Copa del Rey - Azzurra closes first day with a third

by Azzurra Sailing Team on 5 Aug 2014 Azzurra closed the opening day of racing at the Copa del Rey with a third, tied on points with second-placed Ran. Quantum clearly dominated the day.

The 33rd Copa del Rey Mapfre, third stage of the Barclays 52 Super Series, kicked off today on the waters of the bay of Palma. Two windward/leeward races were held under a southerly sea breeze between 11 and 13 knots that was marked by tough to decipher wind shifts. The entire fleet had an up-and-down day, with the exception of Quantum that showed higher consistency and scored a second and a bullet.

Azzurra took a third place in the first race, which was won by Ran, crossing the line just five seconds behind Quantum. In the second race, Azzurra got off to an excellent start, but the wrong choice with a sail didn't allow them to conclude in the top part of the fleet. During the race, Azzurra staged a hard fight for third place with Phoenix and Provezza, but slipped to fifth at the photo finish. The race was won by Quantum, followed by Gladiator, which was able to make up for the withdrawal from the first race. Ran finished in seventh place.

Racing resumes tomorrow with two more windward/leeward races with the first signal scheduled at 1pm local time.

Vasco Vascotto, tactician: 'This first day shows that Quantum are sailing at a higher level than everybody else, however we have to look at ourselves and avoid making mistakes. Today we made the wrong choice in one of the sails in the second race and that cost us, because we also had a very good start. Seeing the glass half full, we know where we went wrong and we will not repeat the mistake. As for the rest, we have a week ahead of us and the chances of recovery are there.'

Standings Barclays 52 Super Series - Copa del Rey Mapre

Overall after two races
1 Quantum Racing, USA, (Doug De Vos USA) (2,1) 3pts
2 Rán Racing, SWE, (Niklas Zennström SWE) (1,7) 8pts
3 Azzurra, ITA, (Alberto Roemmers ARG) (3,5) 8pts
4 Phoenix, BRA, (Eduardo de Souza Ramos BRA) (6,3) 9pts
5 Provezza 7, TUR, (Ergin Imre TUR) (5,4) 9pts
6 Gladiator, GBR, (Tony Langley GBR) (DNF/8,2) 10pts
7 Paprec, FRA, (Jean Luc Petithugenin FRA) (4,6) Azzurra website