Rolex TP52 Global Championship at Porto Cervo - Day 4
by Rolex Media Centre 27 Sep 2007 20:15 BST
21-29 September 2007
Front to back and front again
The Rolex TP52 Global Championship 2007 served up another day of intriguing competition on the water, just as the Costa Smeralda served up one of the worst days of weather in recent memory of those that regularly compete in this sailing mecca. A window of opportunity in the prevailing strong winds enabled the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda race officials, led by Peter Craig, to run one of the two coastal courses included in the programme.
At the end of a winter like day, the Swedish boat Artemis popped out in front to secure another priceless victory in a race that turned into a lottery at the mid-point. Artemis was followed home by Windquest (USA), Doug DeVos' s boat having set the pace for much of the race. Mutua Madrilena (CHI) did a back to front recovery and took third, just ahead of Glory (USA). Patches (IRE) had a day to forget; full of snakes and ladders, and with her last roll of the dice landing her firmly on a snake to finish in twelfth. Going into the last two days, five boats are separated by 6-points, but ominously for the fleet one boat lies 17 points clear ahead of them all - Artemis.
A predicted swing in the wind to the southwest occurred overnight. The strength moderated sufficiently to allow the Short Coastal Race to be started at 1100 in 17-18 knots. The 35 nautical mile course took the fleet to a windward mark at the entrance to Porto Cervo harbour, before turning right towards Bomb Alley and the next mark at Secca tre Monti. From there yachts turned right again and headed northwards to Monaci, before the longest leg of the race east towards the Islet of Mortoriotto and another right turn into the bay at Cala di Volpe. The course then headed back out to Mortoriotto and a left turn, north back towards Golfo Pevero and the finish off Porto Cervo.
The changeable weather has been a constant companion of the week and with it this morning was the depressing sight of low clouds over Porto Cervo. With the clouds came rain - not very PC at all. The initial 1.7 nautical mile beat to a buoy positioned saw Windquest and Artemis arrive together. Doug DeVos's blue hulled TP52 forced Torbjorn Tornqvist and crew into a last minute tack and rounded first with the Swedish boat and then CAM (ESP) and DSK Comifin (POR) - who had secured a perfect pin end start - just behind. Terry Hutchinson, tactician on Windquest, explained how they squeaked in front, "we started at the weather end of the line and were able to live in our lane. There were three boats to leeward of us - CAM, Artemis and DSK. We got a header and we tacked. From there we got our bow out on a long tack, hoping the shift would come back our way, which it did at the top mark pretty strong so that was nice, really nice. We were on starboard coming in there and Artemis was on port and we made them tack."
With the wind dropping as the other yachts approached the mark what should have been a straightforward rounding became a little chaotic as boats approaching on either tack stood on past the buoy to get the best angle towards Passo del Bisce and on to Secca tre Monti, the next mark of the course. In the midst of the roundings, Patches came a cropper and was forced into taking a penalty-turn that dropped her to the back of the fleet with Peter de Ridder's Mean Machine (MON) and, just as surprising, Mutua Madrilena. As the boats headed off on a long fetch, it looked game-over with the leading pair building a gap over third and fourth. But this is yacht racing not drag racing and positioning oneself relative to the wind is always all important.
The downwind leg from Secca Tre Monti to Monaci gave plenty of opportunity to play the shifts and seek advantage from the mini-rain squalls that began to pass through the course. No one side of the passage was truly advantaged, as evidenced by Windquest and Artemis separating and converging without perceptible change, but gains were there to be made. At the rocks of Monaci, Windquest hardened up onto the wind first, with Artemis hard on her heels. Stay Calm (GBR) had moved into third place with Rusal Synergy (RUS) just behind her. Mean Machine had made the greatest gain moving from twelfth to sixth. Patches was languishing at the back just ahead of Cristabella (GBR) and Valars (RUS).
The leg from Monaci to Mortoriotto seemed fairly simple. Pick a lane and trim for speed. But, in reality it was far more interesting. By the time the fleet reached the spectator boats shivering in the damp at the rocky outcrop, Stay Calm with Adrian Stead calling tactics had stolen past Artemis to round just after Windquest. In fourth place was Patches; tactician Ian Walker having taken a higher line than the fleet for much of the leg. The biggest loser was Rusal Synergy, which had dropped into the back markers.
But the race was about to get even more interesting. The leading yachts started to make headsail changes, but then discovered that they were on a beat in an ever decreasing, increasingly shifty, wind. Even the highly tuned minds of Hutchinson, Coutts, Stead and Walker appeared to be scratching around. It took an hour and a half for the first boat - Stay Calm - to reach the mark opposite the Cala di Volpe Hotel and some 15 minutes for the fleet to round in about 2 - 3 knots of wind. Now was the time for cool heads and calm nerves. Though some crew would be forgiven for thoughts of slipping ashore and sampling the cuisine of the five star hotel in the Bay of Wolves. The wind was predicted to move northwesterly and fill in during the day, so surely it was just a matter of time before things improved.
