Emirates Team NZ become first ever team to retain the Audi MedCup title

[Source: AUDI Medcup] Just as they did last year Emirates Team New Zealand clinched their second successive Audi MedCup Circuit win with two racing days of the 2010 season to spare.

After Thursday’s coastal race the supreme Kiwis under skipper-helm Dean Barker had built themselves an unbeatable lead and in the end, after today’s one final blustery race in a Mistral of more than 28 knots off Cagliari, Sardinia the champions rounded out their second victorious season to finish 48.5 points ahead of Quantum Racing (USA) who finish runners-up, as they also did last season..

Alberto Roemmers’ Matador (ARG), the current world champions skippered by Guillermo Parada (ARG), comprehensively won the Region of Sardinia Trophy, the fifth and final regatta of the Audi MedCup Circuit season, finishing 12.5 points ahead of Jochen Schuemann’s Franco-German crew on Audi A1 powered by All4ONE.

The Kiwi 2010 champions, become the first team ever in the six year history of the circuit to win back-to-back MedCup Circuit champion titles. They won the top regatta trophy in Cascais, were fourth in Marseille, second in Barcelona, triumphed in Murcia and finished third on countback here in Cagliari.

The world's best monohull sailing team surfing the waves to overall championship victory. Cagliari, 25 September 2010. Photo copyright Stefano Gattini / AUDI Medcup

Emirates Team New Zealand set themselves on course for overall victory from the outset of the season in breezy Cascais, Portugal in May where they established an initial lead of 20 points, winning three races as well as the key coastal race there.

When last season they streaked to win four in a row of 2009’s five regattas, unmatched consistency has underpinned their victory again this season.

They won ten of this 2010 season’s 44 52 Series races. Last year they won 14 races from 43 starts. Skipper Dean Barker, Emirates Team New Zealand’s skipper -helm highlighted today how much harder this season has been for them to prevail overall.

Terry Hutchinson (USA) and the Quantum Racing (USA) crew finish second overall for the season, just five points ahead of Matador.

When they seized the lead on the second beat of today’s race the world champions seemed to have pulled themselves up to within touching distance of second place on the Circuit.

After winning the 2010 AUDI Medcup, Emirates Team NZ are staring at the unknown. Cagliari, 25 September 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / AUDI Medcup

With incumbents Quantum Racing five boats behind it might then have gone down to a match race for second, but as they hoisted their kite for the final run it exploded and they were left sitting for minutes while four boats passed them.

They only just managed to get a new spinnaker filling to stay ahead of their green and black hulled adversaries. With a win in the final race of the season Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE finish second at this season’s finale, just as they also did in Portugal in May.

2010 Audi MedCup Circuit - Final results
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 31,5+31+35+35.5+38= 171 points
2. Quantum Racing (USA), 59.5+22,5+44+53.5+40= 219.5
3. Matador (ARG), 60+27+67+45+25.5= 224.5
4. TeamOrigin (GBR), 59.5+31+63+46.5+41,5= 241.5
5. Artemis (SWE), 57+53+33+64+49.5= 256.5
6. Synergy (RUS), 64+35.5+73+68.5+38.5= 279.5
7. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), 51.5+29,5+84+78+38= 281
8. Bribón (ESP), 88+41+58+70+45.3= 296,5
9. Cristabella (GBR), 65+43.5+62+85,5+62= 318
10. Luna Rossa (ITA), 77,5+44.5+73+69+74.5= 338.5
11. Bigamist 7 (POR), 88+78+70+78.5+102= 416.5

Video: Highlights from day 3 of the AUDI Medcup Sardinia Trophy

Highlights from day 3 of the AUDI Medcup Sardinia Trophy. Cagliari, 23 September 2010. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

Matador wins the coastal race in Cagliari

[Source: AUDI Medcup] World champions Matador exorcised last season’s ghost of Sardinia and lifted their four times coastal race jinx today under the Devil’s Saddle when they won the 1.5 points multiplier 30 miles passage to picturesque Poetteo and back.

Matador (ARG) extend their overall lead in the Region of Sardinia Trophy Regatta’s 52 Series to 11 points over second placed Synergy (RUS). And, chasing down the second place overall on the Audi MedCup Circuit which eluded them last year, Matador’s momentum moves them to within six points of Quantum Racing.

