On the first day, Peter de Ridder and his razor sharp 2006 Breitling MedCup champion crew on Valle Romano Mean Machine proved the masters of the big breeze as they opened the Trophy of Portugal regatta off Portimao with a seventh place and two wins to round off a thrilling opening day with a lead of one point ahead of Russell Coutts and the crew of Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis. With the northwesterly wind gusting to 24 knots and averaging in the low twenties for most of the second two contests today, racing was as testing as it was exciting. Although the waters remained relatively flat there was no room for crewing errors, especially on the gennaker hoists and downwind gybes any small mistakes were heavily punished.
A fifth from a tricky first race of the second day followed by their third victory from five starts ensures that Peter de Ridder and his Valle Romano Mean Machine crew extend their overall lead at the Breitling MedCup TP52's Circuit's Portugal Trophy off Portimao to ten points.
