Sibenik 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week in Croatia - Day 1
by 52 Super Series 23 May 2018 12:43 PDT
23-27 May 2018
From the high tension and great expectations that prevailed amongst the crews of the 12 TP52s, who contested an exciting first day of the 2018 52 SUPER SERIES, it is three-time champions, Quantum Racing who emerge with the tiniest possible lead at the Sibenik 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week in Croatia.
With nine shiny, brand new boats competing on a race arena that is completely new to the 52 SUPER SERIES, the de-facto leading grand prix monohull circuit in the world, it was the Quantum Racing crew, marshalled by afterguard Terry Hutchinson; tactician, Dean Barker; and helm and navigator Ian Moore, that finish the day ahead, but only on countback by virtue of their victory in the second race of the day.
It proved to be a dream start to the season for the Quantum-powered crews as Harm Müller-Spreer's Platoon mirrored their counterparts' score with a 1,4 to lie second – on the same points aggregate – and Brazilian Eduardo de Souza Ramos crew on Onda, the third team in the Quantum stable, lie third after a strong opening second and seventh places.
The tactical key to the first race was recognising the wind shift generated on the right side of the course by the effect of an island upwind to the right of the course, and in the second race when there was a thunderstorm lurking out to the right of the course area there was a series of shifts totalling more than 50 degrees from the start.
After the Race 1 start, World Champions Platoon took the lead on the first downwind, when early pacemakers Provezza appeared to suffer a technical problem with their kite halyard. Onda, with five-time Olympic medallist Robert Scheidt as tactician, stuck to their pre-start game plan and benefited from their early choice to go right, moving up to second on the downwind behind Platoon. That was the order through the finish line but the last run witnessed several exciting place changes in the 8-10 knot seabreeze, and the finishes behind the runaway top two were some of the closest yet.
Quantum Racing's was the sharpest start of the day when they leapt off the line in the second race, that allowed them to take early control of the right side and by the top mark they were sixty metres, or more, clear of second-placed Gladiator. Once more the top two were able to hold their positions through the finish line – Takashi Okura's Sled getting third with Platoon fourth.
It proved to be a fascinating opening to the season. The surprise package were Onda who have made significant gains since finishing tenth at PalmaVela, but tactician Scheidt pointed out they had stuck with their game plans, but the hugely experienced Brazilians positioned their boat shrewdly, keeping away from the traffic and any tussles with the top teams. On successive first beats, XIO Hurakan, the Italian team lead by Tomasso Chieffi, were top four, only fading on the second round. So too Gladiator – with Morgan Larson as tactician – proved a new boat is not a pre-requisite to win a podium place. And right now race wins are shared evenly between the Botin (Quantum Racing) and the Vrolijlk (Platoon) design studios.
Harm Müller-Spreer owner-driver of Platoon, emphasises:
"The difference between the two designers' boats was greater last year. I know we are closer this year in terms of performance. You can win races with either boats. But this is such a long season it is hard to guess what will happen."
James Lyne, the Quantum coach summarises:
"The conditions were tough and both boats Quantum Racing and Platoon executed one race well. There were some big shifts and so Terry [Hutchinson, Quantum tactician] played that nicely in the second race," explains the Quantum team coach James Lyne. "The level is higher than ever. There are more coaches, there are more analysts, there are better sailors on board. The level keeps going up."
Of the first day for Onda, Robert Scheidt, back in the TP52 class for the first time since 2010 said:
"We had a plan. We stuck to our plan, and it worked. Sometimes you can be a little bit lucky and I think we got a nice shift on the first beat and that put us up the front at the top mark of the first race. If you can be in the top three at the first mark you can have your own race, you can use your speed and sail your own race."
Circuit champions Azzurra, reckoned to be the best prepared team and winners of PalmaVela training regatta in early May did not have the start they wanted. Their opening third was strong enough but they were on the wrong side of the first big shift during the second race and could not recover, resulting in a weighty tenth. So too it was something of a baptism of fire for the Luna Rossa crew, which lies just one place ahead of their training partners Azzurra after a 7,5 start to their campaign.
