Saturday, October 13, 2007

Team Aqua victorious at RC44 Trieste Cup

[Source: RC44] The dock was densely packed with spectators as the RC44 teams prepared for the final day of racing at the RC44 Trieste Cup. By the time the fleet made its way through the numerous boats and out to the race course, it was midday and winds were nearing 15 knots.

Chris Bake’s Team Aqua started the day with an 11 point lead over Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref. However, a fifth place in the first race quickly diminished the Aqua’s strong lead. It was Patrick de Barro’s new team, ES Bankers (Dubai) Ltd that won the race, their first bullet in this event. As tactician Dean Barker predicted, the newest addition to the fleet has shown steady improvement since Tuesday.

Typical of the region, the winds dropped for the second race putting the owners and guest helmsmen to the test. In race two it was Team Ceeref that had an excellent start and led the fleet around the course. As the winds dropped and shifted considerably, the fleet caught up with Team Ceeref and it was a battle for second place. It was however, Miroslav Reljanovic’s Team Cro-A-Sail that demonstrated their local knowledge beating out the others for an impressive second place finish.

Final day of racing at the RC Trieste Cup. Trieste, 13 October 2007. Photo copyright EMME&EMME/CETIN

The Slovenian team Ekipa44, helmed by Samo Potokar, showed the steady improvement over the course of the regatta finishing in third place overall.

For the first time the RC44 fleet will compete in tomorrow’s Barcolana. Lining up on the start line with more than 1,500 boats including the likes of maxis Alfa Romeo and Maxijena, the RC44’s ability accelerate quickly will be key.

As the teams pack up, the festivities are about to begin and the RC44 Trieste Cup Prizegiving will kick off this evening’s programme.

The next and final stop on the RC44 Championship Tour is Dubai, where the teams will compete in the RC44 Gold Cup hosted by the Dubai International Marine Club.

Final day of racing at the RC Trieste Cup. Trieste, 13 October 2007. Photo copyright EMME&EMME/CETIN

QUOTES

Igor Lah, Team Ceeref: “It was great. I am really proud of my team.”

James Spithill, Team Ceeref: “The boats are amazing to sail. A bit like the TP52s. I think they are the best boats out there! Igor did an amazing job especially given that this is only his second regatta ever!”

Miroslav Reljanovic, Cro-A-Sail: “Our tactics were good today, but we experienced a few problems in the first race. In the second race, we had a pretty good start – we were on the right side of the line and the course. We have had a few changes in the team that we are accommodating. We need to continue to sail together more.”

Andrea Ballico, Mascalzone Latino: “The first race was great, except that fitting on the clew of our gennaker broke. The second race was more difficult.”

Tomaz Copi, Team Magia: “I think the secret to our success in this event is the good training that we have put in at home. We have been out 15-20 times. Today we knew it would be tricky but we had good boat speed, good tactic and good boat handling. Third overall is really good for Ekipa44. We’re already planning for the 2008 season.”

Final day of racing at the RC Trieste Cup. Trieste, 13 October 2007. Photo copyright EMME&EMME/CETIN

Overall Fleet Racing Results - Provisional Ranking – no discard

1) Team Aqua (2,1,4,1,2,1,5,4) 20 points
2) Team Ceeref (3,5,1,5,1,7,3,1) 26 points
3) Team Ekipa 44 (7,4,3,6,4,4,2,5) 35 points
4) Team Omega (1,2,7,3,9,5,4,8) 39 points
5) Team ES Bankers (5,6,2,7,3,10,1,7) 41 points
6) Team Mascalzone Latino (8,9,10,2,8,2,6,3) 48 points
7) Team Cro-A-Sail (6,3,6,4,10,8,9,2) 48 points
8) Team Beecom (9,10,5,10,5,3,7,6) 55 points
9) Team Magia (4,8,9,8,6,6,8,10) 59 points
10) Team Organika (10,7,8,9,7,9,10,9) 69 points

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