Last year Alberto Roemmers’ team lead this coastal race but erred too close to the point at the Devil’s Saddle and ran out of breeze, letting a handful of boats pass them. But today, with Vasco Vascotto and Francesco Bruni combining on tactical choices along with navigator Bruno Zirilli, the Italian trio ensured that Matador did not put a foot wrong and were able to win by a comprehensive 1 minute and 46 seconds.

Follow the leader. Matador win the coastal race and extend their leadership in the regatta. Cagliari, 23 September 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / AUDI Medcup

In a light to moderate sea breeze, which built to 12kts midway through the race, the start was critical, setting the order for the windward mark, where Matador lead.

On the long reach across the Bay of Cagliari towards ‘that’ point, the Capo St Elia to the east of Cagliari, Matador were the only team among the leading group to set and hold on to an A3 reaching kite when their pursuers used jibs. That gave Matador a small boost and allowed them to extend on the run down into the Bay of Angels, to the leeward turning mark off the beach at Poetto.

Ray Davies, tactician on Emirates Team NZ explains want went wrong in the coastal race. Cagliari, 23 September 2010. Video copyright Emirates Team NZ

On the second run back to the same leeward mark Quantum Racing overhauled second placed Jochen Schuemann’s Audi A1 powered by All4One - which had movie actor Jean Reno, star of the Da Vinci Code, Leon, the Big Blue and Mission Impossible -riding at the back as guest. .

The 2008 champions Quantum then held off a spirited attack from Artemis, which has owner Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE) back on the helm this week, on the final sprint under reaching gennakers in to the harbour mouth, taking second just ahead of the team which won the coastal race here last yeatr.

With a sold fifth place Synergy hold on to second place on the Region of Sardinia Trophy Regatta standings only 2.5 points ahead of Terry Hutchinson’s crew on Quantum crew, still with two days and four races still scheduled of this event.

Region of Sardinia Trophy - 52 Series - Day 3
1. Matador (ARG), 2+8+2+1+5+1+1,5= 20,5 points
2. Synergy (RUS), 6+5+3+4+1+5+7,5= 31,5
3. Quantum Racing (USA), 9+3+7+2+6+4+3= 34
4. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 8+2+1+10+2+3+9= 35
5. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), 5+1+5+6+3+11(DNF)+6= 37
6. TeamOrigin (GBR), 7+4+4+8+4+2+10,5= 39,5
7. Bribón (ESP), 1+9+8+3+8+3(RDG)+8(RDG)= 40
8. Artemis (SWE), 3+6+10+5+9+8+4,5= 45,5
9. Cristabella (GBR), 4+10+6+9+7+6+12= 54
10. Luna Rossa (ITA), 10+7+9+7+10+7+13,5= 63,5

AUDI Medcup - Cartagena Trophy - Day 4: When the going gets tough Emirates Team NZ get going

I often refer to Emirates Team New Zealand as the "world's best monohull sailing team" and as a result I have received quite a few emails asking when was the last World monohull sailing championship held because they seemed to have missed it. Obviously, such a kind of world championship has never been held but if there was the slightest doubt about ETNZ it was surely dissipated in today's two races.

Saturday was a very tough and testing day with rough seas and strong breeze, reaching 25 knots. The schedule called for a windward/leeward race, followed by a 22-mile long coastal race. Emirates Team NZ showed their excellent form and dominated the fleet by scoring two bullets. I don't remember how many time I must have repeated this but they just sailed flawlessly while their yacht was "flying" in the fresh breeze. Not only did they win both races but the disastrous coastal race for Team Origin gave them the opportunity to leap to first place overall in the regatta. Team Origin where around the middle of the fleet in the reaching leg but after rounding the small rock island off the coast they broke their forestay and had to sail the rest of the race with just the mainsail on. The crossed the finish line inside the port in last position, certainly not the result they wanted in a race with weight 1.5 times.

I was onboard Matador in the coastal race and I have to admit it wasn't an easy ride. We got completely soaked 4-5 times, the waves were unforgiving and just avoiding falling doing was a demanding exercise. As a result, unfortunately, I had to put a premium on securing my gear over taking spectacular photos or video.

