Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre Day 5 - Melges 32 victor

by Eva Dallo on 6 Aug 2011 The 30th Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre, taking place in Palma de Mallorca, has come down to the final day of competition and except for the Melges 32 and the RI 1 fleets, the rest of divisions will have to wait until tomorrow for their winners to be decided.

A fourth place would be enough for Bribón to take the honors in the IRC A division, thus giving José Cusí his sixth title in the closing year of the historical saga of boats. The rest of the leaders carry small advantages into the final day of the contest what guarantees very close racing. The reliable sea breeze of the bay of Palma, known as Embat, delivered one more day up to 10knots and dropped along the afternoon.

Container worked it out best in the IRC A first race of the day, thus cutting down distances to Bribón in two points, but Gonzalo Araújo steered TP52 came back with a win in the second race, which leaves them with a six point cushion over the German flagged boat. Playing it safe or not, that will be tomorrow’s key.

A fourth place in any of the two scheduled races for tomorrow would be enough for the Spanish boat to become the 30thwinner of the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. Things look different on the podium’s last step, for today's Shockwave's win in the second race puts them in the third place, whereas Jethou is nine points adrift. Gladiator drops to last after a penalty for bad sail measurement, which pulls Hispano up to fifth. In IRC B, Speedy good challenge on Earlybird today helped him cut down distances to just one point, whereas Emma completes a very tight podium just two points behind.

The Melges 32 fleet will also have to wait till tomorrow for their winners to be decided. After the teams of the newcomer class of the 30th Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre discarded their worst race today, Argos still sits on the top, but her advantage shrinks to four points. The American boat steered by Jason Carroll focused on marking John Kilroy steered Samba pati with Vasco Vascotto calling shots, which had signed two bullets in the previous day. Argos tactics worked in the first race, for the Americans finished third and the Italians crossed behind.

But Italian ace Vascotto's brilliant strategy in the second race helped them take the win, whereas Argos could only manage eighth. Luca Lalli and Lorenzo Bressani's B-Linsailing.com lose out third position to Geoffrey Pierini's Shakedown. The class world champions are now 13 points behind the leader which gives them little hope.

In the X-35 division, Andrea Ferrari's Hotelplan delivered a great show today on the water after a win in the day's first race and a fifth position in the second after a nice recover from rounding the first top mark last. This happened as a consequence of an incident with Italian Tixelio on the approach to mark one, and cost her a penalty turn. Such results place Hotelplan with a seven point cushion over second classified Ingo Dietrich's Xon the beach. Third is Javier Bandera’s Ibero star, which won the second race of the day. Tixelio and Ave María follow just two points behind, and still threaten the Andalusian X-35's third place in the podium.

The J-80 fleet delivered again tight racing and Nextel Engineering of Ignacio Camino goes into the last day tied in points with Olympic sailor Jose María van der Ploeg, but the world champion racks up a better scoreline with more wins. Nextel was first in the first race of the day, and came up with a nice recovery from being over the line in the second and went from last to seventh. Crocs got the prize for consistency with a third and a first place, whereas Mapfre took the other win of the day. The committee had to give today's both starts with a black flag, which means that being over the line results in disqualification. The leaders will be unveiled tomorrow.

Rats on Fire might be on champaign tomorrow for a track of five wins and two second places in ten races place them 18 points ahead of second classified, Cuadernos Rubio of Platú 25 world champion Manu Weiller. Third is French Swander full of Giacomo Miscioscia, but there’s still room for a swing of positions in the second and third steps of the podium.

Things look better for Pedro Campos Movistar, who could take their sixth Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre trophy home. Pablo Iglesias, who stands in for the Galicia born sailor while he recovers from an injured eye, steered the Grand Soleil 37 to a win in the first race, and signed a third place in the second, whereas Power Plate of Olympic sailor Gustavo Martínez Doreste finished three-one. Movistar's three points lead leave the podium undecided for tomorrow.

Tomorrow and following the notice of race, no start shall be given after 15:00hours, in order not to delay the prize giving ceremony due at 21:00hours in Ses Voltes gardens, next to the cathedral of Palma.

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