As the full fleet of ten 52 Series teams took to the waters off Cagliari today for the final informal practice day, leading in to the Region of Sardinia Trophy regatta, winds on the Gulf of Cagliari stayed firmly in step with the prevailing rhythms ashore in the Audi MedCup Public Village
19 09 2010, Region of Sardinia Trophy © Ainhoa Sanchez/Audi MedCup
by Sabina Mollart-Rogerson
Yesterday’s humid, oppressive winds, changing direction and pressure all the time, were perfectly tuned to yesterday evening’s reggae music.
But just as today’s winds turned up the tempo and volume, verging on authentic Mistral, tonight’s stage act Rocket Queens (form 2000hrs) is pure rumbustious rock and roll.
Series training, TP52 fleet. 19 09 2010, Region of Sardinia Trophy © Ainhoa Sanchez/Audi MedCup.
Late season conditions predicted for this venue vary between sea-breeze, Mistral and variable. And so far the 52 Series teams have now had enough of each type of conditions to enter the Audi MedCup season’s finale having checked off their performance across the spectrum.
Up to 23 knots and flat water produced one set of classic Cagliari conditions for the final informal practice races. Tomorrow, after two practice starts from 1300hrs, the 52 Series’ Official practice race takes place. The current forecast seems to promise 8-10 kts sa breeze conditions with the possibility of a Mistral encore to finish on Saturday.
Also out on the race area today was the Audi MedCup Circuit’s 42 Series leader Madrid - Caser Seguros (ESP), first to train here this season.
19 09 2010, Region of Sardinia Trophy © Steffano Gattini/Audi MedCup.
Quotes of the day
Ray Davies (NZL) tactician of Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
"Conditions today were awesome, it started off about 16 knots and then built to 22-23, flat water, and still quite shifty so it was quite challenging, but it was just perfect conditions, t-shirt and shorts 20, 21 knots of wind and flat water. You couldn't ask for more.
"All of the boats did two races, we won both of those, we were going quite quick upwind which made life a little bit easier, so it's very important to get a clear start and a clear lane. Some of the other boats struggle quite a bit in these conditions. It looks softer tomorrow, and then it looks like we got easterly flow for the first three days of the regatta.
"Today's conditions should be similar to what we should expect for the last two days, specially the last one should be a windy South westerly."
Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE. 19 09 2010, Region of Sardinia Trophy © Ainhoa Sanchez/Audi MedCup.
Sebastien Col (FRA), tactician of AudiA1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER):
"We had good conditions today, but tomorrow it's going to change. The gradient wind from the west is fighting the sea breeze, it comes from above the mountain and it has to be very strong to prevail inside the bay. So it's a tricky place because of that, it's interesting cause you have to keep your eyes open and not take any risks, not being too far on one side or the other, and try to play the small shifts. It will be a little choppier, with waves tomorrow which is not very good for our boat, but usually it's not as pronounced as what we had closer to the beach in Barcelona, let's cross our fingers."
Guillermo Parada (ARG), skipper of Matador (ARG):
“Yes, improvements can still be done, specially in the boat finetunning...We've done some changes with the mast, we've trained different starts, that's basically it. The weather forecast is quite clear for the week, so we are happy”.
Audi MedCup
