TP52 Alicante Trophy - Day 3: Preview

Good morning from Alicante. The third day of the Alicante Trophy has in schedule a coastal race which counts for two races. The total length of the race will vary between 25 and 35 miles and about halfway through there is a scoring gate and the order of arrival of the boats will be the finish order of the first race. The finish line of the coastal race will be situated near the port of Alicante. The boats will round 2 marks within the Alicante bay, then head south, round the small island of Tabarca and then return north off the port.

Patches has now climbed to the top spot in the leaderboard after being the most consistent in the three races, with two fifths and one second position. Yesterday's strong wind conditions put in evidence the speed difference between the 2007 generation boats and the older ones. Artemis was literally flying in the two races and that was not just due to excellent tactic calls by Russell Coutts. In fact the 4 leading boats in the score table are all sailing for the first year.

Yesterday's races recorded some mishaps, the most important being the collision between Siemens and Cristabella. The Spanish boat suffered only small scratches but the British yacht had the stern damaged and hopefully they will be able to race today.

Weather forecast
It's easier to win the jackpot in Las Vegas than correctly forecast the winds off Alicante's coast this Friday. According to all the teams we talked to on the dockside, they expect anything from 4 to 20 knots while direction will fluctuate between 180 and 215 degrees. Given yesterday's abrupt death of the breeze, the main worry of the crews is to able to finish before this is repeated later this afternoon.

Cristabella's damage after the collision with Siemens. Alicante, 14 June 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Cristabella's damage after the collision with Siemens. Alicante, 14 June 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing