Azzurra is runner up at the Rolex TP52 World Championship
Azzurra is runner up at the Rolex TP52 World Championship
Azzurra is in second place at the end of the Rolex TP52 World Championship, which is also the fourth event in the 2019 52 Super Series, while the new world champion is Platoon. The final event in the 2019 season will be in Porto Cervo starting on September 23rd.
The final day of racing at the Rolex TP52 World Championship was run in thermal breeze from the south west 7 to 10 knots that was light and very unstable, conditions that made tactical and strategical calls particularly difficult and complex. Azzurra successfully defended her second place overall, but didn't manage to edge out Platoon, who ended this event with just a two point lead. Third place for the Russian boat Bronenosec that has several Italians on her team.
Azzurra's goal is to win the war and not the battle and she is looking for the 52 Super Series season win as her skipper Guillermo Parada stated before this 2019 World Championship. In this light, the boat flying Yacht Club Costa Smeralda's burgee is still ahead in the season's provisional overall results with a 6 point lead over Platoon and 11 points on Quantum Racing.
In both of today's races- which were really three starts because the first race was immediately abandoned so that the course could be moved after a wind shift - Azzurra got good starts on the left, the side that all of the teams wanted. But the unstable winds played dirty tricks on her and she always finished towards the middle of the fleet but still ahead of her closest rival for the win: Platoon. The German team was very aggressive today and got two penalty points for as many contacts, one of which was pre-start with Azzurra.
“Things could have gone better today," said navigator Bruno Zirilli. "But the wind rotated suddenly, especially in the second race. Proof is the fact that Platoon, who was chasing the fleet because of the penalties they got, twice chose the opposite side as the rest of the fleet and they recovered positions and limited the damage. They were really lucky and that's not a word that I like to use."
Alberto Roemmers, Azzurra's owner, had these words: “It was really close again today, we were just two points from first place. We didn't get lucky in the choice of which side of the course to be on and it was a difficult day overall with calm winds and a lot of shifts. We could have used some luck to be in the right place at the right time. But our maneuvers and starts were perfect and I trust in the fact that this team will do a great job in Porto Cervo."
Guillermo Parada, skipper: “It’s a little bit disappointing because we had a lot of opportunities but we never managed to take advantage of them. We started ahead of Platoon in both races, they made a lot of mistakes and got penalties, but we didn't recover enough. So once again we are second. Sometimes you’re happy if you do your best and come in second but today it doesn't feel so good because we missed an opportunity to become world champions and lost a bit of our advantage for the season overall. It is what it is, there’s nothing we can do about it now and we have to think about Porto Cervo. It’ll be a big finale and if we win the 52 Super Series after coming in second at the final event we'll be celebrating like you wouldn't believe!"
Riccardo Bonadeo, YCCS Commodore: "There was a chance of winning this World Championship, but if the new champion finished behind our team today it shows that the situation on the water wasn't simple. I will be happy to welcome our club members the Roemmers family and the entire Azzurra team in Porto Cervo in three weeks, and they will be arriving as the provisional overall leaders in the 2019 season."
The TP52 fleet will be heading to Porto Cervo in Sardinia for the final event in the 2019 season, organized in collaboration with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and held from September 23rd to 28th.
Rolex TP52 World Championship Final results
1. Platoon (GER) (Harm Müller-Spreer) (4,5,2,3,1,1,5,8,9,2 penalty) 40 p.
2. Azzurra (ARG/ITA) (Alberto Roemmers) (2,9,4,5,2,4,2,6,8) 42 p.
3. Bronenosec (RUS) (Vladimir Liubomirov) (5,8,3,6,6,3,1,7,4) 43 p.
4. Sled (USA) (Takashi Okura) (9,1,1,2,9,10,8,4,1) 45 p.
5. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andrés Soriano) (10,4,5,1,8,2,6,3,7) 46 p.
6. Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) (1,7,8,4,4,7,9,2,5) 47 p.
7. Phoenix 12 (RSA) (Tina Plattner) (3,3,7,7,5,5,11,5,6) 52 p.
8. Phoenix 11 (RSA) (Hasso Plattner) (8,2,9,9,11,8,4,10,2) 63 p.
9. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) (12 DNF,12 DNC,12 DNC,12 DNC,3,7,3,1,3) 65 p.
10. Gladiator (GBR) (Tony Langley) (6,10,6,8,7,9,11,9,11) 77 p.
11. Team Vision Future (FRA) (Jean Jacques Chaubard) (7,6,10,10,10,6,10,11,10) 80 p.
