With Vicente Tirado's Caixa Galicia holding a lead of just two points and eight points separating the top five boats, the second coastal race of the Trofeo Alicante could prove to be the race that decides the regatta.
The southerly breeze offered the full range from eight to eighteen to four knots through the 28 miles course which took the fleet round Tabarca Island from the SW to NW. A long tactical beat in a building breeze saw the fleet split with a big lateral separation. The group which went left benefited from better pressure and a lifting direction.
While it was the pink flamed bow of the Valle Romano Mean Machine which breached the points gate and then the finish first, second in both sections vaulted Bribon to lead the overall standings. And although there has been a different leader each day, Bribon was looking forward to the final two scheduled windward-leeward races of Sunday with an eight points cushion.
On Sunday, day 6 of 6, there was no racing. The Rolf Vrolijk design was the last of the new 2007 build TP52’s to be commissioned and was completed in something close to record time. Launched only 13 days before the start of the regatta, with only four days sailing prior to the first start guns of the Trofeo Alicante, the crew of Bribon counted the clock down. When the 15:00 hrs time limit was finally reached and the last opportunity for racing expired with it, Bribon became the winners of the Trofeo Alicante, the first regatta of the 2007 Breitling MedCup circuit. The race officers made a valiant attempt to get a race away, but two general recalls thwarted their efforts and very quickly the seven knot south easterly gradient breeze died away to just a whisper.
While Bribon topped the 23 boat fleet which turned out for this first regatta of the season, Peter de Ridder’s Valle Romano Mean Machine won the Corinthian Trophy, taking second place overall.
