TP 52- Audi MedCup-Cagliari

We had another good day on the Artemis today. Three inshore races were planned but the wind got real wobbly after 1430 and we were only able to get a second one in and it was a bit marginal at that.

The first race was held in 10-12 knots of wind from 170. We had an excellent start and never crossed behind anyone. We led wire to wire, although there was a bit of a scary moment on the second windward leg when the wind went 10 degrees against us but we were patient, rode it out, waited for it to come back our way and ultimately extended our led. It doesn’t get and sweeter than that out here in this fleet. Matador was second and TNZ was 5th. So, at this point we were leading the regatta.

Then the wind completely died. This was in the forecast for today. Many people thought that was the end of it. The boom tents came out at the temperature here today was mid 30’s which is around 95F.

At 1630, an 8 knot breeze filled in from 080. It was not on anyone’s forecast and no one expected it to hold. It held for about a half an hour so the race committee decided to bang one off. The first start was aborted for a 15 degree wind shift at 2 minutes to go. Ten minutes later another attempt.

The left looked to have better pressure and everyone was gunning for the left. We had another awesome start, with just one boat to our left. Team New Zealand and Matador had bad starts and were forced right. So, the foot race to the left was on and we have our beast going pretty well now Unfortunately, the wind went 20 degrees right. We found ourselves in 7th at the top mark.

With the wind 20 degree to the right of the course axis, we followed Quantum Racing into a gybe set. As we set the wind died completely. The lead boat who bore away got a 40 degree header just at this time and they were now laying the leeward mark. Things were a bit crazy at this point.

To make a long story a bit shorter were got firmly into last place at the leeward gate. We hung tough as a team and played a few shifts up the second windward leg. We closed right up to the group infront of us at the second windward mark and were in a position to make some moves. We did play a few more shifts and we passed three boats to finish 7th.

As bad as that was, we still finished the day with 8 points which is not bad in this fleet. Team New Zealand and Matador each had 7 points on the day.

So we are second overall, 4.5 points behind TNZ and 1 point ahead of Matador. The fourth place boat in this fleet has 12 points more than Matador so the three of us will most likely be fighting it out for the win tomorrow.

I am starting to play around with Twitter (you can follow me at cayardsailing) ….trying to keep up with the latest trends. Not sure if it will stick with me, but trying it out for now.

For complete results go to 2009.medcup.org

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TP 52- Audi MedCup-Cagliari

We had a great day on the Artemis today. It was the Coastal Race today, a 30 mile course around the Gulf of Cagliari and we managed to take the checkered flag.

Team New Zealand finished second and Matador 5th after leading around the first windward leeward. We are now second to TNZ by 3.5 points. The Coastal Races have a 1.5 factor on the finishing position.

After not a great start, we found a clear lane to the left which we thought may be the favored side. However, we decided to come back to the right a bit before Team New Zealand and Quantum who were winning the left side. This turned out to be a key move and the wind was better on the right. We crossed those that went right early and rounded the first windward mark third behind Matador and Bigimist.

Down the first run we managed to wiggle our way round the turning mark just ahead of Bigamist who then slowed down the fleet a bit as they were not ready with their masthead Genoa. Matador, solidly in first, sailed a straight line to the next point of land while the rest of us were a bit leery of a possible hole right on the Cape, held high. Sure enough, Matador sailed into a hole and we took over the lead and never let it go.

We have been working every night analyzing our performance and trying to improve. Matador is the fastest of the fleet here in these lighter breezes and she is virtually a sistership to Artemis. I think we made a little improvement in the power we are getting out of the rig and sails and this helped us today. Going to the performance meeting now so I will know for sure then.

Five more races to go and tomorrow’s forecast is quite light; 10 knots and under. These light races are very taxing as the wind is fluky and can’t be read so easily. A lot of racing to go and many points can be quickly lost in this very competitive fleet.

For complete results go to 2009.medcup.org

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TP 52- Audi MedCup-Cagliari

We had another good day on the Artemis. Two races were held on the Gulf of Cagliari in 10-12 knots of wind from the southeast.

Artemis scored a 3, 3 and we are still in third place. Matador won the day with a 1, 2 and is now just one point out of first. Team New Zealand had a 4, 5 and were coming from behind to get there. Amazing how fast things can change in this fleet.

The wind was forecast to build into a similar day as yesterday but it failed. As the windspeed got to 12 knots, it just retreated back down to 10. There was a bit of chop on the course from a stronger gradient wind out on the east side of Sardinia so that made sailing in 10 knots a bit more difficult.

One of my goals today was to work with Torbjorn to get a bit more speed on the starting line. We achieved that and had two excellent starts. It is such a boost in this fleet to come off the line well.