Riding the waves onboard Matador. Cartagena, 28 August 2010. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The coastal race for Matador could be very well summed up in two sentences. The first one was voiced by Francesco Bruni, after rounding the mark at the end of the long upwind leg in second position behind Emirates Team New Zealand, and it was "The shore is good". Indeed the shore proved to be very good for Matador. The Italian brainpower onboard the Argentinean boat, Francesco Bruni and Vasco Vascotto, took the bold decision to part from the rest of fleet and go as close to the shore as possible. Not only did they find very strong breeze, I saw up to 25.5 knots in various occasions as we were almost touching the rocks, a positive current of almost 2 knots propelled them ahead to second place.

Unfortunately, the reaching leg to the small rock island of Las Palomas wasn't as successful and that's where the second sentence comes. Matador is an Argentinean boat and as a result, even if the long term tactical discussions are in Italian and the maneuvers are in English, Spanish is the prevailing language onboard. So, the second sentence that summarizes the coastal race on Matador is "El kukú cost us two places". As we were approaching the island, Matador were defending their second place but Artemis and Bigamist had threateningly closed in and were ready to grab every opportunity Matador would give them. Bruni and Vascotto had decided the next move was to do a peeling and go for "El kukú". As I was told after the race, "El kukú" is the nickname the crew has for a particular A3 gennaker they have. Unfortunately, sloppy crew work meant the gennaker couldn't come down, 2 minutes of furious yelling and shouting took place and when the gennaker was finally down, Artemis and Bigamist were ahead. Matador crossed the finish line frouth

Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy - Day 4
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 4+2+5+4+3+1+1,5= 20,5 points
2. TeamOrigin (GBR), 3+1+3+2+1+3+16,5= 29,5
3. Matador (ARG), 1+4+1+5+8+5+6= 30
4. Artemis (SWE), 5+6+2+10+4+6+3= 36
5. Quantum Racing (USA), 9+5+6+3+7+2+7,5= 39,5
6. Bribón (ESP), 7+11+4+1+10+4+12= 49
7. Luna Rossa (ITA), 2+7+9+6+2+9+15= 50
8. Synergy (RUS), 8+3+7+11+6+7+10,5= 52,5
9. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), 6+8+11+8+9+10+9= 61
10. Bigamist 7 (POR), 11+9+8+9+11+11+4,5= 63,5
11. Cristabella (GBR), 10+10+10+7+5+8+13,5= 63,5

Cartagena Trophy - Day 1 - Race 2: Team Origin wins and grabs overall lead

The second race of the day took place under slightly lighter conditions and with a definite bias on the committee boat end of the start line. According to Paul Cayard, the right hand side of the course was very favored upwind due to the Easterly flowing current offshore. The committee did not bias the line to the left so the fleet was bunched up at the committee boat end of the line at the starts. In fact, the start was the key for Team Origin's great race and the overall lead.

Ben Ainslie helmed the British TP52 yacht to a clean start, with good speed ahead of the fleet. Team Origin was again the first boat to get to the very favored right side and rounded the first weather mark first, ahead of Synergy and Emirates Team New Zealand. A combination of excellent tactics, boat handling and boat speed allowed Team Origin to keep the lead to the finish line. The top three spots would have remained unchanged if it weren't for a badly executed gybe on Synergy in the last run that put the New Zealanders ahead of the Russians.

Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy - Day 1
1. TeamOrigin (GBR), 3+1= 4 points
2. Matador (ARG), 1+4= 5
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 4+2= 6
4. Luna Rossa (ITA), 2+7= 9
5. Synergy (RUS), 8+3= 11
6. Artemis (SWE), 5+6= 11
7. Quantum Racing (USA), 9+5= 14
8. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), 6+8= 14
9. Bribón (ESP), 7+11= 18
10. Bigamist 7 (POR), 11+9= 20
11. Cristabella (GBR), 10+10= 20

Start of the second race of the day and it's a very good one for Team Origin. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Bribón find themselves at the wrong side of the committee boat. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Team Origin lead the fleet in the first beat of the second race. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Team Origin lead the fleet at the first weather mark. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Synergy and Emirates Team NZ follow at the first weather mark. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Quantum had another mediocre beat, rounding the top mark in eighth place. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Team Origin extend their lead in the first run. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Team Origin round the leeward gate in first place, ahead of Synergy. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Probably the day's funniest incident took place when a furious cargo ship went streaming right in the middle of the course when the fleet was halfway through the second beat. Fortunately, it didn't affect the race. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Start of last run. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

It ain't over till it's over. Emirates Team NZ steal second place from Synergy after a badly executed gybe on the Russian boat. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Cartagena Trophy - Day 1 - Race 1: Matador scores first bullet

The Italian brainpower duo Bruni-Vascotto worked magic on Matador in the opening race of the Cartagena Trophy. According to Francesco Bruni, tactician on the Argentinean boat, the key in the first race was to have a clear start and be the first boat to tack to the right and this is exactly what they did.

