2015 52 Super Series - Azzurra in leads with back to back wins

by Giuliano Luzzatto on 19 Sep 2015 Azzurra has captured the lead of the Cascais Cup with two first place finishes in breezy and challenging conditions with gusts at up to 30 knots. Today’s performance is further proof of the skill that the boat flying the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s burgee has shown throughout the season. Quantum Racing slips back to second place, Platoon and Provezza are in third and fourth places respectively. Azzurra is leading the Cascais Cup by five points and has further consolidated her lead in the 52 Super Series overall.

When the going gets tough as the saying goes…. Azzurra’s team really showed their stuff today with both individuals and the team as a whole in top form. The YCCS boat won both windward/leeward races today in northwesterly winds at 20 to 25 knots with gusts at up to 30. Challenging conditions that saw other boats in the fleet to make errors and broach, while aboard Azzurra all went smoothly; the boat was planing and accelerating spectacularly at over 20 knots. All aboard gave their best in unison with the rest of the team. The tactician’s calls were always good especially in the second race when Azzurra decided to start on the pin and tack starboard windward from other boats, like Quantum, who chose to start off the Committee Boat tacking to the right hand side of the course. Azzurra’s tactical choice put her at the head of the race with a lead that only got longer throughout the race.

Pablo Roemmers, owner - “Today was our day. Yesterday we got two seconds behind Quantum, today we got two firsts. There was a lot of wind but the guys know how to sail in these conditions. We did a great job in all respects. Starting the first race on the Committee Boat, and the second on the pin was a good call by Vasco. What can I say, we are ecstatic.”

Guillermo Parada, skipper - “It was a very, very nice day for us, we had two good solid races and we’re happy. 25 knots are conditions we always enjoy and as a team we perform in very well. Obviously at this stage in the season we also have to be careful not to damage our equipment. We stuck to our plan and had two good clean starts and in the first race rounded the top mark in second place then the crew did a fantastic job doing a gybe set in 25 plus knots and that gave us the opportunity to round the bottom mark in the lead. From then on we just controlled our opponents. In the second race Vasco made the right call to start on the pin, here in Cascais you normally have to go to the right, but there were five or six lengths favor on the pin side so we decided to go for it. We went to the left from the right of the fleet and that was good because the guys on the right lost a bit of pressure and we were able to just go. It’s much better when the boat is going well and the equipment is strong enough and you can trust each other and the boat. We really are enjoying the difference this makes.”

Vasco Vascotto, tactician - “We all sailed our best today and you can see it from the results. This team has the confidence to do any maneuver like the “sandokan” we did at 25 knots at the upwind mark. That and other moves that could be dangerous in these conditions. But this team lets me sail confidently, if we’re in the lead I won’t have any trouble, if we’re behind I know we can recover positions. Today we had a good, clean sail, almost always in the lead. A great day that couldn’t have been better. But we still have a job to finish.”

Tomorrow the warning signal is scheduled for 1:00 PM local time, 2:00 PM CEST time.

52 Super Series - Cascais Cup after six races

1 Azzurra, ITA (Pablo/Alberto Roemmers ARG) (5,2,2,2,1,1) 13pts
2 Quantum Racing, USA (Doug DeVos USA) (3,3,1,1,4,6) 18pts
3 Platoon, GER (Harm Müller-Spreer GER) (4,5,7,6,3,3) 28pts
4 Provezza, TUR (Ergin Imre TUR) (9,4,3,9,2,4) 31pts
5 Vesper USA (Jim Swartz USA) (1,6,4,3,10,8) 32pts
6 Alegre, GBR (Andres Soriano USA) (12,10,11,4,5,2) 44pts
7 Spookie, USA (Steve Benjamin USA) (2,1,8,8,13,13) 45pts
8 Sled, USA (Takashi Okura JPN) (7,8,9,5,11,7) 47pts
9 Bronenosec, RUS (Vladimir Liubomirov RUS) (6,9,6,10,7,9) 47pts
10 Gladiator, GBR (Tony Langley GBR) (8,7,12,12,9,5) 53pts
11 Paprec FRA (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin FRA) (10,11,10,7,6,10) 54pts
12 Xio/Hurakan, ITA (Marco Serafini ITA) (11,12,5,11,8,11) 58pts

Provisional Season Rankings - After Day 3 of Cascais Cup

1 Azzurra 152 pts
2 Quantum Racing 187 pts
3 Bronenosec 227 pts
4 Sled 228 pts
5 Platoon 229 pts