Azzurra is in Mallorca for the Puerto Portals 52 Super Series

by Azzurra on 23 Jul 2017 The event will be held from Monday the 24th to Friday the 28th in the waters off Palma de Mallorca. The TP52 Azzurra is currently in the leading position overall in the 52 Super Series, the most competitive professional circuit for monohull sailing.

Azzurra, the sporting symbol of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, is lined up with the other TP52s on the central dock of Marina di Puerto Portals, not far from Palma de Mallorca. Nine high tech boats with teams made up of some of the world’s most famous sailors: Olympic champions, VOR vets and America’s Cup racers all will be competing in this event.

In 2015 Azzurra won the TP52 World Championship in Puerto Portals and went on to win the 52 Super Series in Cascais. Today the boat flying the YCCS burgee is beginning the second to last event in the Series in the lead, but well aware of how strong and competitive the rest of the fleet is. Platoon and Quantum are right behind her. The previous four events in the 2017 Series have been won by four different teams; Azzurra herself won in Miami. There is no clear favourite because all of the teams are strong and competitive.

“It’s up to us,” says skipper Guillermo Parada, “but that’s a good thing. It’s going to be a demanding week where anyone could win and we really have to keep an eye on Platoon and Quantum. We are ready and motivated, we don’t want to make the same small mistakes that caused us unnecessary stress in Porto Cervo”.

Tomorrow, Sunday July 23rd there will be the Practice Race while the event officially begins Monday the 24th at 1:00 PM. The Puerto Portals 52 Super Series Sailing Week will end on Friday, July 28th after five days of thrilling competition.

Racing can be followed online on the site www.azzurra.it or on www.52superseries.com thanks to Virtual Eye. Starting Wednesday, live video streaming in English will be available on the above sites. Updates direct from the race course will be posted on Azzurra’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Quotes of the day:

Riccardo Bonadeo, YCCS Commodore: 'Azzurra is about to begin the second to last event in the 2017 52 Super Series, most difficult and competitive circuit for keelboats as the recent Audi Sailing Week in Porto Cervo proves. There is no clear favourite this year, the top place is up for grabs and we’re rooting for Azzurra knowing well how hard it will be for her. But that’s the beauty of sport, giving it your best and getting better every day. Many thanks to our club members the Roemmers family and thanks to all the Azzurra team. Fair winds!'

Vasco Vascotto, Azzurra’s tactician: “We are getting close to the closing of the season and every point counts even more than ever for the final results. We have arrived strong here in Puerto Portals and remember the crescendo of performances in Porto Cervo that has brought us one point’s advantage over the second placed team. In the past we have raced well here and we know these waters. But when we’re on the starting line for the first race we have to stay humble: our competition is strong and has been working as hard as we have to improve their boats’ performance. We are a very close and well-tuned group, we have arrived here in Puerto Portals as concentrated and as determined as ever, maybe even more so.”

Puerto Portals 52 Super Series Sailing Week

Entry List

• Alegre (Andy Soriano GBR/USA)
• Azzurra (Alberto e Pablo Roemmers, ITA/ARG)
• Bronenosec (Vladimir Liubomirov, RUS)
• Gladiator (Tony Langley, GBR)
• Platoon (Harm Müller-Spreer, GER)
• Provezza (Ergin Imre, TUR)
• Quantum Racing (Doug DeVos, USA)
• Rán Racing (Niklas and Catherine Zennström, SWE)
• Sled (Takashi Okura, USA)

52 Super Series Standings after 4 events of 6:

1. Azzurra (Alberto and Pablo Roemmers, ITA/ARG), 146 pts.
2. Platoon (GER, Harm Müller-Spreer), 147 pts.
3. Quantum Racing (Doug DeVos, USA), 152 pts.
4. Provezza (Ergin Imre, TUR) 180.3 pts.
5. Rán Racing (Niklas Zennström, SWE), 186 pts.
6. Bronenosec (Vladimir Liubomirov, RUS), 200 pts.
7. Gladiator (Tony Langley, GBR) 219.6 pts.
8. Sled (Takashi Okura, USA), 226 pts.
9. Alegre (Andrés Soriano GBR/USA), 255.5 pts.
10. Sorcha (Peter Harrison, GBR), 316 pts.
11. Paprec (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, FRA) 354 pts.