They were ahead at the top mark, in front of Emirates Team New Zealand and Team Origin, something that was not easy at all, according to Bruni. Despite the pressure by the New Zealanders and the Brits, the crew on Matador was confident of their tactics until they saw the kiwis gybe first in the first run. Bruni commented they feared Team New Zealand had seen something they couldn't see but decided to stick on to their plan. Not only did they stay ahead of the fleet, the move cost the New Zealanders two places at the leeward gate.

From that point Matador was able to further stretch their advantage and cross the finish line with a comfortable lead. Without any doubt, the recovery story of the race was on Luna Rossa. The Italians were eighth at the first weather mark but the decision to opt for the left in the first run rewarded them, allowing them to finish second. Team Origin held on to third place, putting the first stone for the overall lead.

Start of the day's 1st race. Not a brilliant start for Matador but still it gave them the opportunity to be the first boat to tack. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Italian brainpower on Matador opts for the right side in the first beat. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Matador leads the fleet in the first weather mark. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Matador leads the fleet in the first run but the story of the leg was the incredible recovery by Luna Rossa. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Luna Rossa round the leeward gate in second place. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Follow the leader... Matador has increased its lead in the last run. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The first race has been an awful experience for Quantum that rounded the second top mark ninth. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Team Origin finishes third ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand. Cartagena, 25 August 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Video: Highlights from the third day of the Marseille Trophy

Highlights from the third day of the Marseille Trophy. Marseille, 18 June 2010. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

Quantum Racing kings under the Calanques

[Source: AUDI Medcup] After winning on this track for the second year in a row Quantum Racing could be justified in claiming ownership of one of the most spectacular race tracks there is on the Audi MedCup Circuit, the 36 miles circuit down along spectacular calanques limestone cliffs to Cassis and back.

Carrying a 1.5 points bounty the win their third of the Marseille Trophy so far, gives the 2008 Audi MedCup champions a lead of 4.5 points over Matador who stole third in the closing stages of a spectacular, exciting coastal race.

It was pure, distilled, classic Marseille. Winds peaked at nearly 25 knots with big seas to ride on the 10 miles downwind leg to the turning mark off Cassis, the scenic little town which lies in a quiet bay cut from the towering cliffs. On the downwind leg the sustained surfing action was quite simply as good as it gets, and on the return leg along the base of the cliffs, it is fantastic, powerful upwind sailing in flatter water.

Quantum Racing wins the coastal race. Marseille, 18 June 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez / AUDI Medcup

Impeccable
The Quantum Racing team sailed an impeccable race.
The pressure was added at the start with the TP52 fleet knowing that there might be few big tactical opportunities after leaving the bay of Marseille. It was another pin sharp start from the Quantum Racing afterguard which allowed them to track left early with Emirates Team New Zealand. The Kiwis lead around the windward mark with Quantum Racing on their tails but on the first run Emirates Team New Zealand gybed early and the American team were able to get around the leeward gate first.

From there Quantum Racing were never really challenged.

Jochen Schuemann, Sebastien Col and the Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE were probably the quickest on the water today and had overhauled the Kiwi team, but just after half way back up the long beat home, the Franco-German team lost their jib.

They had to send a man up the mast quickly to retrieve the halyard and that lost them ground to the current champions. Audi A1 took third place across the finish, whilst Matador’s never say die spirit was rewarded when they managed to grab fourth on the finish line.

The TP52 fleet sails the coastal race under superb conditions. Marseille, 18 June 2010. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / AUDI Medcup

Equipment Failures
It was a muscular day which exposed any small imperfections in crew work, or equipment. Britain’s TeamOrigin 1851 had some of their good work on Thursday undone when their jib slipped down on the first beat when they were dicing for second place, they fought back but could only make sixth.

But the most unfortunate team were Bribon who lost their forestay strop and had to nurse their boat to the finish under mainsail only.

