Quantum Racing. Marseille Trophy, 18 06 2011 © Francesco Ferri_Studio Borlenghi/Audi MedCup
by Sabina Mollart-Rogerson
The stage is set for the one final race of the Audi MedCup Circuit's Marseille trophy. Across the 40 Series and 52 Series fleets there are five likely winners.
In the 40 Series it is most probably between series leader Iberdrola (ESP) and the South American visitors on Patagonia by Negra (ARG/URU) who are just three points apart, while in the 52 Series Container have a lead of 1.5 pts to defend from Quantum Racing (USA). There are very remote permutations that these four boats might not win, but with more than 25kts on the race area and some big seas, the other winner today might possibly be the Mistral (FRA).
For start sequence time, 1300hrs, the forecasts expect between 17-25kts of NW’ly Mistral but there have been some stronger gusts already this morning. Bear in mind also that the short, very steep waves can be as much of a threat to the boats as winds over 30kts.
And so as the teams prepare their morning briefings as normal, not even discussing the possibility of cancellation, rigidly sticking to the morning routine – looking back at what was refined from yesterday’s racing and setting performance targets, to iron out the mistakes and glitches and focus on key moves or changes – there are two teams who might be quietly content not to race, and the others will be very keen to go.
Of course the Audi MedCup Circuit is about the season long series result, being on top on the last day of the last regatta, and from that perspective Cascais Trophy winners Quantum Racing will not be too disappointed that they have only lost 1.5pts of their overall series.
Juan Luis Páez (ESP), Navigator, Iberdrola Team (ESP):
“Our goal today is to win the regatta, it´s that simple. We don´t want to take many risks because it´s going to be difficult with the wind out there today, especially with the maneuvers. We have to try to be careful and safe, just as we did in Cascais. Watching how we get down and the way we tack without breaking anything will be very important. A good start could also be key today”.
Gonzalo Araujo (ESP), Skipper, Bribón (ESP):
“The forecast says it´s going to be hard out there, with strong winds. We are getting the boat ready to attack and see if we can nail that third spot that´s just one point away from us. It´ll be difficult because we also have a few boats one or two points behind us. We´ll have to watch the small details, because this is the last race of the trophy and there´s no margin for any mistakes. We´ll try to do a good job.”
Note from SailRaceWin : Audi MedCup racing is currently postponed ashore due to a 40 knot Mistral.
Audi MedCup
