Friday, October 12, 2007

Spithill moves into 2nd as Appleton expands Team Aqua’s lead in RC44 Trieste Cup

[Source: RC44] Mixing it up was the best way to describe today’s racing, results and wind conditions. Team Aqua however, slickly shifted gears for the light air conditions and increased their lead overall. Tactician Cameron Appleton with owner Chris Bake on the helm, were once again the team to beat on day three of the RC44 Trieste Cup.

At the skippers briefing this morning, the teams agreed to continue fleet racing. In the first race, it was James Spithill’s talent that shone through for Team Ceeref. Owner Igor Lah swiftly led the fleet around the course to add another first place finish to their impressive set of results.

Second day of fleet racing at the RC Trieste Cup. Trieste, 12 October 2007. Photo copyright Emme & Emme/Parenzan

The Gulf of Trieste however, challenged the sailors as the winds dropped to less than five knots for the second race. Yet again, it was the Dubai based Team Aqua out in front. Their ability to predict the wind shifts and spot the increased pressure on the right side of the course paid off.

Mascalzone Latino’s smooth rounding of the second leeward mark and good tactics brought the Italian team to within a few metres of Team Aqua for a second place finish in Race 2. An impressive improvement, just in time for owner Vincenzo Onorato’s arrival in Trieste.

Japanese Team Beecom also handled the shifty conditions very well, finishing third in Race 2, as did Ekipa44 who moved into fourth place overall, with two fourth place finishes today.

Saturday is the final day of the RC44 Trieste Cup, the penultimate event on the RC44 Championship Tour. With all the spectator boats on the water, it will be good practice for the teams in anticipation of Sunday’s Barcolana.

QUOTES

Cameron Appleton, Team Aqua: “Our goal today was to be consistent and not make mistakes. We know we are up against some great competitors, so we just wanted to be steady with our results. We didn’t expect to have a 2-1 day! We really feel that we actually got it right today and that we were fortunate to come out on top.”

Kelvin Harrap, Team Beecom: “Today was better than yesterday for us. We sailed much better. The boats are good in light air. They power up very quickly and go well. Hopefully there will be a little more wind than today for Sunday’s Barcolana. It will be quite a spectacle! It will be the first time a lot of us in the RC44 fleet will participate.”

Mitja Margon, Team Ekipa 44: “We are very satisfied with our sailing today. I think we have done a good job up until now. Our races are very consistent and our results are also good. We trained a lot before this regatta and we didn’t expect such good results because we have not been sailing together long. Our goal for tomorrow is to come third or even second place overall.”

Michele Ivadi, Team Ceeref: “Independent of how Russell and Team Omega performed, what’s important is that today we had a very good regatta. For our owner, this is very important, as it was the first time he has helmed in a regatta with light winds. We are happy with our results. James did a good job too, but it was a complex day.”

RC44 Trieste Cup
Overall Fleet Racing Results - Provisional Ranking – no discard

1) Team Aqua (2,1,4,1,2,1) 11 points
2) Team Ceeref (3,5,1,5,1,7) 22 points
3) Team Omega (1,2,7,3,9,5) 27 points
4) Team Ekipa 44 (7,4,3,6) 28 points
5) Team ES Bankers (5,6,2,7,3,10) 33 points
6) Team Cro-A-Sail (6,3,6,4,10,8) 37 points
7) Team Mascalzone Latino (8,9,10,2) 39 points
8) Team Magia (4,8,9,8,6,6) 41 points
9) Team Beecom (9,10,5,10,5,3) 42 points
10) Team Organika (10,7,8,9,7,9) 50 points

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