Quantum Racing tightening grip on 52 Super Series

Ibiza, Spain (September 18, 2014) – As the ZENITH Royal Cup Marina Ibiza regatta rolls into Friday’s coastal race Quantum Racing have now more than doubled their overall lead in the Barclays 52 SUPER SERIES on the difficult, hard to read race tracks off Ibiza Town.

Light winds wrote the same story again for the second day of racing. Azzurra won the first race of the day to become the fourth different crew to have won in Ibiza at this regatta, but Quantum Racing again proved supreme in the second contest, winning their second race of the week to also increase their leading margin in the regatta, firmly on course now to add to their event wins in Porto Cervo and Palma.

Quantum Racing’s skipper-helm Ed Baird reported today just how hard it is to read the wind on the race course area, an insight into the difficulties faced by all the tacticians and strategists here:

“It is difficult to read on the water,” noted Baird. “On most venues around the world you can see a little more texture on the water which tells you there is more wind there. Here where we see that texture it is often right in the glare of the sun. So you can’t trust it. And there are plenty of times that where it looks lighter is actually where you end up finding the better pressure. It is hot. It is light. You really just need to pay attention to what lane you are in.”

Making the right tactical choices is just one element of the mix here, in the marginal, light winds being able to keep the boat powered up and moving at maximum boat speed for the wind strength is also key:

“We are right on that point that every sailor understands, that cliff where half a knot more windspeed you are fully hiking, dropping the traveller down just a little bit and starting to be really comfortable,” shared Baird. “Half a knot less you are leaning in, you are looking for power and trying to keep the boat moving and that is what we are sailing in all day long here. It is challenging and the guys are doing a great job with that.”

Quantum Racing’s second and first today is the best scoring aggregate from the two races. But Sled are proving themselves well able to mix it with Azzurra and Rán Racing, posting a third and fourth for the day to lie third overall for the regatta, just one point behind Azzurra.

Azzurra won the first race of the day. Quantum Racing dropped themselves on to the back foot off the start line when they mistimed their approach to the line, stuck under another boat and downspeed. Terry Hutchinson and the Quantum Racing afterguard fought back well with some solid calls which got them from fourth at the first windward mark to second at the finish. They sailed down inside Sled on the second run to finish just behind Azzurra. Vasco Vascotto recognised the better, lifting pressure on the right side of the first upwind and they were able to lead all the way around the course.

The second contest was sailed in a slightly brisker wind, but it was the extra pressure and shift down the left, inshore side down the run which really worked. Quantum Racing consolidated their lead by keeping an eye on this and moving left to use it, but Gaastra Pro, with Mark Mendelblatt calling tactics, really reaped a reward rising from sixth to second on the run, holding on the second while Rán Racing and Azzurra dropped to a weighty fifth and sixth place finish respectively.

Light winds are expected to prevail again for Friday’s coastal race which should be between 20 and 30 miles.

Standings: ZENITH Royal Cup Marina Ibiza
Overall after 5 races

Quantum Racing, USA, (Doug De Vos USA) (1,2,3,2,1) 9pts
Azzurra, ITA, (Alberto Roemmers ARG) (3,5,2,1,6) 17pts
Sled, USA, (Takashi Okura JPN) (4,1,6,3,4) 18pts
Rán Racing, SWE, (Niklas Zennström SWE) (2,4,4,4,5) 19pts
Gaastra Pro, NED (Marc Blees NED) (6,6,1,8,2) 23pts
Gladiator, GBR, (Tony Langley GBR) (5,7,8,5,3) 28pts
Provezza 7, TUR, (Ergin Imre TUR) (7,3,7,6,7) 30pts
Phoenix, BRA, (Eduardo de Souza Ramos BRA) (8,8,5,7,8) 36pts

Standings: 2014 BARCLAYS 52 SUPER SERIES
2014 Season after 3 Regattas & 5 races in Ibiza (Top 6)

Quantum Racing, USA, (Doug De Vos USA) 67pts
Rán Racing, SWE, (Niklas Zennström SWE) 85pts
Azzurra, ITA, (Alberto Roemmers ARG) 87pts
Phoenix, BRA, (Eduardo de Souza Ramos BRA) 113pts
Gladiator, GBR, (Tony Langley GBR) 130pts
Provezza 7, TUR, (Ergin Imre TUR) 160pts

Full report – Event website

Report by class media.