2014 Soto 40 South American Tour - Good start for Santander on Day 1

by Soto 40 on 8 Nov 2014 2014 Soto 40 South American Tour - The Interclubs and Press Race started with a great performance of Santander’s team, which achieved two victories in the three races that the boats completed today in the Algarrobo Bay.

The activity started early at the Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico with the registration and weighing of all the crews. The skippers meeting was held at midday while the first race of the day, a windward-leeward course of four legs, started at 1:30 pm - as scheduled the Sailing Instructions - with a 16 knots wind at 210.

Mitsubishi achieved the first triumph of the day. It crossed the finish line followed by Dag Von Appen’s Itaú, Jorge Araneda’s Santander and Bernardo Matte’s Pisco Black. Horacio Pavez’s boat has incorporated Nuno Barreto to its crew, the Olympic medalist that sails on board the Soto 40 'Bigamist' in Europe. 'Racing was fun and we had a nice atmosphere on board. It’s good to sail once again with Nano Negrín, who is also our mainsail trimmer in ‘Bigamist’. The rest of the team was really good', expressed. Regarding Algarrobo’s race area, he explained: 'I guess it was ok, we had to sail inshore because of the wind speed; it was tough outside. Near the beach it’s more unstable, which makes things difficult, but as I’m not the tactician (loughs)'.

The second race started with a SSW wind of the same speed. Araneda’s boat managed to take the leadership and finished first position. Itaú, Pisco Black and Mitsubishi arrived after it.

Santander’s team repeated its result in the last race of the day, which started near 4 pm. Mitsubishi was the second to cross the finish line in this race, followed by Pisco Black and Itaú.

After three races, Santander, winner of the first stage of the Soto 40 South American Tour, leads the Overall with five points. The competition will continue tomorrow at 12 pm (CLST).

Partial results:

1. Santander – Jorge Araneda – 3/1/1 – 5 pts.
2. Acuario / MITSUBISHI – Horacio Pavez – 1/4/2 – 7 pts.
3. Macaco / ITAU – Dag Von Appen – 2/2/4 – 8
4. Pisco Black – Bernardo Matte – 4/3/3 – 10 pts.