Tricky wind conditions and intense racing continues in Cagliari

Saturday brought another day of light south-southeasterly breeze in the Gulf of Cagliari, with highly variable conditions that made reading the race course a complex endeavour. The fleet returned to the docks with 5 races under their belt, effectively concluding just a single flight.

The French team continued to improve today, stealing victory from the Dutch on two occasions, to win the first and last race of the day. As a result, they have climbed up the overall classification and now sit in third place, just 4 points from Young Azzurra, who stood out today thanks to a great recovery in the second race. After a difficult start, the Italian team managed to climb up the fleet to finish in first place: no easy feat with these wind conditions, this fleet and these boats.
Racing will continue tomorrow with wind from the north-east forecast to increase from 8 to around 16 knots, and the Persico 69F fleet set to provide thrilling racing once again. 

Emile Amoros – Team France / La Rochelle Nautique

“We had great starts, getting into the position we wanted. This allowed us to start at the front of the fleet. Too bad for the second race, where we were first, but we maneuvered badly, the wind shifted, and then Young Azzurra got past us. If it hadn’t been for that mistake, maybe we'd have had three wins in the bag. I have to say that Charles is doing a great job with the trimming and Margot, at the helm, is learning fast, and the communication on board between us is also very good. We are very happy with how it is going.”

Ettore Botticini – Young Azzurra / Yacht Club Costa Smeralda

“We started the day with a good recovery, taking advantage of the very changeable weather conditions today. We didn't manage to get into the lead immediately at the start, but we remained focused and managed to move back up, finishing the race in the lead. We are happy about that, because gaining back ground in this fleet isn't easy. The next race didn't go as we expected. From the third race we managed to get back on track, closing with a good second-place finish. At the moment we are second in the overall classification, but our objective is to win the act. We're working a lot on starts and reaching, where the Dutch are better than us, but we're working on it and in the last few days we have seen big improvements” 

Results after 15 Races - Day 3 

57,5 Dutch Sails - Janssen de Jong   
46,0 Young Azzurra                   
42,0 Team Argentina                
39,0 Okalys Youth Project       
34,0 Team France                      
23,5 Youth Europ Sails             
23,5 Katana Sailing Team         
19,0 Equal Sailing                                    
12,5 ETA Sailing Team