We were in 1st place for a short time on the second windward leg of the first race, but never managed to get real control. All in all we sailed fast and smart, never taking big chances. We are in the consistency mode which I like.

Tomorrow is the Coastal Race which is a 25 mile races around the Gulf of Cagliari. The race counts 1.5 times an inshore race.

Off to the performance debrief, then dinner then a media dinner. I am pre-eating because the media dinner is likely to be served at 2300 and I will be gone by then.

For complete results go to 2009.medcup.org

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TP 52- Audi MedCup-Cagliari

We had a good day on the Artemis today. Three races were held on the Gulf of Cagliari, in 12-14 knots of wind from the southeast.

Artemis scored a 2, 2, 7 to put us in third place. Team New Zealand won all three races and Matador of Argentina is one point ahead of us with a 3, 3, 4.

The races were incredibly close and there wasn’t much in it at the first windward mark of each race. We actually finished better than we rounded the first windward mark in each race, which is a good sign. Passing boats is an important trait to have. Everyone will get back in the pack at some point and the good ones will come through the fleet.

Our first two starts were ok and we had a bad one in the last race. We managed to get clear onto port early and the right was good. We almost snagged a 3rd at the top mark but could not quite get through and ended up 9th. That is how close it is. It is literally a matter of feet and inches in those final crosses at the top of the 2.2 mile windward legs.

The forecast for tomorrow is pretty much like today so it will be another long and tough day of sailing.

For complete results go to 2009.medcup.org

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Cagliari 2009

Today was the official practice race for this series. The Mistral finally died out after three days and a sea breeze filled in around 1200. By 1300 (start time) we had 9 knots from the southeast.

As per usual, we had two practice starts then on the third start, a race. We tried some different approaches in our practice starts and they did not pan out too well for us. For the race start, we used a standard port tack approach and had a great start down near the left end of the line. The left side of the course was good, a bit more pressure than the right and that got us to the first mark first. Down the run we had one little glitch on the first gybe and that set us back a bit. We rounded the gate second and up the second windward leg, I played the middle while Matador and Biginist were a bit to our left. We rounded the second windward mark third and that is how we finished. Team New Zealand was right behind us.

So we felt pretty good about our performance, we are definitely improving each day. We certainly have a ways to go to reach perfection.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for another sea breeze. I am sure the race committee will try to get three races in so it will be a long day. The water is so flat and the breeze is rather steady. Only small gradual shifts, so the fleet stays very close together. It will be a matter of inches and feet on the critical first cross that will make the difference at the first mark and probably for the rest of the race.

I woke up at 0600 today and could not get back to sleep so I went to the gym. Had to wait for it to open at 0730. We are in Italy. Anyway, I love to work out in the mornings. It sets my whole day off to a good start. I will go again tomorrow. I am trying to gain a few pounds for the 505 Worlds.

Off to a performance meeting now, then dinner.

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Audi MedCup

Today was a good practice day for us on Artemis. The Mistral was still in but it was sailable with winds of 18-24 knots. Bright sunshine, a bit cooler at 27C and very dry conditions.

Yesterday there was too much wind to sail as the Mistral was in at 30 knots. I got a nice session in at the gym and ate a big lunch as I still need to work on gaining some weight for the 505 Worlds at the end of August in SF.

With yesterday lost, we left the dock at 1000 today and put in a big day getting back at 1530.

The Artemis and Team New Zealand coach boats collaborated to set up a race course and ran four sets of races for the whole fleet. A race on a practice day actually consists of three starts. Two are just practice starts and on the third start the fleet continues for a one lap, windward leeward race. So, with the four sets today we got in 12 starts and four races.

It was a big day and a good one for us on Artemis. As I am new to the team, I have a lot of work to do to integrate myself into their program and my communication with skipper Torbjon Tornquist. I have my work cut out for me filling in for Russell Coutts who is out in San Diego scaring himself on some sort of trimaran with a 300 foot high mast.

Team New Zealand and Quantum Racing were the best today while we were middle of the pack. It was a good day though, as we did so much racing and starting that we had plenty of opportunities to get into all sorts of situations and work on our communication and tactics.

Tomorrow is the official practice race which should start at 1300. The forecast is for this Mistral to die down and for the southeast sea breeze to fill in tomorrow. This weather scenario should dominate the racing area for the first few days of our regatta at least.

The first race will be on Tuesday and we usually have three races a day except on the “long distance” race day which will be Thursday. The regatta will end on Saturday.

