After wishing for more boatspeed following the match racing portion of the RC44 Valencia Cup, Anders Myralf of Denmark guided James Spithill and the 17 crew to three first place finishes today to wrest control of the fleet racing portion of the regatta.
The 17 crew won the first, third and fourth races, and placed fourth in Race 2. Their low score, however, is eight points due to a one point penalty imposed by the International Jury.
Second place is held by Chris Bake and Team Aqua, winners of the match racing portion of the week-long event, with 14 points on finishes of 2-3-5-4.
Anders Myralf, of Denmark, and the crew on board 17 (USA) had a great day with three bullets and a fourth. - Ignacio Baixauli -RC44 Class
Third place is held by Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis at 20 points (5-7-2-6).
'It’s incredible to come down here from Copenhagen and jump into a boat that is so organized and well sailed,' said Myralf, an amateur sailor who races aboard the Farr 40 Nanooq with the Prince of Denmark. 'I’ve never seen such a good crew. I’ve got the easiest job on the boat.'
The southeasterly sea breeze that marked the match racing didn’t materialize today until the fourth race, but it lacked its typical punch. Instead, the fleet sailed in mostly an easterly wind between 8 and 10 knots. Only in Race 4 did it shift to the southeast and increase to 12 knots.
The new conditions made consistency hard to achieve. Instead of trusting the right side of the racecourse, some found the left side of the course favorable. Aside from the top two, the rest of the fleet had at least one, if not two finishes out of the top five.
'We were able to stay in the top five, and in this fleet that’s saying something,' said Bake of Team Aqua. 'The field was fairly mixed up.'
Another marked difference from the match racing portion are the amateur helmsmen, as required by class rules. In most cases that is the owner driving the light-displacement yacht.
Completing the top five are a pair of Russians: Guennadi Timtchenko and Katusha, placed fourth with 20 points on finishes of 9-1-8-3, followed by Maxim Logutenko aboard BMW Oracle Racing with Russell Coutts at 22 points (finishes of 10-6-4-2).
For Timtchenko, this is just his third regatta. Ever. He’d never raced before joining the RC 44 Class, but got into it due to Tornqvist, a friend and business associate.
'I raced with Torbjorn aboard one of his boats,' said the 57-year-old Timtchenko. 'The RC 44 is the right class for me. It’s an interesting boat, fast and maneuverable. I make a lot of mistakes, but my crew gets me out of trouble.'
Marring an otherwise great day, 17 was penalized one point by the jury after a protest from Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and owner Daniel Calero.
At the start of Race 4, Puerto Calero was the windward yacht with 17 overlapped to leeward. Puerto Calero alleged that Spithill, the professional helmsman, took the helm. Class rules state that the professional may take the helm only on safety grounds.
Puerto Calero maintains that Spithill took the helm to help push them over the line early. Puerto Calero was on the course side at the start.
According to International Jury chairman Bill Edgerton, Spithill said in the protest hearing that he had a hand on the wheel, but only to help turn the yacht down to avoid potentially hitting Puerto Calero.
'We didn’t want to have them disqualified, but we wanted to raise the issue that it is against the rules,' said Daniel Calero.
Racing resumes tomorrow with four races scheduled beginning at 1:00 pm.
RC44 VALENCIA CUP
(Fleet racing provisional results) 1. 17 / Anders Myralf (USA) 1-4-1-1, 8 points* 2. Team Aqua / Chris Bake (UAE) 2-3-5-4, 14 points 3. Artemis / Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE) 5-7-2-6, 20 points 4. Katusha / Guennadi Timtchenko (RUS) 9-1-8-3, 21 points 5. BMW ORACLE Racing / Maxim Logutenko (USA) 10-6-4-2, 22 points 6. No Way Back / Pieter Heerema (NED) 8-2-7-5, 22 points 7. Ceeref / Igor Lah (SLO) 6-11-3-7, 27 points 8. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero / Daniel Calero (ESP) 3-9-9-10, 31 points 9. AEZ RC44 Sailing Team / Rene Mangold (AUT) 4-10-10-8, 32 points 10. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team / Vincenzo Onorato (ITA) 11-5-6-11, 33 points 11. Team Sea Dubai / Harm Mueller-Speer (UAE) 7-8-11-9, 35 points (* includes 1 point penalty by International Jury
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