Up until this point Windquest had being having things pretty easy, but it all changed in a moment, as Hutchinson described, "we were a little bit of a victim of circumstance. We had a 300-metre lead over Stay Calm and were laying the mark and basically we sailed into a hole. It happened very quickly and there was really nothing we could do about it. So we sailed into the hole and sat there. The fleet compressed, sailed around us and then they sailed into the hole too."
For Hutchinson, the key was to remain focussed, "We went from first at the corner to sixth and did a nice job of saying: 'oh well, here we are, let's not panic about it. We know it is going to change a couple more times at least; let's just make sure we're in position when it does change and be sure we're sailing the boat well.' And, we did. We did a couple of things very well there. The crew did a great job of furling and unfurling the upwind zero. Don Cowie made a really good call to put up the spinnaker staysail when we really parked and that helped us get quickly back up to speed when we got a little puff of wind. So once we got around there, we got around there in second with Stay Calm pretty comfy in the lead."
Artemis was in trouble at this point too, slipping from second to sixth. Hutchinson gave them credit for keeping their heads too and continuing to sail a great race. Patches rounded just behind Artemis, but from there it went horribly wrong for the Irish boat, which ended the race in twelfth.
American boat Glory, was putting in another fine performance in spite of the difficult circumstances. She has had an up and down week, posting a couple of thirds alongside some lower placings. Today she finished fourth and owner John Buchan was suitably pleased even though they had their share of the problems, "in the Cala di Volpe it was really crazy. Boats were sailing to the mark in two different winds. There was a southerly and a northerly and it was a fight till one took over. We were in pretty good shape there at one time and then everything just changed hands. It was like two boat races. We were probably seventh or eighth (at the Cala di Volpe). A lot of velocity hit us on the way back. We had 25 knots pretty steady for quite a while and we were pretty happy considering the boat is not a heavy-air boat. We did a couple of good tacks and picked some boats off."
Buchan was impressed with the performance of Windquest, "I've got to hand it to Windquest. They did a great job. They seemed to be able to stay out there. A few times they looked they were going to go down the toilet and they were able to hold it off. All the boats seem pretty close and it is pretty close competition. If anyone screws up they have a hard time getting back unless they pick the windshifts or something."
For Windquest, the truly critical moment came on the beat back from Mortoriotto, as Hutchinson described, "we got around the last little rock out there for the long beat back up to the corner here and played the percentage and the percentage went a little bit against us. We let Artemis slip out and get their bow out on the long tack while we defended against the left shift. The left shift came but it went from 305 to 265 so it was forty degrees to the left. They laid (the mark) and slipped by us." Hutchinson was quick to praise Artemis for a job well done, "you have to give them credit for getting back into the race because they were some kind of deep. They were in second behind us coming into the bay and then they tacked, tacked back and were probably back into about eighth. So they did really good work just chipping their way back through as did we."
Torbjorn Tornqvist, owner and helm of Artemis, was understandably pleased with their day's work, "in the end we were delighted, but we were not exactly delighted during the race! I guess it was just one of those days. It had everything: no wind, strong winds, changes of positions. We were in trouble a few times but we managed to come back from difficult positions and that was very pleasing. Russell did tactically a marvellous job and that was a decisive factor. The crew has sailed together for most of the season and it shows. We were working very well as a team. There were good calls on which sails to use and there are discussions on board about what to do and obviously everything has to work, good tactics, good manoeuvring."
Tornqvist is also pretty happy about a 17-point margin over second - although he was quick to point out there are still two days of racing left. That said, the weather forecast may put paid to tomorrow's. The expectation is for westerly winds of 22-27 knots with gusts up to 35 in the race area and, predictably, more in the Straits. Between 2 - 3 pm, there should be a slight rotation left and a moderation to 15-20 knots. Good news is that any residual cloud should clear by the afternoon bringing some warmth to a seriously wintery Costa Smeralda.
The Rolex TP52 Global Championship, organized by the Yacht Club Costa, runs from September 21st to September 29th. Racing continues tomorrow, Friday, weather and wind permitting.
The programme comprises a maximum of 9 windward-leeward races, one short and one long coastal races. The coastal races have a points factor of 1.25.
For more information about the Rolex TP 52 Global Championship 2007 including entry list and results please visit www.rolextp52globals2007.com
Provisional Results after Day 4:
1. ARTEMIS Torbjorn Tornqvist, SWE, 6-1-1-2-4-1.25-15.25pts
2. WINDQUEST Doug DeVos, USA, 8-6-5-1-11-2.50-33.50pts
3. MEAN MACHINE Peter de Ridder, MON, 7-4-6-3-6-7.50-33.50pts
4. STAY CALM Stuart Robinson, GBR, 12-7-2-4-3-8.75-36.75pts
5. PATCHES Eamon Conneely IRL, 1-5-9-8-1-15-39.00pts
6. MUTUA MADRILENA Bablio Sail Project, CHI, 9-2-13-7-5-3.75-39.75pts
7. GLORY John Buchan, USA, 3-13-3-10-7-5-41.00pts
8. SIEMENS Alberto Roemmers, ESP, 11-8-10-5-2-6.25-42.25pts
9. CAM Leon/Sanchez, ESP, 5-12-8-6-7-10-48.00pts
10. CRISTABELLA John Cook, GBR, 2-DSQ-4-11-10-13.75-56.75pts