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22 September 2006
A consistent day, posting regular top five scores was the primary objective for the Breitling MedCup TP52 championship series leading Mutua Madrilena as racing started today for the final regatta of the season.
In tricky conditions, a patchy oscillating SE'ly breeze that could never quite summon double figures and mostly averaged between four and seven knots, Mutua Madrileña won the first race of three, following up with a fourth and sixth.
Owner Peter de Ridder and his mainly Emirates Team New Zealand crew not only lead the Trofeo Balearia Ibiza y Formentara regatta, but more than doubled their 14 points lead that they started the day with over their nearest rival Warpath, Steve and Fred Howe's boat skippered by Dean Barker.
Contrasting rather painfully with the strong start from Mutua
Madrileña, the Howes' Warpath lie tenth after these first three races,
posting a 12th and 15th before winning the final race of the day.
After
losing Tuesday's planned racing to a lack of breeze, competition today
was always close and tense, although the leading boats were often able
to extend thanks to the advantage of being unhindered in their ability
to utilise the windshifts to best effect. Indeed to the untutored eye
Mutua Madrileña and Warpath made their victories look easy in the first
and third races, while Roberto Bermudez guided Caixa Galicia to victory
in the second race, just getting the better of Tom Stark and the crew
of Rush, which took second place.
Caixa have
maintained their impetus from Athens, where they finished third. Second
behind Mutua in the first race and ninth in the third race after they
had to re-start, they are hard on the heels of Mean Machine Mutua
Madrileña, just one point behind.
Eamon Conneely's
Siemens, with Morgan Larson calling tactics for skipper-helm Ian
Walker, posted a 4,8,3 for the day to lie third overall. Experiencing
the heat of the MedCup fleet for the first time American Larson proved
up to the challenge, building from first mark roundings of 10th in the
first race, 8th in the second race and 8th in the second race.
"That
is really all we could ask for from today in these conditions and in
this fleet." Smiled Mean Machine Mutua Madrileña's trimmer Dirk de
Ridder, "We are not really thinking about anything other than trying to
do the best we can. We do know that the boat is quick upwind so we are
just trying to concentrate on getting a clean start. Most of the year
we have started middle line when we can, sometimes happy to give away
the favoured end because we know we have the speed. Downwind in these
conditions Bribon and Caixa, the older boats, are the quickest in the
fleet."
"Overall we are happy with the day because we
gained on the opposition, but it certainly in no way is over. We know
better that to write off Terry Hutchinson. We went out today knowing
that our margin could go with one bad race, so now we want to just keep
on doing what we are doing."
Roberto Bermudez,
Caixa's skipper and helm explained: " Today we've sailed well, it was
just a shame in the last race that we were stupidly over the line with
a big gap on the leeward side. It happens, a small stupid mistake and
you lose a big opportunity. But we were able to see it in a positive
way and we were able to recover and come in ninth. We were in second
last place and made up all that ground to still finish ninth.
Today
the crew have done a really great job. It's at those down moments when
you have a good crew, and when you really need them, that you can
really fall back on them and that's fantastic."
"We
were just shooting to not make too many mistakes today, just trying not
to screw it up and that would have been easy to do." Admitted Siemens'
Morgan Larson, "It was day when it was easy to over-think things, and I
think a lot of people were doing that, when looking back at it now it
was actually relatively straightforward. But this fleet is a great
challenge. The guys on the boat sail it very well. There is a bit of a
pecking order in boatspeed terms but we are definitely good downwind."
Iñaki
Castañer's ONO started well in the first two races, rounding second at
the first mark in the first race and leading the second, they went on
to ninth, third and 11th to lie seventh:
" Very happy
with the day, because we sailed quite moderately." Said Castañer, "We
made a few mistakes here and there, more in maneouvers than in decision
making or tactics. The tactician today did a fabulous job, keeping us
always in good pressure, and despite not having particularly good
starts we were always within the first three to get to the windward
mark. Perhaps we are lacking in boat speed when the wind is light, and
that is hard for us, but in spite of that we are in the top seven in
the general results, and we are really happy with that."
Trofeo Balearia Ibiza y Formentara
Day 1, standings after 3 races:
1 Mean Machine Mutua Madrilena (Peter de Ridder/Peter Ridder, Monaco) 11pts,
2 Caixa Galicia (Roberto Bermudez/Vicente Tirado/ Spain) 12pts,
3 Siemens (Ian Walker/Eamon Conneely/Ireland) 15pts,
4 Rush (Tom Stark/Tom Stark, USA) 20pts,
5 Orlanda (Lorenzo Bressani/Alessandro Pirera, Italy) 21pts
Breitling MedCup TP 52 series overall inc 4 discards:
1 Mean Machine Mutua Madrilena 138pts,
2 Warpath (Dean Barker/Fred & Steve Howe, USA) 167pts
3 Caixa Galicia 198pts, 4 Siemens 224pts
5 Cristabella (Tim Powell/John Cook, Great Britain) 269pts
source: www.medcup.org
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