Quotes of the day:

Morgan Larson (USA) tacitician Quantum Racing (USA): “We like that race course. It was slightly different to last year, but not that much. I think it was a pretty straightforward race, we put the right sails up at the right time, boat handling was good. I reckon that is probably the best race I have sailed with this team in two years. I don’t think there is anything especially different. For us it is nice to have Doug de Vos with us. He knows his way around the boat which is nice. It is the first regatta he has done with us. He is not just sitting on the rail, he is sort of the mast man and doing a lot of grinding.”
“I think the addition of Phil Jameson, ‘Blood’, who joined as at the back end of last season, is a great addition. He has so much experience and is a great trouble shooter. We had a few mechanical issues before the start and one or two issues during the race and he sorted them out.”
“Visually that is beautiful course and tactically it is great. There are a lot of rocks and turns. You think it is the same every year but there are still bits where you are thinking where the mark is. Historically it has always been good for us and it is great because you sail outside in big winds and waves and then come upwind in flat water and along the cliffs.”

Once again, Team Origin suffered from gear failure. Marseille, 18 June 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / Team Origin

Ray Davies (NZL), tactician ETNZ (NZL): " We've finished second, so we are very happy with that but it's been a very tricky tough race. We've had a very good first leg, and then down the long run down to the bottom end Audi were flying they sailed past us they caught up towards Quantum as well they were going the best downwiind and they surfed straight over the top of us and they just kept going. Then on the beat upwind they had some troubles with the genoa, they did a very good job of recovering, first they had to drop it and then re-hoist it, and then started pulling out of the foil. Conditions were great, it was perfect sailing, it got up to 26-27 knots sometimes down the run. But it was a long way upwind, a lot of hiking, there will be a lot of people wanting a massage tonight that's for sure."

Jochen Schuemann (GER), Audi A1 All4One (GER): " The most important part of the race was the long downwind where we were quite fast and could overtake ETNZ and we were in second position there down in Cassis, but unfortunately when we got a solid second place there we broke our jib halyard and we had to drop the jib, put it up again on the spinnaker halyard and also Jean Marie had to climb up twice in the rig to fix it so that we could continue sailing, and for all that drama we can be very happy of being so close to ETNZ in the finish, they passed us but it was a very nice race."

TP52 Series - Overall – Day 3
1. Quantum Racing (USA), 8+1+1+5+6+1,5= 22,5 points
2. Matador (ARG), 3+3+4+1+10+6= 27
3. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), 2+9+2+10+2+4,5= 29,5
4. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 10+6+5+4+3+3= 31
5. TeamOrigin (GBR), 4+7+7+3+1+9= 31
6. Synergy (RUS), 9+2+6+7+4+7,5= 35,5
7. Bribón (ESP), 1+8+8+2+7+15= 41
8. Cristabella (GBR), 6+4+3+8+9+13,5= 43,5
9. Luna Rossa (ITA), 5+5+10+9+5+10,5= 44,5
10. Artemis (SWE), 7+11(RAF)+9+6+8+12= 53

First test sail for the modified TP52 Matador in Palma de Mallorca

One by one, the TP52 yachts hit the water after spending a few months in the shed in order to comply with the necessary modification in order to compete in this year's AUDI Medcup, that is to add 150kgs of weight to the keel to compensate for the reduction in crew weight, move to a "square-top" mainsail with twin backstays, increase spinnaker area and adopt bowsprits.

On Friday it was the turn of Argentinean TP52 Matador to be taken for her maiden sail after carrying out the modifications. The team being based in Puerto Portals, the 3-hour shakedown sail took place inside the bay of Palma de Mallorca, and according to our friend and local photographer, Jesus Renedo, all went according to plan.

The next yachts in line to sail in Palma are Bribón, in 1-2 weeks, and then Artemis, a week later.

First test sail for the modified TP52 Matador. Palma de Mallorca, 19 March 2010. Photo copyright Jesus Renedo

First test sail for the modified TP52 Matador. Palma de Mallorca, 19 March 2010. Photo copyright Jesus Renedo

First test sail for the modified TP52 Matador. Palma de Mallorca, 19 March 2010. Photo copyright Jesus Renedo

First test sail for the modified TP52 Matador. Palma de Mallorca, 19 March 2010. Photo copyright Jesus Renedo

First test sail for the modified TP52 Matador. Palma de Mallorca, 19 March 2010. Photo copyright Jesus Renedo

First test sail for the modified TP52 Matador. Palma de Mallorca, 19 March 2010. Photo copyright Jesus Renedo

First test sail for the modified TP52 Matador. Palma de Mallorca, 19 March 2010. Photo copyright Jesus Renedo

The Matador 2009 season according to skipper Guillermo Parada

2009 was a long and tough year for us on Matador.

