Region of Sardinia Trophy 2011 - Day 1 success for Azzurra

by Giuliano Luzzatto on 21 Jul 2011 Audi MedCup Region of Sardinia Trophy's first day of competition has resulted in a fifth and third place finish in Cagliari for Audi Azzurra Sailing Team.

Azzurra showed promise today, leading the fleet on several occasions in Cagliari's strong Mistral wind which gusted at over 30 knots, but finished with a fifth and a third place in today's two races. The boat that represents the YCCS sits in fourth place overall in this Italian leg which began today.

'The boat performed very well today,' declared skipper Guillermo Parada, 'the same cannot be said for the crew. Several mistakes were made which led to a result that, although not terrible, was well below what we are capable of. In the overall classification we are a little closer to Quantum and that's the most important thing, but we missed out on a good chance. Tomorrow we will have similar conditions so I have faith that we'll bring home a better result.'

Azzurra showed her potential at the head of the fleet in the first upwind leg of both races. In the first race a torn gennaker left Audi Azzurra Sailing Team trailing, having taken a penalty for allowing their ripped sail to touch other boats. Recovering to take fifth place was therefore an excellent result, all things considered.

In the second race the heavy conditions caused a problem with the gennaker drop at the first windward gate where Azzurra had arrived fast and was threatening Audi All4One's leadership. A strong recovery saw the team arrive at the finish line neck and neck with Bribon and Synergy which then received a penalty for failing to give water. Azzurra finished third.

'There were a lot of errors in the manoeuvres that should not be happening given our teamwork,' confirmed tactician Francesco Bruni, 'on the positive side, however, the boat has improved a lot. The problems with the gennaker are due to the retriever, both the tear in the first race and in the second where the sequence of errors degenerated into an avalanche effect.'

Container was the most consistent team while Quantum had a negative day. Audi Azzurra Sailing Team remains in third place in the overall classification for the circuit, behind Quantum racing and Container.
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