Trofeo Desafío Español at Club Nautico Español de Vela Day 2
by Neus Jordi 9 Nov 2008 06:53 GMT
7-9 November 2008
Alinghi leads
Alinghi showed today why it is the Defender of the America’s Cup. SUI 100, after being on the cradle for over a year has won both ACC races with style at the Club Náutico Español de Vela annual regatta.
Alinghi leads the series, followed by Luna Rossa, TEAMORIGIN and Desafío Español.
The second ACC race of the day was spectacular. Desafío Español started in the lead after a great start, but ended up third around the first mark.
The fight was now on with Ben Ainslie and the TEAMORIGIN crew; “We didn’t sail very well today. We had some good opportunities but we didn’t take advantage of them,” said Paul Cayard, skipper on board Desafío after the races.
Alinghi leads by six points, followed by Luna Rossa, with 10 points; TEAMORIGIN with 11 points; and Desafío Español with 13 points.
Over 80 journalists and photographers from seven countries (Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany and USA) are covering the event in Valencia and enjoying not only the ACC racing, but also the 87 cruiser-racers that are taking part in the regatta.
Over a thousand people enjoyed a giant paella and a bbq at the Desafío Español base after the race today.
Race 3: (start time: 14.10 hrs)
1. Alinghi: 15:23:46
2. Luna Rossa: 15:24:47 (+61’’)
3. Desafío Español: 15:25:46 (+2’)
4. TEAMORIGIN: 15:26:57 (+3’11’’)
Race 4: (start time: 15.55 hrs)
1. Alinghi: 17.10.37
2. Luna Rossa: 17:11:07 (+30’’)
3. TEAMORIGIN: 17:14:03 (+3’26’’)
4. Desafío Español: 17:15:00 (+4’23’’)
Provisional Results after Day 2: (after 4 races)
1. Alinghi, 6 pts
2. Luna Rossa, 10 pts
3. TEAMORIGIN, 11 pts
4. Desafío Español, 13 pts
Desafío Español ends the second day of racing with a third and a fourth position (from Paco Tormo)
Desafío Español ended the second day of racing of Trofeo Desafío Español with a third and a fourth position after a less than ideal start on the first one and after a few opportunities in the second one.
After a short postponement, the first race got Hawai at 14:00 in 10knots from the Northeast.
In the first start, Desafío got caught astern of Luna Rossa and had to tack twice to avoid the dirty wind of the Italian boat. Paul Cayard hunted the shifts agressively on the first upwind leg with John Cutler calling tactics and Santiago López-Vázquez doing strategy; Desafío rounded the first mark in third position, and remained there until the finísh.
The second start was spectacular. The crew work on ESP97 was close to perfect and the Spanish team were first to the first cross. Unfortunately, the Spanish boat went out to the left side of the course and missed the shift, arriving third to the mark. At the last run, the spectator fleet enjoyed a luffing battle between Paul Cayard, at the helm of ESP97, and Ben Ainslie, steering GBR88. In the end, the Spanish boat broke their spinnaker and arrived fourth.
Paul Cayard, skipper of ESP 97, said after the race: “We didn’t sail very well. We had some good opportunities and didn’t take advantage of them”.