After lying second at the Medcup for most of the season, we finished fourth.

Many things happened in between (I lost my mother during the Portimao regatta, and our bowman lost his father when we were flying to Cartagena) but, no excuses, we made a lot of mistakes, sailed poorly, and were beaten fair and straight by ETNZ, Quantum and Artemis.

We then looked at the Worlds as a perfect opportunity to get things back on track, we talked and learned about the mistakes we made and we were always confident in our team ability and in the speed of our Vrolijk design Matador, we just needed to put all things together.

Palma is a venue that we perfectly know, it suits our style, and we all feel there as at home.

Matador won the 3 TP52 events held at Palma (Palmavela , Copa del Rey and Worlds), so that speaks for itself.

Off we went into racing, and after a decent first day of sailing, we found ourselves DSQ in the second race, being the middle boat on a 3 boats incident.

We always felt that we were in the right, and we were able to reopen the hearing by bringing new evidence, to find out that the jury ratified their original decision, as they didn´t find a reason to change it.

We've been told that this was a very unusual case, and that a Q&A was being sent to ISAF to clarify it, as they couldn't tell us what we could have done differently not to be disqualified.

At this stage we were under a lot of pressure, as not only we needed to prove our innocence, but to keep sailing in a way to keep our chances open in case we were reinstated, not an easy thing to do.

After the abandoned costal race, we found that the Jury reinstated us on the second race, under rules 66 and 20.2

We were obviously very happy with this, as we kept fighting on the water and we were now 2nd overall going into the final day of racing.

The last day presented as challenger as ever, as the weather was very unstable, with small tornados developing over the mountains.


Quantum got the best start and took advantage of the left side to win the first race of the day.

We were not that lucky in the first beat and rounded in 5th, position that we held until the last run, when we made a good move to the left of the fleet to come back to third. Bribon was 4th and Artemis 5th.

At this stage and going into the final race, Bribon was leading from Quantum , and we were third overall, but Bribon had a protest from Artemis that was going to be held after racing.

We needed to win that race and have one boat in between us and Quantum to win the tie breaker.

We liked the right of the beat, so after a clean start , right we went.We used our good speed to take advantage of a right hand shift and led every mark of the race.

Quantum was middle fleet until the last run, when they played the right of the course and came back from 5th to 3rd, just 1.5 lenghts short of 2nd.

This was just enough for us to tie in points and win the tie breaker as we had same amount of firsts, but one more 3rd position.

We won the regatta on the last day on the water, nobody can argue with this , and hopefully ISAF will clarify the rules in order to avoid this happening again. Wining this regatta was a big accomplishment for us, a big life lesson to keep fighting until the very end and never let us down.

As a balance for the season, we won 4 out of the 8 TP 52 regattas of the year (the only ones together with ETNZ to win a TP52 regatta) and we reversed the trend of the last 2 Medcup events by winning the World Championship, so hopefully we can start building from there for the future.

We made it happen, on the water, and on the right way.

Something that we all feel very proud about.

AUDI Medcup - Cartagena Trophy - Day 2: Preview

Can it get worse than yesterday? Hopefully not but, unfortunately, the forecast isn't very promising either. The entire east coast of Spain will be affected by the front hanging over the Mediterranean for at least one day and we might have in store yet another long and tricky day. The official forecast from the AUDI Medcup organization calls for unstable and shifty winds, ranging from 2 to 10 knots in velocity and 60 to 240 degrees in direction.

After yesterday's botched attempt to hold at least one race, the TP52 fleet is scheduled to sail three races while the GP42's have less pressure since there racing starts today. With Emirates Team New Zealand holding a 52-point lead over the rest of the fleet, it is very probable the Med champion will be from the Pacific. The battle for the remaining 2 podium spots will be between Matador, Quantum, Artemis and, marginally, Bigamist.

