Audi Settimana delle Bocche at Yacht Club Costa Smeralda - Overall
by Sailing Control 15 Sep 2013 09:22 BST
10-14 September 2013
Double crown for the Bigamist
"Bigamist", the Portuguese boat property of Pedro Mendoça and skippered by Alfonso Domingos, has won the Settimana delle Bocche trophy and the 2013 European Championship.
The last day of the Settimana delle Bocche was ruled by Eolo's whims and the only race that the boats could complete today defined the champion in Porto Cervo.
At 12:15 pm was the first warning signal for race 6 and the boats started with a 10 knots wind at 285º and a leg of 1.8 nm. Immediately, the wind started to decrease and the Race Committee decided to shorten the second reaching leg to 1.3 nm.
Stefan Jentzsch's "Black Pearl" retired in the first leg because of a breakage (bad luck for the German boat in this date) while Dominique Tian's "Glen Ellen XXII" made an incredible first half of the course, what truly proves the potential and evolution of the team that has recently joined the fleet.
When the boats reached the leeward gate, there was a compromising situation between "Glen Ellen XXII" and "Bigamist" that promoted a protest from the French team against the Portuguese boat, but it was dismissed.
The shortening of the leg wasn't enough and the decreasing wind caused in the Committee boat a change in the wind direction of more than 90º, which made them decide that the race was going to end in the windward gate.
At that point, "Bigamist" and "Estampa del viento" - property of the Chilean Miguel Ángel González-, were fighting for the leadership, and there was a dead-heat in the Overall between them, but the Portuguese managed to cross the finish line in the first position.
After an hour waiting time, where the wind decreased to 5 knots and moved to 125º, the Committee decided that the conditions weren't going to change and because of the Organization needs, they decided that there wouldn't be more Racing in this Settimana delle Bocche.
"Bigamist" was the most regular among the three boats with chances to make points in the Circuit and with 7 first positions it achieved a well deserved European Championship. The German Hendrik Brandis and its "Earlybird" won the "Owner Driver European Champonship 2013" trophy.
The Class is working now for the 2014 Championship and the Soto 40 World Championship that will take place in Spain.
Overall Results:
1. Bigamist (POR30) - 4/1/1/2/3/1 - 12pts
2. Estampa del Viento (ESP21) - 1/5/3/1/1/2 - 13pts
3. Earlybird (GER19) - 2/2/2/4/4/4 - 18pts
4. Glen Ellen III (FRA22) - 3/3/5/3/5/3 - 22pts
5. Black Pearl (GER27) - 6/4/4/5/2/6 - 27pts