GP42 Global Cup at Puerto Calero, Lanzarote - Day 2

Day two of the GP42 Global Cup © Nico Martinez / Puerto Calero GP42 Global Cup

Roma leads the pack

On the strength of impressive 1-2-2 scores today, Filippo Faruffini's Roma 2 (ITA) has taken the lead after six races and two days of racing in the 2009 GP42 Global Championship. Led by skipper Paolo Cian (ITA), the team's consistency has paid off handsomely, with a four-point margin over new runner-up, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP).

But the most movement through the ranks came from Javier Goizueta’s (ESP) Caser-Endesa (ESP), who on scores of 2-3-1 had a much-improved performance over their 7-4-2 scores of yesterday. Good starts, excellent speed, and clever positioning by this team led by skipper Juan Luiz Paez (ESP) has moved them from 6th to 3rd in the standings, just one point behind the local Canarias team.

The change in today’s performances was due mostly to the change in conditions: the first race of the day featured a brisk 16 knots, the most seen yet here in Lanzarote, and the seasoned players from the Audi MedCup were able to break free on the upwind legs with just enough margin to get to the front and stay in front of the pack after the 1.8-mile windward legs set by race manager Peter “Luigi” Reggio. On these legs the more favorable pressure and less current found on the left side of the course set just north of the airport at Playa Honda made every race a race for this corner, with those getting there first always able to lead back in the lead.

So, the chess game for control of this corner commenced right off the staring line, with those able to come off the line with pace, on time, and with the ability to hold their lane usually in good shape to get to this favored corner first. Only with the luxury of having great speed, such as that shown time and again by Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, would any step over to the right yield better positioning results.

And while their starts were better than yesterday, Roberto Monti’s Airis (ITA) still struggled a little in the conditions upwind, due in part to not having delivery yet of their new medium-condition sails long overdue by the courier used to send them here from Italy. Last report was one was located and due any moment…

Nonetheless, the slight drop in breeze to 12-14 knots by the final race gave the non-MedCup teams a little better chance, with a good start at the pin on the last race by John Bassadone’s (GBR) Peninsula Petroleum (GBR) putting them among the leaders for the first time in the series. Even in only their second day of GP42 racing, Team Nordic (SWE) is slowly chipping away at the deficits they’ve seen to the pack thusfar in the series.

Windward-leeward course racing will resume tomorrow, with yet another three races planned in a 12-race series starting at 1200 local time.

Results after Day 2:

1. Roma (ITA, Paolo Cian), 4+2+3+1+2+2= 14 points
2. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP, José María Ponce), 5+5+1+3+1+3= 18 points
3. Caser-Endesa (ESP, uan Luis Páez), 7+4+2+2+3+1= 19 points
4. Turismo Madrid (ESP, José María van der Ploeg), 2+1+4+5+5+4= 21 points
5. Quebramar Xacobeo 2010 (POR, Felipe Regojo), 1+7+5+4+4+5= 26 points
6. Airis (ITA, Roberto Monti), 3+3+6+6+6+6= 30 points
7. Península Petroleum (GBR, John Bassadone), 9(OCS)+6+7+7+7+7= 43 points
8. Nordic Team (SWE, Magnus Olsson), 6+8+8+8+8+8= 36 points

For quotes of the day, visit www.gp42globalcup.com