Morning quotes:

Ray Davies, tactician on Emirates Team New Zealand: Yesterday I said we could have one or two races and in fact I think we could have gotten that first one. That was the only opportunity in the day to have a race, albeit a very shifty and difficult one, but still it would have been OK. Today the situation is similar to yesterday but a little bit better. We are in postponement ashore and I don't think we'll have any significant wind before 2pm but it is very tricky making predictions.

Highlights from the first day of the Cartagena Trophy. Cartagena, 15 September 2009. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

Guillermo Parada, helmsman on Matador: We have a 5-point lead over Artemis and Quantum and the feeling onboard Matador is good. Without any doubt, this year the circuit is very challenging and we have lost a lot of points halfway through the season when we tried to attack Emirates Team New Zealand. It was a risky tactic in order to win the Medcup but they showed to be more consistent and committed less errors than we did. As a result, we are now paying the price for it and in addition, in Portimao some issues unrelated to sailing, resulted in a bad outcome despite the effort we put.

Guillermo Parada

All these issues have now reduced the advantage we had over the rest of the fleet but we still feel confident. The boat is fast and this is an extremely difficult race course where you can't have a conservative sailing strategy. In my opinion, the best strategy to hold on to our second position overall, is to race well and win this regatta. You can't focus solely on these two boats, because if you do, one of them will escape and ruin you. As I said, we feel very confident. We have a good boat, we know we can sail well and finish the season in second place.

After that, the next stage will be the TP52 Worlds in October and then 2010 since we have the intention to continue in the Medcup circuit. In fact, next week we will launch a 52-foot yacht in Buenos Aires that will follow the new TP52 rule in order to take advantage of our summer and test as much as we can. The changes in the TP52 rule were much-needed, they are indeed a step ahead, they make the boats more modern and simply reflect what their owners had been claiming for some time. The most important issue will be to correctly manage the transition period between the two rules in order to avoid huge differences between the new boats. If we can achieve this, the final result will be better than expected.

I think the new TP52 rule has been conceived in order to reduce costs but at the end of the day, if one wants to spend a lot of money they will still do it. It will be possible to do a TP52 campaign for less money but that doesn't mean that the teams with the biggest budgets will necessarily reduce them!

As far as the newly-created Louis Vuitton World Series is concerned, as a sportsman I'm obviously very interested and it would be great for me to participate. But from being a personal wish to having a Matador team in the series, it's quite some way. We first have to see whether it makes sense to participate and whether we are able to set up the team for it. For 2009, it is impossible since we have already made our plans and have other races scheduled during the Nice regatta in November. For 2010 it is still too early to tell but I would like to at least consider the possibility of Matador taking part.

AUDI MedCup : Matador wins Alicante Trophy after nail biting last race

The Argentinean sailing war machine fired on all engines this afternoon in Alicante. A second place and a bullet in the day's two races as well a mediocre last race by both Emirates Team NZ and Quantum, gave the Alicante Trophy to the boat helmed Guillermo Parada.

Matador is the winner of the trophy with 36 points, followed by Artemis with 37, Emirates Team NZ with 38 and Quantum Racing with 40. Four boats separated by just 4 points guarantee a long, tough and close season.

The first race was simply an Oscar-winning performance by the winners of the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup. Emirates Team New Zealand led from start to finish despite the tough pressure put on by Matador and Quantum. Dean Barker got off the starting line with clear air on the pin end and the first part of the beat turned into a drag race against Quantum and Matador. Having a slight speed advantage, NZL-380 got on the lead and rounded the top mark 9 seconds ahead of Matador and 15 ahead of Quantum.

Neither of the two trailing boats was able to threaten Emirates Team New Zealand that, on the contrary, increased their lead by 5 seconds at each mark. Still, in the last run Matador was able to shorten the kiwi advantage, crossing the finish line a mere 10 seconds behind them. Quantum finished third close behind.

Guillermo Parada helms Matador to overall victory in the Alicante Trophy. Alicante, 17 May 2009. Photo copyright Jesús Renedo

After the end of the race, Emirates Team NZ were overall leaders, holding a 3-point margin over Quantum and a 4-point lead over Artemis and Matador. All they had to do was sail conservatively, keep clear and avoid trouble. Well, nothing of that took place. In pure Latin style, the Argentineans imposed themselves and left the other contestants no chance whatsoever.

