World Match Racing Tour Coconut Grove Cup - Day 1
by Ben Blake 15 Apr 2017 07:58 BST
14-16 April 2017
Coconut Grove Cup day 1 © World Match Racing Tour
I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks as Kotoun proved, swooping today's qualifying rounds unbeaten. This week marks the US Virgin Islander's return to the World Match Racing Tour after a successful career during the monohull era.
Coming into the final match of the day both Kotoun and Australia's Down Under Racing had a clean sheet. When the two paired up it was guaranteed to be a fierce match. Every leg saw a lead change. On the final beat, Kotoun's dummy tack was greeted by a roar from on looking crews and with Price tacking off to the unfavoured side of the course, Kotoun continued to round the final mark and took the race win securing the team as the only unbeaten crew on the water.
"We haven't match raced in a while and most of the M32 sailing we have done is with a five person setup so we are getting used to sailing with 4 and getting back into match racing. The last event was a warm up for sure and now we want to just keep evolving," commented Kotoun on his time in Miami. "We had no expectations coming here so very happy with the result today."
There's a tight battle for the middle of the fleet, with Daniel Bjørnholt showing the biggest improvement today and currently sits on a 4-2 score. The team said they have now found their groove and today spirit amongst the crew was clearly up.
The round robin series continues tomorrow, with the Coconut Grove Cup concluding Sunday.
Full results at wmrt.com/results/world-tour-events/season-2017/wmrt-coconut-grove-cup-2017