A first and a fourth today on the Bay of Palma was enough for Vicente Tirado’s Caixa Galicia to move 14 points clear in the Regata Breitling-Illes Balears, proving that they are closest to being the most complete TP52 package at the moment.
But, as Eamon Conneely’s Patches proved on day two, margins can be lost quickly and summarily in this white-hot 24 boat fleet. Wrong decisions and choices, that may seem small at the time, are magnified by the changing conditions, and in the no-discard regatta such losses can prove terminal. The John Kostecki and Roberto Bermudez de Castro partnership is the strongest of the moment, one which transformed a modest start and then a visibly poor start into solid first windward legs which were the passport to their success today. In contrast Patches slipped from second overall, going into these two windward-leeward races, to fifth due to a sucker punch 22nd in the second race. Most consistent for the day, though, was Russell Coutts and the star-studded crew of Artemis. With owner Torbjorn Tornqvist steering Artemis scored a second then a first to haul themselves up from fourth to second overall, five points ahead of Peter de Ridder’s Valle Romano Mean Machine. Of the two contests the first enjoyed the best breeze, building from nine to 11 knots, with the first ranks of white horses flecking the waters of the Bay of Palma, but the second was contested in a steadily dying breeze which brought a serious shift on the final run as the sea-breeze all but expired. Race officer Peter Reggio then chose not to prolong the agony as the fleet headed homewards after two of the three planned races.
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