Copa del Rey, Race Day 5

We Won!

Siemens/Matador won the Copa del Rey today on the bay of Palma with scores of 4, 5. Never did we finish out of the top 5 in an inshore race!

The boat was fast and when we were back in the fleet we were patient and found opportunties without taking big risks.

Very satisfying for the whole team. For Matador owner Alberto Roemmers this was his first win in the Copa del Rey. It is a pleasure to see a man of his experiences especially yesterday in 22. Knots of wind. Then for the Parada brothers, (Guellermo helmsman and Mariano strategist) lost their father on this day two years ago, Siemens, our great sponsor, won this regatta last year with Patches so two in a row, and for me, I won this regatta 20 years ago on I’ll Moro di Venezia with my friend Raul Gardini.

Winning isn’t everything but it sure is fun!

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Copa del Rey, Race Day 4

It was a good day for Siemens/Matador as we regained the lead.

With Princess Ellena di Borbon onboard, we had two good scores today, 3 and 5. Stay Calm of Great Britain won both races and moved into a tie with Mutua Madrilena, so both are two points behind us.

Two races were held in 22 knots, dropping to 14 knots of wind from 055-NE. The course was more open than in the southerly breeze so the fleet stayed quite compact. The first race was windy and the fleet enjoyed some planing conditions downwind. The wind steadily dropped as the day went on. Only two races were run.

So, tomorrow will be a big day with the top three boats within two points of each other and only two races scheduled. The four points awarded to Mutua Madrilena, after the conclusion of racing on Wednesday, could become decisive.

For complete results go to www.medcup.org

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Copa del Rey, Race Day 3

Tough day on the Palma Bay for us on Siemens/Matador. The race was a windward – leeward – windward, followed by a tour of Palma Bay with a long reach, then upwind and finally a long downwind fetch. The wind was anywhere from 165 to 210 degrees, in different parts of the bay.

We had a top ten race going until the last upwind leg. I went too far to the right…along the coast and there was much more wind out in the middle of the bay. Vasco Vascotto, with local Nacho Postigo as naviator, went the right way on every leg and won the race.

There was also a mid point score, where we were 7th.

So we slipped to 2nd overall, with Vascotto’s Mutua Madrilena in the lead by 10 points (they got a little help from the jury last night). Bribon, the boat on which King Juan Carlos sails, moved into third place.

The points are very tight and there could be as many as five more races, so plenty of opportunity to go either way on the leader board.

Complete results can be found at www.medcup.org. Sorry for the typos in previous days.

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Copa del Rey, Race Day 2

Another hard fought day out on the TP 52 course… they all will be! Three races were sailed on the bay of Palma de Majorca in winds as light as 6 knots up to 14 knots in the last one.

Good day overall for us on Siemens/Matador with all top five finishes of 2, 3, 5. Artemis with Russell Coutts as tactician, had the best day with a 5, 1, 1. Mutua Madrilena of Vasco Vascotto, who had the lead after yesterday, had two mid fleet finishes and one first place.

Overall: Siemens 14, Mutua Madrilena 26, Artemis 27.

The races are extreemly competitive and every error costs a couple of places.

Tomorrow will be a coastal race with a mid point scoring gate as well as the finish of course.

Complete Scores at www.medcup.org

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Copa del Rey, Day 1, Races 1 & 2

Palma de Majorca, Spain

On Tuesday the TP 52 fleet raced races 1 & 2 on the bay of Palma de Majorca, Spain in mild conditions of 8-11 knots from the SSW. The wind was shifting quite a bit and was anything but steady. In both races the left side of the course was heavily favored and the leaders always came from that side. The exception was on the second windward leg of the second race when Bribon, with King Juan Carlos onboard got a private right hand shift of about 10 degrees, which brought him up from a distant 7th to equal for the lead. It is called the Copa del Rey! In the end Bribon finished third.

Vasco Vascotta had the best day with a 1, 2 score followed closely by Siemens/Matador of Alberto Roemmers with a 3, 1 and with some guy named Cayard as tactician. Third for the day was Platoon with 8 points and Jochen Schuman(Alinghi) on the helm and John Cutler(Desafio Espanol) tactician. The fleet is filled with the top talent in the sport in every position. There will be many ups and downs before the week is over.

The racing continues through Saturday.

For complete scores go to www.medcup.org

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Rolex Swan Cup

September 19th, 2006 – Porto Cervo, Italy. Ninety-nine yachts representing 17 nations and ranging in length from 36 to 112 feet, comprising the oldest to the most modern, competed at the 14th Rolex Swan Cup organised by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. The crews, which included some of the most famous names in sailing from the America’s Cup, Olympics and Round the World Races, tackled a week of intense racing, in almost every condition imaginable – winds ranging from 7 to 30 knots, smooth water and heavy swell, sunshine and torrential rain.