Matador had a brilliant start on the pin end and started a drag race with the kiwis towards the left side of the course. The Argentineans came on top, rounding the top mark 6 second ahead of Pisco Sour. Vasco Vascotto's boat was the one to have opted for the furthest left edge of race track, a strategy that paid off. Artemis was close behind third.

On the other hand, Quantum, being the first of the leading boats to have tacked to the right, paid dearly their move and came into the 1st run eighth. From that point on, Matador kept their lead until the finish line while the New Zealanders and Quantum sailed poorly, finishing 7th and 6th respectively. On the other hand, Artemis continued their very consistent performance and finished second. They are also second overall, squeezed between Matador and Team NZ, with just three points separating the teams.

@Nico Martinez / AUDI MedCup

Guillermo Parada, helmsman Matador: "It was a great day for us. We learned a lot from the errors we committed throughout the week and made sure we didn't repeat them today. Everything went well today. We had two excellent starts, the boat had a very good speed with a little bit more of breeze, Francesco made some brilliant tactic calls and crew work was very smart.

I think the key to today's success were the two very good starts. We immediately got in the top 3 boats after each start and with our good boat speed we sailed very well. I have to repeat that everybody on the boat did an excellent job today and was very concentrated.

We knew in the morning that we did have a chance for first place and we were conscious it depended upon us and that we had to fight until the finish. This result clearly shows us, and the rest of the teams, that we are alive and that we will fight."

@Nico Martinez / AUDI Medcup

Russell Coutts, tactician on Artemis: "We are very happy with the overall result in the Alicante Trophy. Finishing second, just one point from the lead is very good result. We sailed well and we are very happy with our new boat in terms of performance.

Nevertheless, this is just the beginning of a long and tough season. Even if the number of boats is smaller this year compared to last year, the level has considerably increased and got much tougher."

@Chris Cameron / ETNZ

Ray Davies, tactician Emirates Team New Zealand: "We had a brilliant first race and led from start to finish. In the second race we were at a very good shape in the top mark, 4th, but down in both runs we lost places, two in the first run and another one in the second run. We have to work on our downwind sailing and on getting better speed in light airs.

Finishing just 2 points from the lead means that we are very, very close to the best teams here in the TP52 circuit. In the light and shifty conditions it's a little bit a roll of the dice so we have to work in our light air percentage gains. Overall, we are quite satisfied. In this very first regatta we wanted to survive and make sure we are in contagion. We feel we have to keep improving as the season goes on. We are very, very happy to be just two points from the lead. There is still a long way to go but of course people always expect the best from Emirates Team New Zealand."

"Hispanic" TP52's train in Valencia

With just a few days left before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup in Alicante, Desafío is playing host to Matador and Bribón in their base and the three "hispanic" teams took advantage of Thursday's excellent conditions to carry out their last training sessions in the host city of the 32nd America's Cup before moving to the actual venue on Sunday. It was Valencia at its best today, with bright skies and a brisk southeastern breeze that reached 17 knots late in the afternoon, before dying completely.

The three teams were later joined by the Russian Valars and ended the day's training with a 4-boat fleet regatta. That race also marked the return of the Russians on the water after an unfortunate incident a month ago that resulted in a broken mast. The Russians had scheduled to race in HUBLOT Palmavela in mid-April but the breakage dashed their hopes. The first tests today proved successful and Valars was able to join today's race.

In addition to these 4 TP52 yachts, AUDI Q8 used the day to finetune their yacht while Emirates Team New Zealand were busy working on their 52ft boat, trying to make her a TP52. As surprising as it might sound, the yacht of the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup winners didn't measure and as a result it isn't a TP52 yet. According to the reports from the rest of teams, the kiwi shore crew has to slim the bulb by around 200kg before the class measurers put their stamp of approval. So if you answered, Emirates Team NZ TP52 yacht in our quiz, you were wrong. We don't know whether this setback will have any consequences on ETNZ's schedule.

With the TP52 action in Valencia winding down, we will publish an interesting interview with Terry Hutchinson on Friday. Last year's Med & World champion is already in Alicante and Quantum Racing has been training there for a couple of days.

Last TP52 training sessions before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last TP52 training sessions before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last TP52 training sessions before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last TP52 training sessions before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

First, and successful, test sail of Valars after the mast breakage a month ago. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last TP52 training sessions before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last TP52 training sessions before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last TP52 training sessions before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last TP52 training sessions before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Last TP52 training sessions before the start of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Valencia, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing