Rolex Farr 40 Europeans at Mahon, Menorca - Day 2
by Rolex Media Centre 15 Jul 2006 07:54 BST
CONSISTENCY PAYS AS ALINGHI TAKES A ONE POINT LEAD
TWT holds second at the halfway stage, with Mascalzone Latino four points further back
Day two of the Rolex Farr 40 European Championships saw a change at the top as Alinghi moved a point ahead with three second places; meanwhile TWT struggled to find the sort of consistency needed to stay on top of the leaderboard at this level of one-design racing.
The three races today saw three different winners. The first race (Race 4 in the series) was Fiamma's all the way and Alessandro Barnaba was duly delighted with this success paying credit to an early decision of his tactician, Tommaso Chieffi, "We went all the way left on the first race. We had a good start at the pin and it paid off because when we tacked we managed to cover everyone. It was definitely a great decision to stay left as long as we did." Acknowledging the importance of speed and a clean position off the start in this tight one-design fleet, Barnaba continued, "We had a very good start and we managed to be very fast at the very beginning. In this class if you manage to stay ahead at the beginning of the race everything gets much easier because you stop being covered by the others. We did very good first beat which took us with a decent lead at the first mark and from there onward it was just a matter of controlling the other boats." And control they did, albeit finishing only 16 seconds ahead of Alinghi.
But Barnaba did not have it all his own way in the following two races, explaining how problematic it is to recover from a bad start, "The rest of the day was a bit more difficult. We had a bad start in the second race and if you start poorly there is not too much you can do about it. In the third race we had a pretty good start at the pin and went left again. But the problem was we had a boat pretty close to us that stopped us tacking when we wanted. When we tacked it was already too late."
In the second race, it was the turn of previous day's regatta leader TWT to show the fleet a clean pair of heels. This result was sandwiched between a fifth and third, and tactician Tiziano Nava felt this showed how awkward the conditions were, "it was similar to yesterday, but the wind was more shifting, particularly in the third race. So it was really tricky to arrive at the first mark, sometimes you see a boat on port tack would go up and sometimes a boat on starboard tack." And, whilst Nava was disappointed with losing first place overall, he gave credit to Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi for a great performance over the day, "We did not finish very well on the first race where we finished fifth, which was a mistake on the first beat. It is a really tricky area so we have to fight to find the right part and today Brad [Butterworth/Alinghi] was really good. They don't win the race, but everytime they finished second which is important."
For TWT, lying second at the halfway stage is not as good as it could be, but certainly acceptable a laughing Nava added, "It is better to stay ahead, but also one point behind is OK. We can play our race and we are still on the track for the best result. The boat is fast and we just have to race on the right side to have no problem!"
The third winner of the day was perhaps more of a surprise. Cannonball, which had had poor first day and a less than exemplary first two races today made the most of a good position early on to lead the fleet home, despite a tough last beat. Owner, Dario Ferrari commented, "We have been very lucky at the beginning, at the first beat upwind. We were able to keep the lead and the last leg was mainly match racing with Alinghi, so it was very exciting." Ferrari is sailing with a new tactician and if he does well at this event he is planning on attending the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in Newport later this year.
With this incentive it is vital that the crew gets better with every race, which it appears to be, as tactician Sebastian Coll points out, "we improve all areas during these [two] days. We improve our starts from yesterday and our speed also. I am improving too. This is my first racing in Farr 40s and I am improving my way of giving information and managing the crew. For the last race we made everything good, we have an ordinary start but managed to get back in the fleet. As soon as we had a good opportunity to be in front we stayed focussed on that." Novice in the Farr 40 he may be, but Coll has just been promoted from the tactician's role he held on the Areva America's Cup team to helmsman - so clearly he is not lacking in talent.
But despite his experience at the grand prix level, even Coll found the form of Alinghi threatening in the last race, "it was hard to stay in front especially against Alinghi because they are sailing very well. We feel that the time was very long until the finish line, there was an extra beat to the end, the wind was dying and Alinghi kept very close."
The three races today were held in near identical conditions to yesterday, with 8 -10 knots starting from North-northeast and clocking gradually right during the afternoon to the North East. The Club Maritimo de Mahon Race Committee laid three courses of just over 6 Nm just outside the port, and despite the light wind shifting back and forth during the races; only one change of course was required during the final race of the day
In the first two races of the day the fleet again headed left, seemingly the wrong decision in the face of a right shifting wind. However, the left side of the course clearly had more pressure and a more stable breeze, which Tiziano Nava put down to the influence and proximity of the Menorcan landmass. As the wind turned more right, so the course opened up with the left being less favoured by the third race of the day.
Fiamma led the whole course in race 4, and in the early stages was hard pressed by Cannonball, which rounded the first windward and leeward marks in second, with Alinghi tight behind. The pressure clearly showed as a poor second beat saw Cannonball slip back to eighth where she finished some two minutes off the lead. Enfant Terrible and Mascalzone Latino traded places throughout the race with Gianluigi Serena's Enfant just grabbing third by less than a boat length.
Race 5 of the series saw service resume to the yesterday's pattern. TWT secured the pin end of the line and never looked back. Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino held second for the first half of the race, whilst Enfant Terrible took the fight to Alinghi. On the second beat Bertarelli and crew broke clear, passed Mascalzone, and finished thirty seconds behind Marco Roldolfi.
The sixth race of the series saw the fleet facing with two choices for the first beat. Half the fleet played the right and the rest the left hand side of the middle of the course. No one went to the extreme left this time. Cannonball popped out in front and stayed there. Alinghi took another solid second. And, for a moment Mukka Express was right up in third place, eventually finishing sixth - capping a better day for Manfredo Toninelli's crew.
Rolex has been a supporter of the Farr 40 class since 2001. The 2006 Rolex Farr 40 World Championships will take place from 6th - 9th September in Newport, RI. USA. More than 40 teams -- from Australia, US, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland -- are expected to compete this year.'
Racing at the Rolex Farr 40 European Championships continues tomorrow, 14th July, and finishes on Sunday 16th July. First start each day is at 1230 CEST.
Results after Day 2:
1/00Alinghi/Ernesto Bertarelli/2.00/3.00/3.00/2.00/2.00/2.00/14.00pts
2/ TWT/Marco Rodolfi/1.00/1.00/4.00/5.00/1.00/3.00/15.00pts
3/ Mascalzone Latino/Vincenzo Onorato/3.00/2.00/2.00/4.00/3.00/5.00/19.00pts
4/Enfant Terrible/Serena Gianluigi/5.00/5.00/1.00/3.00/4.00/4.00/22.00pts
5/Fiamma/Alessandro Barnaba/4.00/4.00/5.00/1.00/6.00/8.00/28.00pts
6/Cannon Ball/Dario Ferrari/8.00/7.00/7.00/8.00/7.00/1.00/38.00pts
7/ Mukka Express/Manifredo Toninelli/9.00/8.00/8.00/6.00/5.00/6.00/42.00pts
8/Game On/Carlo Alberini/6.00/6.00/9.00/7.00/8.00/9.00/45.00pts
9/La Marachella/Sandro Pantaleo/7.00/9.00/6.00/9.00/10.00/7.00/48.00pts