Sibenik 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week in Croatia - Day 4
by 52 Super Series 26 May 2018 12:59 PDT
23-27 May 2018
Quantum Racing stands on the cusp of their first 52 SUPER SERIES regatta in more than a year after posting a super consistent 1,3 on the penultimate day of the 2018 season opening Šibenik 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week.
The three-times circuit champions go into the final day with a nine-point lead over second-placed Sled. With their two second places, Takashi Okura's posse of seasoned Kiwis on Sled matched Quantum Racing's four points tally for the day to seize second position on the leaderboard from the world champions Platoon who slumped to a weighty 10th place in the second race.
This high level of consistency was especially elusive today on what transpired to be two different race tracks which both yielded fairly gentle sea breezes and very flat water. With Dean Barker steering, Quantum Racing have been good off the start line and so able to execute on the pre-race strategy. Their race win in the first contest of the day unfolded as per the near perfect blueprint. Start well, take the better pressure on the early left before taking the best available lane across to the right where the topography of the island to the right of the course delivers a beneficial lift.
The Quantum Racing team got the layline to the windward mark just perfect, and slipped around ahead of Sled who had to shoot the mark to get around. A clutch of boats overstood in the lifting breeze. At the finish line it was Quantum Racing, Sled, Platoon.
After a small delay waiting for the wind to refresh and the course to be moved, Tony Rey and the afterguard on Provezza recognised the better wind pressure on the left. Starting off the pin end, the new red boat was able to lead all the way around and score their first win on a new boat, which has so far frustrated periodically with mechanical gremlins associated perhaps with this being their first regatta. Sled were able to overhaul Quantum Racing to earn their second second place in a row.
"We have a few older hands on board and that has settled the team down a little bit. We are quite confident in how the boat is going and when you are confident in how the boat is going it makes easier for the guys at the back. But Ray Davies and Adam Beashel and Andre our navigator all did a great job today." Explained Don Cowie, mainsheet trimmer on the Sled. ?"We are good mates and so we can give each other a bit of grief with nobody taking it personally!" Cowie smiles, "But we have sailed for a long time together, we have some good Kiwi guys but also guys like Robbie Naismith who has been around since Adam was a cowboy. Really it is a bit of a geriatric group really!"
Fellow Kiwi Barker is making a difference on the Quantum Racing, not least in the starting box.
"You are always kind of living on the edge here, knowing it could easily be different. We have to keep working hard, executing well and punching out good results. The venue is tricky and a great challenge for all the sailors and the standard of the fleet is very, very high." Says Quantum's Barker.
Defending 52 SUPER SERIES champions Azzurra are getting their challenge back on track after a bogey pair of double 10ths early in the regatta. Over the start line in the first race they recovered to a 'counter' seventh before delivering a fourth in the second race and so now lie fourth overall.
Standings after Day 4: (seven races)
1. Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) (4,1,8,1,4,1,3) 22pts
2. Sled (USA) (Takashi Okura) (12,3,1,8,3,2,2) 31pts
3. Platoon (GER) (Harm Müller-Spreer) (1,4,3,5,7,3,10) 33pts
4. Azzurra (ARG/ITA) (Alberto Roemmers) (3,10,10,4,2,7,4) 40pts
?5. Onda (BRA) (Eduardo de Souza Ramos) (2,7,5,3,10,6,8) 41pts
6. Luna Rossa (ITA) (Patrizio Bertelli) (7,5,9,9,5,4,7) 46pts
?7. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) (5,9,4,7,12,9,1) 47pts
?8. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andrés Soriano) (9,8,6,2,8,8,6) 47pts
?9. Paprec Recyclage (FRA) (Jean Luc Petithuguenin) (6,12,2,12,1,10,9) 52pts
10. Phoenix (RSA) (Hasso/Tina Plattner) (8,6,11,6,6,11,5) 53pts
11. Gladiator (GBR) (Tony Langley) (10(+2 PEN),2,7,11,9,5,12) 58pts
12. XIO Hurakan (ITA) (Marco Serafini) (11,11,12,10,11,12,11) 78pts
Quotes:
Santi Lange (ARG) tactician Azzurra (ITA/ARG):
"The first race today was maybe our best race because we were OCS and then caught up. Today we had some problems with the boat, some mechanical issues, but I am very happy I am starting to better understand more the boats so I am happy with that. We need to just keep sailing better and improve, that's the reality."
On Quantum Racing:
"They are just sailing good, starting good and arriving in the front to the top mark and when they are ahead it's hard to catch them up. They just are sailing well. "
Eduardo de Souza Ramos (BRA) owner-driver Onda:
"We are improving day after day, and recognizing how to adjust the boat, and also how to work together as a team as it was our first times as a team and it's going well we are very very happy. Today we had a small problem with the boat, a hydraulic problem which we were not able to solve during the second race, but it's part of the game."
