GP42s at the Giraglia Rolex Cup, Saint-Tropez - Day 2

Near Miss on top of Giraglia Rolex Cup after two bullets in second day

One couldn’t have asked for a better day in the second event of the Quebramar GP42 Cup; great wind conditions with the breeze steadily picking up from 7 knots at noon to 13 knots in the afternoon; tight and close racing that resulted in 5 boats separated by a mere 5 points; and finally, ups and downs in performance, showing that in this fleet anyone can win or finish last. Near Miss is leading the overall standings, closely followed by Canarias Puerto Calero and Desafío. Tomorrow promises to be even more exciting. With a maximum of three schdeuled races, all possibilities are open and any of the top 5 teams could be crowned winner of the event.

The Swiss boat, representing the Société Nautique de Genève and helmed by French top sailor Bertrand Pacé clearly won the first race of the day. Just like yesterday, the Saint-Tropez bay proved to be an ideal location for the GP42 fleet. The starting gun was fired right on time under a constant northeaster of 7 knots. A combination of good speed and correct tactic calls helped the Swiss boat build a healthy lead after the first top mark and increase it from there on.

After a clean start, the correct choice was to choose the right side. AIRIS, Near Miss, Roma GP42.2 and Desafío did it and rounded the top mark in that order. In the first downwind leg, Near Miss showed better speed and overtook AIRIS. The Spanish Desafío, again demonstrated their skills and worked their way up the fleet. Still, despite a tough and tight race against AIRIS, they were unable to overtake and finished third.

Sandro Montefusco and his crew were on a roll in the second race of the day, building upon the second place they claimed half an hour before. They led the fleet from the start of the race and never felt threatened by the Spanish duo of MADRID and Desafío. Wind conditions got considerably better and the constant north eastern breeze picked up pace, reaching 9-10 knots. Feeling more confident, the race committee increased the leg length to 1.1 miles.

After a difficult start yesterday, the Italian boat definitely showed its potential so far in the day with a lead over second-placed MADRID of more than 1 minute. The boat sponsored by the Spanish capital city sailed well, taking advantage of their superior downwind speed. Nevertheless, the most nail-biting action of the race took place, once again, between Desafío and Canarias Puerto Calero, for third and fourth place but also overall leadership of the event. After finishing 3rd, Desafío was at that moment the top spot but with a thin margin of just 1 point.

Excitement reached its climax in the last race of the day. The winner was decided after a nail-biting photo finish between Near Miss and MADRID. The Spanish capital city boat led from the start of the race looking over its shoulders at the Swiss. Yet they couldn’t withstand the pressure and a final great stretch by Bertrand Pacé placed Near Miss at the top of the leaderboard. When wind conditions are good, differences between leaders and laggards are minimal. A mere one minute separated Near Miss from last-placed Roma GP42.2

In fact, both Near Miss and MADRID benefited from the continuous tight fights between the two Spanish leading teams, Canarias Puerto Calero and Desafío. Both are vying for leadership and close encounters are the norm of the day. A port-starboard incident at the first top mark dropped them to the bottom of the fleet. Desafío protested against the Canarian team but the jury rejected it.

Quotes

Bertrand Pacé – Helmsman Near Miss: It was a good day for us. Racing is very close, you can win a race but it is enough to have a bad start, to choose the right or the left to lose a race. Tomorrow it’s going to be tough, a real fight because the scoreboard is so tight. Since Santa Margherita Ligure we have worked a lot on the sails and the mast configuration, we are pretty happy with the result. Of course we can be faster, especially downwind where we still have room for improvement. I like Saint-Tropez, it’s a very good sailing venue, with so many different wind conditions.

Sandro Montefusco – Helmsman Airis: “It was my debut in the GP42 class, yesterday it was a hard day but today we are really satisfied. Our starts were very good and our performance upwind has been very good. This is why we rounded the weather marks always first. Downwind, we still need some polishing on our team work but overall, we are quite fast. In the last race, with 11-12 knots we were able to further finetune our boat. The fleet is very exciting and speed differences are not important, these races are more tactical. It’s a pity there aren’t so many boats but I’m sure the future looks very promising.

José Maria Van der Ploeg – Helmsman Madrid:We are very satisfied with our progress. We had a difficult day yesterday but today we scored two second places. We were leading in the last race of the day but unfortunately a bad gybed at the end resulted in finishing second. This is our first participation in the GP42 circuit and we have a new boat but we feel we are constantly progressing and we have high hopes for the future.We feel more confident downwind because our teamwork still hasn’t reached the desired level upwind. Still, with a little more work we can aim at the top two positions of the score table. Saint-Tropez provides an excellent race area with perfect conditions. We would have liked a little bit longer legs in each race but we are very satisfied with what we are offered.

Results after Day 2: (6 races)