You can get the official results and other information on the TP52 Audi Med Cup at www.2009medcup.org

Paul

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Cagliari-Day 1

Got into Cagliari at 2300 last night after 30 hours flying from Honolulu. The flights went well it was just that there were four of them. My bags did not get lost because I did not check any. So all good there.

This morning I woke up at 0430 local time. Just could not get back to sleep. We went sailing for three hours to check some new sails. They all looked good.

I am back at the hotel, took a shower, and am just sitting in the AC. It is 37C out side which is about 98F and it is 1730.

I have to go get a new SIM card but I am waiting for an hour before venturing outside.

Mistral is forecast for tomorrow. If this happens, it could blow 30 knots plus which would probably keep us at the dock for the day.

Dinner is at 2000 and then I will crash pretty hard I am sure,

A domani.

Paul

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TP52 Worlds

Up and down day today for El Desafio. The wind was 20 to 25 knots from the North and shifty for a change.

The short story is in the first race we had a bad start and could not get in phase and finished 12th. In the second race we had a great start, stayed in phase and won! Consistency! Not at all. But it did feel good to win the last race of the season and the long race, both in big San Francisco breeze! Good to see that my roots haven’t left me.

Planing downwind at a steady 19 knots was fun.

Quantum sailed better than ever and won the regatta without sailing the last race. Mutua hung on to second overall despite getting two 9ths today. And Platoon finished strong to take 3rd place away from Artemis by 0.25 of a point.

Puerto Calero, Lanzarote and Jose Calero and his family… all number 1’s in my book. I’ll come back for sure.

Top 5:
1. Quantum
2. Mutua Madrilena
3. Platoon
4. Artemis
5. Matador

El Desafio 7th.

For complete scores and more information go to:
www.tp52worldchampionship.com/ultimanoticia.php

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TP52 Worlds

Terrible day for El Desafio today with a 13, 10. The wind was 15-20 knots from 000 to 020, very shifty and puffy. In both races we struggled to play the shifts.

Quantum is showing superior sailing skill really. Their boat is fast but so is ours. Today they scored a 1, 3. They are just sailing smart and doing it consistently and it is paying off big. No one else is even close really.

Mutua Madrilena had the second best day with a 6,5 and they are in second place in the regatta even after two very mediocre coastal races. So you can see that apart from Quantum, the fleet is mixing a lot in their results.

Tomorrow is the last day and two races are scheduled. The forecast is calling for similar conditions to today. With a great day and some help we could finish third. That is what we have to be shooting for.

Top 5:
1. Quantum 28
2. Mutua Madrilena 43
3. Artemis 52.25
4. Platoon 58
5. Matador 62.25

El Desafio is 6th with 66.25.

For complete scores and more information go to:
www.tp52worldchampionship.com/ultimanoticia.php

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TP52 Worlds

Shredded sails, crashing boats and big speed was the order of the day today at the TP 52 World Championship. Some how through it all, El Desafio came through for the win!

After a good start we were approaching the first windward mark on starboard. Bribon and Synergy just simply refused to go behind us and I would have hit Bribon amidships if I did not tack to port to avoid them. Hideous! Instead of being 3rd there we were 7th after the melee cleared itself.

Undeterred we immediately starting passing boats. First Synergy, one of the offenders at the windward mark then Audi Q8 on the two sail reach down to Puerto Calero. The breeze was 20 knots at this point and we were sailing about 60 true wind angle for 6 miles.

Once at Puerto Calero, we executed a chicane and set off with our Code 0 on a 90 degree true wind angle reach in 20 to 22 knots. The other boats stayed with the jibs and held a higher course. This was a 20 mile reach to Fuertaventura. As the wind built, we changed back to the jib and came into the buoy hot and rounded right on the heels of Bribon and Quantum who were second and third. Platoon had a handy lead at this point.

Next was a 10 miles windward leg back to the southwest corner of Lanzarote. He we passed Bribon and rounded third right behind Quantum. Most boats had the #4 jib on but we had a #3. As the wind gusted from 20-28 knots, each had his turn as far as which sail was right.

Next was a 10 mile run back to the mark at Fuertaventure. The current was going against the 25 knots + wind and the waves were short and steep. The TP 52’s dig their bows in rather badly actually and aren’t as fun as you would think to sail in these conditions. The bow is burying continuously despite having the entire crew planted on the transom. We left out jib up the whole run so as not to have to deal with people on the bow or the sail getting washed overboard. There were two gybes on the run in which where both rather difficult to execute but we managed to keep the boat upright through it all. Quantum exploded their spinnaker three-quarters of the way down and we closed in and passed Platoon to round the mark in 1st!

For the last fetch back to Puerto Calero and the finish line, we still had our

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