Lack of wind cancels racing on opening day of Breitling MedCup

For some of the 19 TP52’s who had left the dock early to make final tuning preparations for what was expected to be a light wind first day of the Breitling MedCup TP52 circuit sailed from the Punta Ala Yacht Club, it was a full seven hour day on the waters of the Gulf of Follonica, but the fleet’s endeavours proved to be in vain as the wind refused blow from a consistent direction for any length of time at all.

There were promising periods and most of the crews had some time under sail, but there was never more than six knots but with a conflicting SE’ly and NW’ly breeze which cancelled each other out, and almost continuous cloud cover and even spells of rain, a start was only ever a fleeting hope.

"It is disappointing. You look forward to it and now you have pump yourself up for the next. There was no way it should have happened you couldn’t do it, it was a good call from the Race Committee not to start the race. The fight between the gradient coming through and not being strong enough, and then every time you got a breeze from the land again. We saw it here before last year at the Mumm Europeans where it was the land breeze fighting the sea breeze, when it was overcast on the land. It happens", emphasised Peter de Ridder, the very experienced owner of the Mutua Madrileña.

Racing is due to follow the published programme with a coastal race on Wednesday.