Copa del Rey - Azzurra improves on day 4

by Giuliano Luzzatto on 2 Aug 2013 In the 52 Super Series, Azzurra concluded the fourth day at the Copa del Rey with a second place that redeemed the penalty taken in the first race.

The fourth day of racing of the 52 Super Series - Copa del Rey on the waters off Palma de Mallorca, saw the TP52 fleet battle it out in two windward-leeward races under a southwesterly thermal breeze that blew at 10 knots in the first start and peaked at 14 knots in the afternoon.

In the first race, Azzurra was approaching the starting line at full pace on the pin end when the umpires signaled a penalty on the Italian boat for having tacked too close to Ran in the fiercely-fought moments of the prestart. The subsequent 360-degree penalty turn meant Azzurra's chances in that race were over before it even started, relegating her to a seventh place, despite all the efforts to come back.

The second place in the next race clearly showed that the team wasn't knocked down by its misfortune and continued to race in the front of the fleet. With today's two bullets, Quantum stretches its lead over Ran while Azzurra consolidates its third position.

Guillermo Parada, skipper: 'It was a sweet-and-sour day. It didn't have the best start possible because of the penalty we had in the first prestart, something that compromised the whole race. We had a very complicated race and we did the only thing we could, that is overtake a couple of boats. In a race course where one of the sides was so strongly favored it wasn't possible to go further ahead. On the other hand, the second race was different. We knew the breeze would come from the left, so we had to assess at what part of the starting line we had to position ourselves to take advantage of that. When the lefty came, we were right on the pin end of the line, neck and neck with Quantum. They were able to round the top mark one boatlength ahead of us and from that point lead the race. We had to control the third and fourth boat. It was a good race but unfortunately it doesn't cancel out the first one. However, we still have four races ahead of us and we will take one at a time, trying to get the best result possible.'

Vasco Vascotto, tactician: 'Taking a penalty 20 seconds before the start of a race where one side is nearly mandatory can do nothing but compromise the final result. Today, one had to go left, that's why we were approaching the pin end of the line at full pace. In addition, in the first run, a slower boat slowed us down even further. In the second race we had a great start, slightly ahead Quantum but she was faster than us in the long layline to the windward mark. They sail very well and they earned a well-deserved leading position, while we are committing a few errors too many.'

52 Super Series - 32^ Copa del Rey, Results after seven races:

1 Quantum Racing, USA, (Doug DeVos) (3,2,2,1,1,1,1) 11pts
2 Rán Racing, SWE, (Niklas Zennström) (1,1,1,6,3,2,3) 17pts
3 Azzurra, ITA, (Alberto Roemmers) (2,4,3,7,2,7,2) 27pts
4 Provezza, TUR, (Ergin Imre) (4,7.5,4,4,5,4,4) 32.5pts
5 Rio, USA, (Manouch Moshayedi) (6,3,5,3,6,3,7) 33pts
6 Interlodge, USA, (Austin Fraogmen) (5,7.5,6.5,5,4,6,5) 39pts
7 Gladiator, GBR, (Tony Langley) (7,5,8,2,9,5,8) 44pts
8 Paprec, FRA, (Jean Luc Petithugenin) (9,6,6.5,8,8,8,6) 51.5pts
9 Aquila, AUT, (Aquila Sailing Team) (8,9,9,9,7,9,9) Azzurra website