First coastal race of the Audi MedCup season

by Audi MedCup media on 12 Jun 2009
After missing out on a coastal race in Alicante due to the light breezes there, today's coastal race towards Cassis is one of the most spectacular of the season and is rich with challenges.

Emirates Team New Zealand lead into today's coastal race with a ten point cushion over second placed Matador (ARG). Stakes are not quite as high as in previous seasons when there was a double points coefficient and the races were effectively two separate contests. Now the multiplier is reduced to 1.5 so it will be interesting to see if that affects strategies or not.

The course comprises a windward-leeward loop in the bay off Marseille before leaving the Frioul islands to port. Then it is long legs down to turn inshore to Cassis, before following the shore line and the high limestone karst calanques, through the Ile Jaire, back around the Ile Maire at the Cap Croisette to finish off the entrance to the Vieux Port.

Kevin Hall (USA), navigator Emirates Team New Zealand: ' Today for me the challenge really will be to not really over-think the weather. You have your forecast, you have what you personally think it is going to do, but you also have to pay good attention to what is actually going on at the time, what we call ‘looking out the window’ in this business.'

'The balancing act is working with what you see ‘right now’ and what will happening around the points. And for me the hiking is starting to get a little bit tiresome on these long beats, I am getting some bruising around my hips, so that is a personal challenge…..!

'Depending how far left it is it will be interesting to see if it is worth gybing back in to get some compression along the islands, at the points. Then again on the long beat back up, if it is a bit right then you will be wanting to get the ‘righties’ (right hand lifts) off the points, and there will be some calms for a period of time. But it is a bit left then you may want to be offshore for steady pressure.'

'The de-brief last year was interesting, we did not really need the Code Zero for a four minute shoot, and it would have been nice to save the weight. Here if it goes a little light and a little left we could have 115 deg true at 15 knots.'

'We’ll take as few sails as possible. You don’t want to get caught out missing a sail, but you want to be lighter than the next guys, so it might be a bit of a risk-reward there.'

Michele Ivaldi (ITA), navigator of Artemis (SWE): 'It is a similar course to the last year’s, so we already know the area. This is a great Coastal Race, one of the most beautiful of the Circuit, because brings the boats around all the islands around Marseille. And it's a very good spectacle, also from the shore.'

'I think that the important things today will be the same as during the other races, so ETNZ is favourite to win. Then there are the fast boats: ours, Matador, Quantum. But you always have to look at the outsiders, such as Bigamist, whois doing a good job, and Valars, with Gabriele Benussi as tactician you can never know what they can pull out of the hat.

'Anyway the fleet is very close, so it's a costal race where if do not start well, and you do not make the two first mark in good shape it will be hard to come back.'

Winds are expected to be from the Mistral direction, NW'ly, up to 20 knots offshore.

Meanwhile the GP42's are scheduled to race three windward-leeward races.