On the regatta rankings both Rán Racing and Azzurra vault ahead of Quantum Racing whose unbeaten record was halted when they hooked a lobster pot in the first race. The back down required to free themselves forced them back to a sixth place finish. They seemed unable to reach the same levels as the first two days of racing as they went on to a third and fourth.
But, just as the racing was often very tight with many place changes in the heat of battle in the shifting breezes which really kept the afterguards on their toes, so also the regatta standings after six races are very tight, only two points separating Doug DeVos’ Quantum Racing team in third from leaders Rán
Racing.
In the fabulous conditions, around relatively short, sharp courses the intensity was always high. Lobster pots proved an issue again today as Quantum Racing, Azzurra and Hooligan in particular all suffered frustrating encounters which cost them places.
After a lacklustre opening to the regatta Interlodge tactician Andy Horton had laid out his hopes for the day on the dock in the morning, seeking to iron out some of the issues which had hobbled their chances so far. True to his word, the Interlodge team opened with a gun to gun win in the first race, extending
after an excellent start and using their upwind speed edge. They backed up their win with a second and third to rank as the best scoring boat of the day.
After Takashi Okura’s Sled lead early in the second contest, Rán Racing nailed a beneficial shift and extra pressure on the second half of the run which gave them a lead which they did not surrender to win their first race here. A head to head between Quantum Racing and Azzurra was nullified when the Italian
flagged boat hooked a pot just as they were executing a lee bow move on the American boat. Azzurra came back and won the final race with Rán Racing just behind.
Niklas Zennström’s team have retained a certain consistency so far. Tactician Adrian Stead points to the work with strategist Nic Asher, coach Thierry Peponnet’s drive to improve their strategy, execution and communication as contributing factors:
“ Niklas has done a good job of starting the boat in the first six races and we have worked on that and
Thierry Peponnet our coach has been pushing us hard on our strategy and how we approach situations, at the start for example. There are different things, how strongly we want something, and then just the execution….making the finesse to execute. It is all very well saying you want something but you have
to execute. The standard of the fleet is so high.”
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