Azzurra holds on to second place at the Cascais 52 Super Series

Thanks to her second place finish in Race 2, Azzurra is holding on to her provisional second place standing at the Cascais 52 Super Series Sailing Week and is just a few points overall behind her principal adversary, Quantum Racing.

It was a tough day on the water for the fleet sailing in the 2019 52 Super Series’ third event held in Cascais, Portugal. Fresh breeze from the northwest was blowing at over 20 knots and gusting at over 27, but it was the shiftiness that really complicated matters. Azzurra had an up and down day, with an unexpectedly poor sixth place finish in the first race and an excellent recovery crowned by a second place finish in the second race where she arrived just seconds behind the winner, Phoenix 11, and well ahead of the rest of the fleet. 
Skipper Guillermo Parada tells the story of the day: “It was a so-so day for us, nothing special. T

he race course was really tricky, maybe even in a bad position because we had everything from 25 to 8 knots so it was very, very shifty. In the first race we were in third or fourth place on the first run, and we gybed with one minute to go to the layline but it turned out that the breeze was much stronger on the outside. All the boats that were sailing there passed us and we were last at the gate. We stayed close on the second beat and on the last run we were able to overtake one boat so we were sixth, which is obviously no good. In the second race it was a mess again. We started close to the Committee Boat and went to the right, but we ran out of breeze so we went offshore and were able to recover to second at the top mark.

On the run Quantum and Bronenosec came up from behind with a puff and overtook us before the gate so we fought our way back on the second beat. The breeze varied from 25 to 6 knots and it was a mess because it was also shifting by 15 degrees. We went for the land this time and the right hand side was good so we were able to round in second and hold that position until the end. So we can say that we aren’t very happy, but it’s acceptable and hopefully tomorrow the course will be a bit more fair. We’re second at this event and in the lead overall for the season, but we have to think race by race. There’s still a long way to go.”

Santiago Lange, tactician: “We made a mistake on the first run which was painful, we really didn’t expect to loose so many positions. Our boat speed wasn’t all that good and it’s a shame, we have to keep sailing better. On the brighter side, we did make the right choice on the run in the second race, but we still need to be more consistent.”

Provisional overall results at this event currently see Azzurra in second place, six points behind Quantum. Bronenosec trails Azzurra by 5 points and Platoon by 7, while the rest of the fleet in behind, but not by much. Today was also the halfway mark in the 2019 season and overall for the season Azzurra is currently in the lead with 89 points. But she’s just 4 points ahead of three teams: Quantum, Platoon and Provezza, all of whom currently have 93 points. The fleet is super tight and every detail and every last second counts. 

Tomorrow, July 19th the first warning signal will be at 12 PM local time, 1 PM CEST and conditions are forecast to be similar to day’s. Fans can follow the action on Virtual Eye on the website www.52superseries.com or on www.azzurra.it. Updates from the course will be posted on Azzurra’s Facebook page, while the best racing shots will be on her Instagram account.

Cascais 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week after six races

1. Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) (2,1,2,2,1,4) 12 p.
2. Azzurra (ARG/ITA) (Alberto/Pablo Roemmers) (3,3,1,3,6,2) 18 p.
3. Bronenosec (RUS) (Vladimir Liubomirov) (4,2,4,7,3,3) 23 p.
4. Platoon (GER) (Harm Müller-Spreer) (5,4,3,1,7,5) 25 p.
5. Phoenix 11 (RSA) (Hasso Plattner) (6,6,5,4,5,1) 27 p.
6. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) (1,5,7,5,2,7) 27 puntos.
7. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andrés Soriano) (7,7,6,6,4,6) 36 p.
 

52 SUPER SERIES 2019

Menorca 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week, 
May 21th - 25 th, Menorca, Spain.

Puerto Sherry 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup, 
June 18th - 22th Cadiz, Spain.

Cascais 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week, 
July16th - 20th Cascais, Portugal.

Rolex TP52 World Championship Puerto Portals 2019, 
August 25th - 29th Mallorca Spain.

Porto Cervo 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week,
September 24th - 28rd Sardinia, Italy.
 

AZZURRA
Pablo and Alberto Roemmers - Owners
Guillermo Parada - Skipper, Helm
Santiago Lange - Tactician
Bruno Zirilli - Navigator
Giovanni Cassinari - Mainsail
Mariano Caputo - Bowman
Juan Pablo Marcos -  Midbow
David Vera - Pitman
Grant Loretz- Trimmer
Ciccio Celon - Trimmer
Mariano Parada - Trimmer
Gabriel Marino - Grinder
Alejandro Colla – Grinder
Nicola Pilastro - Grinder
Pedro Rossi- Boat Captain
Coach: Guillermo Baquerizas
Sail performances: Gonzalo Ramos Vertiz