On tomorrow:
"We expect to win both races and that's it!"
On Robert Scheidt:
"He's fantastic, just fantastic. I've known him for many many years, we sailed together in Farr 40s, years ago, and it's always very very good to sail with him. We are always learning and he's a nice guy and friendly with everybody, it's very good to have him aboard. "
Peter Holmberg (USVI) helm Provezza (TUR):
"You know, we've been close a few times, but today we kept it together. We've been struggling with some equipment stuff still because the boat is brand new. So we've been touching the front of the fleet a few times. This time we kept it together. The crew stayed settled and the boat didn't let us down, so it was good."
On the team wining today but not looking too happy?
"I still have the taste of a dead last from yesterday. We're going to celebrate a little bit tonight, that was certainly a good one."?" It's tough getting these boats up to speed when they are late being launched. For the crew it's a little frustrating having things holding us back, so it's been a little frustrating at times, but the boat is great – once we keep her on track without any breakdowns, she's doing really well."?" This is the first regatta of the year, so there is obviously a little bit of rust there. We didn't get to do PalmaVela like everybody else. So it's frustrating for us because it's our first warmup, and practice, and regatta of the year, so we're trying to get it all done in one show."?" Long term, we feel good. You have to take it all into perspective. Keep our frustrations in check, but be grateful some of the great signs we are seeing from the boat. We're looking forward to the year."
For full results, visit bit.ly/2IGhEE1
To watch the race again, visit bit.ly/2e6o3tR
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.
A day of fighting back from Azzurra (from Azzurra)
Azzurra had to fight her way up from the back of the fleet in both of today's races, but she closed in fourth place overall, one position up from yesterday. Quantum is firmly in the lead followed by Sled in second. Platoon dropped back to third place. Tomorrow will see the final two races at this event.
Today's first race got underway punctually at 1 PM with winds from the southwest at 10 knots. Conditions were good but Azzurra got an OCS, On Course Side, penalty because her crew was distracted for a fraction of a second by a gear problem and she was about 1m over the line at start. The problem was with the mainsail sheet that came up again along the first upwind leg.
It was a long fight back after the penalty, but the crew was concentrated and recovered positions thanks to good tactics and perfect manoeuvres: tenth at the mark, ninth at the gate, seventh at the end of the second upwind leg. Azzurra's fans were at the edges of their seats when she got stuck in a wind hole just yards from the finish line. But arriving from the right side of the course, Azzurra managed to edge out Alegre and Paprec who arrived from the left. The event's sixth race was won by Quantum followed by Sled and Platoon.
The Race Committee had to wait for a long time before the wind picked up again, this time from the northwest gradient, and they could get the second race started. The start was called at 4:20 PM in winds from the northwest at 12- 13 knots that were very difficult to predict and interpret.
Azzurra got an excellent start at the centre and was leading the fleet along the upwind leg. But the wind rotated left 15 degrees near the weather mark and Provezza and Quantum, who were on that side of the course, got a good advantage. Azzurra slipped back to sixth place at the mark, but fought back again: fifth at the gate, fourth at the end of the second upwind leg. In the final meters of the race she was catching up on Quantum in third place, but the American team managed to cover Azzurra and hold on to their ranking.
Provezza won easily followed by Sled who is now in second place overall thanks to two second place finishes today. Platoon placed tenth in today's second race and has slipped back to third place overall ahead of Azzurra who has passed Onda.
Tomorrow the event's final two windward/leeward races are scheduled to begin at noon in winds are predicted to be from the southwest at 6 to 12 knots. As always, 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: "Today's results are tough to swallow. We got started on the wrong foot, we had a gear issue at the start of the first race and we were distracted for a second and were over by a meter and got a penalty. That conditioned our strategy from the beginning: we were last and had to fight our way back up the fleet. We managed to do it well and we saved what we could. The second race we had a good start and were heading to the left but at some point we needed to make a decision about the lane to chose after crossing the fleet. The wind kept clicking to the left so we lost out again to the boats that were at the far left. We were sixth and worked back to fourth and could have got third but at the very end we lost a little battle with Quantum. That's life, there are two more races at this event and forty more races this season, so it's far from over."
Santiago Lange, tactician: "It was another tough day that began with an OCS penalty that didn't make our lives easier. But we managed to recover positions up to seventh and that's a good result considering how competitive the 52 Super Series fleet is. In the second race we were just a hair off of finishing third. I can't say that it was a good day, but it could have been worse and tomorrow is another day. We have gotten a lot better in some ways but we had some technical problems aboard. But we have to remember that this is a Series with 50 races and no discards, we have to fight for every point."