Results after Day 1: (top races)
1. Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) (4,1) 5pts
2. Platoon (GER) (Harm Müller-Spreer) (1,4) 5pts
3. Onda (BRA) (Eduardo de Souza Ramos) (2,7) 9pts
4. Luna Rossa (ITA) (Patrizio Bertelli) (7,5) 12pts
5. Azzurra (ARG/ITA) (Alberto Roemmers) (3,10) 13pts
6. Gladiator (GBR) (Tony Langley) (10(+2 PEN PTS),2) 14pts
7. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) (5,9) 14pts
8. Phoenix (RSA) (Hasso/Tina Plattner) (8,6) 14pts
9. Sled (USA) (Takashi Okura) (12,3) 15pts
10. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andrés Soriano) (9,8) 17pts
11. Paprec Recyclage (FRA) (Jean Luc Petithuguenin) (6,12) 18pts
12. XIO Hurakan (ITA) (Marco Serafini) (11,11) 22pts
To watch the race again, visit www.52superseries.com/live
The Sibenik 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week will take place from 23-27 May. State-of-the-art live boat tracking technology will allow 52 SUPER SERIES fans to follow their favourite teams. Shows start 15-minutes before racing, and can be enjoyed via the 52 SUPER SERIES homepage – www.52SUPERSERIES.com – or via the app. Never miss a beat.
Azzurra gets a good start, but struggles in the final race (from Azzurra)
After a good third place in today's first race, Azzurra slipped up in the second, and is currently fifth overall. Quantum and Platoon are tied for first place.
The first day of racing in the 52 Super Series was one of variable and unpredictable weather conditions. After rains in the morning there was a period of no wind. At about 1 PM south westerly breezes at about 10 to 15 knots veering to the west kicked in but there were frequent and unpredictable shifts due to thunderstorms over the landmass.
Azzurra didn't manage to get the final results that two excellent starts seemed to promise. After leading the fleet along the first upwind leg a turn in the wind direction favoured Provezza and Platoon. The latter team rounded the mark with an inside overlap on Azzurra. Platoon went on to win the race while Azzurra recovered positions up to second place only to be edged out Onda, the Brazilian team with tactician Robert Scheidt that staged an excellent recovery along the first downwind leg. The line up across the finish line was: Platoon, Onda, Azzurra and Quantum. The entire fleet was grouped in just a few lengths.
The second race was a bit disappointing. After a good start together with Platoon and Quantum, Azzurra chose to sail on the left part of the course while her closest rivals chose to tack off to the right. The wind suddenly rotated 40 degrees and Azzurra was suddenly at the back of the fleet with very few tactical opportunities for recovery. Quantum won followed by Gladiator and Sled, but back at the docks Gladiator learned that she had gotten a 2 point penalty due to a collision before the start. Her team dropped back to sixth place overall.
Tomorrow's programme calls for a 35nm coastal race, but everything depends on the weather. The forecast calls for winds from the northwest rotating to the west at 8 to 18 knots.
Racing can be followed via Virtual Eye on the website 52superseries.com and on azzurra.it. Azzurra's Facebook and Twitter accounts will have real time updates directly from the regatta course.
Guillermo Parada, skipper: "The season that we were all waiting for has begun. We're happy with the boat, it's performing as we expected. We started well in the first race, we were in the lead and in control, but then we found ourselves over the layline after the wind shifted 15 degrees along the approach to the first mark. But third place isn't bad. During the second race the sky clouded over and that made everything harder to predict. We got a good start and we got the position we wanted, on the left, but a shift of almost 40 degrees caught us off guard. We didn't want to risk too much so we really had to scrape to get positions back. We're not worried for now; we're sailing well and strong and today there was just one race when things didn't happen. Tomorrow is another day and we will continue fighting."