping to the back of the group while Quantum, Audi Azzurra Sailing Team and Gladiator took the top spots. In the Soto 40 fleet Black Pearl and Alegre battled for first place with Alegre taking the advantage on the second run. Iberdrola took their second bronze of the day.

Kevin George, Navigator on Alegre (Team Italy): 'We were a little bit eager at the first start but luckily we managed to recover. We rounded behind everyone else, let them gybe away and sailed our own run where we managed to pick up a nice shift and then consolidated our lead from there to finish ahead. In the second race we had a good first beat, Black Pearl crossed ahead of us on the first beat and we rounded behind them but we crossed them on the second beat and held the lead again to win.'

Andy Horton, Tactician Quantum Racing (Team USA); 'It was pretty light and shifty but I think we were going pretty well in these conditions, but we also had two good starts and that really made it a bit easier. We were not really crossed by any of the first beats and the good starts allowed us to get into the best of the pressure. The finish of the second race was close, we had the pin end favoured by a big bit and then the wind just started shifting and then it was the boat end by a big bit, and Azzurra just came down in it.'

Racing is scheduled to continue tomorrow, 15th June at 12 midday. Sirocco winds of approximately eight knots are forecast.

Provisional Team Results:
1. Italy: Soto 40 Alegre (1-1=2) - TP52 Audi Azzurra Sailing Team (3-2=5) Totale punti 7
2. USA: Soto 40 Iberdrola Team (3-3=6) - TP52 Quantum Racing (1-1=2) Totale punti 8
3. Sweden: Soto 40 Black Pearl (4-2=6) - TP52 Ràn (4-4=8) Totale punti 14
4. Great Britain: Soto 40 Ngoni (5-5=10) - TP52 Gladiator (2-3=5) Totale punti 15
5. Cayman Islands: Soto 40 Bigamist (2-4=6) - TP52 Powerplay (6-6=12) Totale punti 18

Provisional Soto 40 Results:
1. Alegre 1-1=2
2. Black Pearl 4-2=6
3. Bigamist 2-4=6

Provisional TP52 Results:
1. Quantum Racing 1-1=2
2. Audi Azzurra Sailing Team 3-2=5
3. Gladiator 52 Super Series Soto 40 website