Moneypenny (USA) won on a tie-break in the extremely competitive Swan 601 One-Design fleet although

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Cayard and Coutts back onboard Lexus for final Breitling Med Cup Regatta in Ibiza

19 Sept 2006 – Breitling Med Cup – When the twenty boat fleet lined up today off Ibiza town with the 12th century castle, which was built to defend the island, and the Faro de Botofoch lighthouse forming a distant backdrop, it was down to series leader Peter de Ridder and his team to repel the advances of all who seek to topple their 14 point lead. De Ridder and crew, also announced their intention to compete in the next Volvo Ocean Race, know they need only to sail a consistent series to lift the overall title.

But as has been proven at numerous regattas this season, this TP52 class does not simply bow down and respect Olympic medal, America’s Cup or Volvo Round the World race winners. A momentary lapse of concentration on the start line, or an ill chosen tactical call can mean a heavy loss in a fleet of this standard. With light and fickle winds expected for the first couple of days of racing, there will be no easy races at a venue which is all new to the TP52 fleet.

Last week they were rivals on the race course at the Rolex Swan Cup organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, but Paul Cayard and three time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts returned to join forces to get the best out of George Andreadis and Jaime Yllera’s Lexus, with Coutts steering and Cayard calling tactics.

Racing started on Tuesday with windward leewards, coastal races planned for Wednesday and Friday, and the final races set for Saturday.

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TP 52 Update

We managed to finish 5th in the last race of the Castellon TPO 52 regatta. It was a good placing, the only shame of it was that we were second at the first mark and should have stayed up there. We finished 9th over all out of 21 which is not what we had hoped for.

We struggled all week with the speed of the boat and earlier in the week with our tactics and starts. The fleet is very competitive and that makes it a good challenge. Getting a few key thing just a little be better will make our performance go up dramatically. We have a list of things to work on for the next regatta, mast tune, sail shapes being the biggest. We got two good starts and in the last two races and finsihed 5th in each of those races.

Warpath, which is our sistership, finished second in the regatta so we know we have the equipement to get there. The winner of the event was a boat called Siemens with Ian Walker and Dee Smith onboard, sponsored by that company, then Warpath which has Team New Zealands crew onboard sailing for Fred and Steve Howe, followed by Mean Machine which is steered by her owner,Peter De Ridder with Vasco Vascotto, skipper of Cap Italia onboard as tactician.

You can get all the results at http://www.transpac52.org/home.htm

The next regatta is in Porto Portals, (Palma) in about 10 days. I am not racing in that one. Gavin Brady and Russell Coutts will be in charge there. I will race the susequent event, Copa del Rey, also in Palma, in place of Russell.

Paul Cayard

Cayard Sailing Inc.

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TP-52 Update

Today was the “Offshore” race of the Castellon Serries. It was about 25 miles and really was just a bunch of 3 mile legs close to the shore.

Onboard Lexus Atalanti, we managed to have our best result so far in the series, a 5th. Mean Machine of Holland, with Pirates crew member Dirk de

Ridder onboard, won the race. They were very fast and sailed well. Warpath from San Diego was second and Fram, the King of Norway’s boat, was third.

The leader of the series going into today, a boat called Ono, finsihed 16th and dropped 5 places in the standings. As I said yesterday, the fleet is

very competitive and the boat that wins one race can be last in the next.

It seems that we are finally getting the tuning of our mast and sails sorted out a bit. Our speed, while not the fastest in the fleet, is very

comparable to most of the boats now. We had a good start today and managed to go mostly the right way.

Tomorrow there is one race to finish off this series. The next series is in Porto Portals (Palma de Mallorca) in ten days, but I am not racing in that

event.

On Sunday, I am finally going home to San Francisco for 20 days, before returning to Palma to race in the Copa del Rey onboard Atalanti.

Paul Cayard

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TP 52 Update-July 6th, 2006

Another tough day for us on Atalanti. I haven’t seen the results but they could not have been good for us. John Kostecki and the guys on Caixia Galaicia had a good day finishing second in one race. The wind was a bit softer than yesterday only just reaching 10 knots at its max.

The fleet is very competitive. Boats have won races then been 15th in the next race. Very tough to be consistent.

Tomorrow is the “Offshore” race. Maybe 30 miles. God knows I have been training fo this one. Let’s hope we do a bit better.

Paul Cayard

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