Still all to sail for - Trofeo SM La Reina Cup

by Event media on 2 Jul 2006 A steady south easterly breeze of 10-15 knots, lots of sun and some intense racing were the feature of the second day of the VIII Trofeo S.M. La Reina Copa Rolex.

The Race Committee was able to complete two windward-leeward races and the 140-strong fleet now has only one card left to play in order to secure the final victory.

Among the high performance TP52 class, with seven entries, the games are still open: Caixa Galicia is currently leading with a three point lead over Siemens, having scored a first and a fifth in today's races. However the outcome of a protest against rival ONO for an incident at the first start is still pending, therefore the results in the top three might change.

Vicente Tirado, owner of Caixa Galicia summed up a day marked with ups and downs:

'Today we sailed well and we felt quite confident, pretty much like yesterday. The first race went smoothly but in the second race we made a few mistakes: firstly we sailed with the prop unfolded and this for sure had a big impact on our speed. Secondly, we opted for a heavy gybe, which wasn't a smart decision. Overall, we are very happy with our results as we now have two wins out of four and are currently leading. Tomorrow will certainly be an interesting match and, as always, we will do our best to win.'

Eamon Conneely's TP 52 Siemens lies in second at 12 points and holds a narrow 1 point lead over Tau Ceramica. ONO is currently fourth overall, having scored, today, an OCS (over the starting line early) and a first. Ono's crew has filed a request of redress concerning the OCS and the outcome is, at the time of writing, still pending. America's Cup veteran Tony Rey from Newport, RI, USA, calling the tactics on ONO, feels that today the boat sailed really well and the team is climbing fast on a steep learning curve.

'We didn't find out about the OCS until the very end of the first race. The Race Committee called three boats over two different times but they never called us, we would have certainly gone back. But in the end we are really happy about how we sailed the boat today. The conditions were perfect for the TP 52 and we were very fast. In the second race we immediately got our nose clean to the left. The forecast had called for a small left shift and we got what we needed to make it happen - we were quite quick upwind and were able to hold off the Norwegians downwind.'

HM King Harald of Norway is competing aboard his TP 52 Fram XVI, who is currently lying in fifth. 'We had a very good day today, the conditions were perfect - they are always perfect here,' commented H.M. the King. 'I've sailed here various times before and this is exactly the type of weather that we like. This moderate wind, too, is ideal for this type of boat. Next week we will be racing with Fram next door, in Castellón'.

Among the IMS Open division, Pedro Campos is leading with his Grand Soleil 56R Movistar, having scored a second and a first in today's races.

He holds a 3 point lead over the Farr 54 CAM, while Valencia Terra y Mar lies in third with 14 points. Olympic medallist Francisco Sánchez Luna, genoa and spi trimmer on CAM, commented:

'Today was quite an bumpy ride for us. We had a good start in the first race, but we made a mistake at the end of the first run, we lost our pace and compromised our potential victory. In the second race we fought hard, but Movistar was faster than us especially upwind. We hope in a victory tomorrow, we will be stay focused and try to avoid mistakes.'

Filippo Faruffini's Farr design Roma GP, the first GP42 class ever built, is debuting here in Valencia and is currently seventh in the IMS Open fleet. The new boat and the class will be officially presented tonight at the Real Club Nautico de Valencia. Former Olympian Paolo Semeraro is Roma GP's skipper and project manager and, as President of Banks Sails Italy, he has also designed all the sails for the yacht. According to Semeraro, Roma GP is already showing off its potential:

'This is the very first example of the new GP42 box rule issued by ORC last year. Designed by Bruce Farr and built by Latini Marini in Rome, Italy, this is the ultimate state-of-the-art all-carbon Grand Prix racing yacht.'

The philosophy of the GP42 box rule class is similar to the TP 52, but the formula is more extreme, as explains Semeraro:

'The sail area/displacement ratio is much higher than the TP 52 and this has been quite clear in this edition of the VIII Trofeo SM La Reina Copa Rolex. We are sailing within a large IMS fleet and are able to stay well ahead of the 53 footers in real time.'

Semeraro outlined the future of this new box rule class: 'The GP42 will evolve into a highly technical and competitive class. The crew will include only 9 sailors against the 14-16 allowed on a TP 52, and this will make the crew's job very demanding, rewarding and definitely fun.'

The VIII Trofeo SM La Reina Copa Rolex marks the debut of both Roma GP and the GP42 class and for the rest of the 2006 season Roma GP will continue to race within the standard IMS fleets, where, according to Semeraro:

'Our boat will be obviously penalized by the rating. We will compete in the Copa del Rey in Palma de Mallorca and then we will join some IRC fleets, where Roma GP will more favoured.'

Roma GP is the promotional boat for the class and Semeraro and his team will be marketing the class throughout the season:

'Next year we hope to have 10 GP42s racing on a circuit of their own and Spanish rumors have it that in a couple years' time the fleet will have 60-70 entries. Thanks to the box rule formula, the GP42 will never become obsolete as it will be really easy to upgrade it by changing the bulb or the rudder. A well built carbon hull can last for a really long time and the GP42 is certainly a good investment.'

Icaro is still keeping a strong lead within the IMS 600 LC division (the only other class in this event racing in real time besides the TP 52 fleet) with three wins out of four races and a comfortable 6 point margin over Fermax. Murcia Turística lies in third.

Among the IMS 670 class, Aquasonic Vuelta Y Media is currently leading with a very consistent series of results on handicap. The current IMS 670 world champion, Quum Cap Cana, is second and needs to fill an 8 point gap to reach the leader. Turismo Madrid lies in third, while the 2005 title holder of the Trofeo SM La Reina, Card & Oil Premium, is currently fifth. Daniel Cuevas, skipper of Card & Oil Premium CCM summed up a difficult day that started with a collision:

'Today was quite complicated for us. In the first start we collided with Turismo de Madrid's mast and we lost all of the electronics and wind instruments. This had a heavy impact on our performance in both races. However, we were still able to finish fifth and eighth on handicap. We are still three points away from the podium and three points from second place. We are optimistic and we still hope to climb the leaderboard - the fleet is very even and anything is still possible.'

At the time of writing, the results for the RN and Classic divisions were still pending.

CURRENT PROVISIONAL STANDINGS (top 3)

TP 52 - PROTESTS PENDING
1. CAIXA GALICIA, VICENTE TIRADO, 1/2/1/5/9pts
2. SIEMENS, EAMON CONNEELY, 4/1/4/3/12
3. TAU CERAMICA-ANDALUCIA, JAVIER BANDERAS, 3/4/2/4/13

IMS OPEN
1. MOVISTAR, PEDRO CAMPOS, 2/1/2/1/6pts
2. CAM, FERNANDO LEON/FRANCISCO SANCHEZ LUNA, 1/2/4/2/9
3. VALENCIA TERRA Y MAR, MILLENIUM MULTIPROYECT S.L., 7/3/1/3/14

IMS 600 LC
1. ICARO, JAIME MONJO CARRIO, 1/1/3/1/6pts
2. FERMAX, FERMAX ELECTRONICA S.A.E., 5/3/1/3/12
3. MURCIA TURISTICA, MTORRES INGENIERIA Y PROCESOS S.L., 2/5/4/2/13

IMS 670
1. AQUASONIC VUELTA Y MEDIA, ALESSANDRO FERRARI, 2/1/4/2/9pts
2. QUUM CAP CANA, JAVIER GOIZCUETA, 3/7/3/4/17
3. TURISMO MADRID, JOSE M. VAN DER PLOEG, 1/3/9/5/18

Tonight the skippers and