Coastal Race marks the start TP52 Breitling Regatta

Most teams have spent the day training

The first race of the third event in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 Circuit, the 11º Breitling Regatta, will be a coastal race with the start signal programmed for Thursday at 12:00, local time. A maximum of 7 races are planned to be raced until Sunday, the last day of the event. The coastal race will be around 38 nautical miles, with a course to be determined tomorrow depending on the conditions. The rest of the races will be windward-leeward which will be raced from Friday to Sunday.

The ten participating vessels (Atalanti XV, Bambakou, Bribón, Caixa Galicia, Leche Pascual, Lexus, Orlanda-Olympus, Aifos, Cristabella and Siemens) have spent today training after working on their boats to maximise performance in this event. Among the boats that have made modifications, is Cristabella. George Skuodas, trimmer on the boat commented on the changes:
“Valencia was great and very competitive. We based the changes we’ve made on our performance in Valencia. We’ve optimised the boat for the upwind courses and we’ve aimed for more stability. We are still learning to sail this class of boat and hope to improve race by race.”

Siemens, have recently joined the fleet participating in the Breitling MEDCUP TP52 and will also be participating in the fourth regatta in the circuit, which will be the Copa del Rey, which will be held in Palma de Mallorca. Pedro Perelló, owner of the boat, has acquired Sjambock, one of the most successful vessels in the USA Transpac circuit, which is also a twin mould with Bambakou, owned by John Coumantaros. Siemens will be skippered by US yachtsman Jim Allsop, who is also world champion in Star Class.

Another new edition to the crews racing in the circuit will be Dean Barker, skipper on Emirates Team New Zealand, who will take the helm of Lexus, substituting Russell Coutts. John Kostecki will take over as tactician on Caixa Galicia, substituting Dee Smith, who has other professional obligations to attend to during this event only. Both Coutts and Smith will return to their positions for the Copa del Rey from the 30th July to 7th August, in the Real Club Nautico, Palma Mallorca. Jaime Yllera, owner of Lexus, commented on the matter following today’s training session:
“After today’s training, I can definitely say this is a star team. To have a crew onboard who have just stepped off America’s Cup boats is a real luxury, and it is a privilege to witness the fantastic team spirit they have already.”

After the impressive victory, a few weeks ago in Valencia of the Leche Pascual team, lead by their America’s Cup Skipper, Vasco Vascotto (with help from his fellow crew members from the Mascalzone Latino team) and the success of Bribón, (owned by José Cusí, and Skippered by HM King Juan Carlos of Spain) in the Corinthian Class, the competition is becoming more tough, as the fine tuning of the vessels prior to the regatta, as well as the strength of the teams are increasing greatly.

Ignacio Postigo, navigator on Vasco Vascotto’s boat, commented on this third event in the Breitling MEDCUP Circuit: “We will do our best to sail as well as we did in Valencia, if it is possible to repeat that kind of racing. We will try to sail without pressure on us, and to get the maximum out of the boat’s performance. We haven’t made any major modifications to Leche Pascual, as we think it is sailing well – perhaps it’s best not to tempt fate!”