44’s
Last year’sRC44 Championship winner, Team Ceeref, with Sébastien Col substituting for James Spithill, who is busy with a certain big tri, dominated the match race event of the Puerto Calero RC 44 Cup, winning all their matches. Cameron Appleton and Team Aqua finish second, and Russell Coutts’ BMW Oracle Racing third.
Col said “I am very happy with the way we sailed this tournament. The team is great, and we were all very calm and concentrated throughout the event, even when we were making mistakes. Michele Ivaldi did a great job at the tactics, he has been great and I have learned a lot of things by sailing with him.”
Dean Barker, Artemis coach said “It was very interesting to coach Torbjorn, because it was his first match race event and it kind of forced me to think back about the essentials. It’s difficult, because there is always a little gap between what you would do and when it happens, because you have to say it first and it’s not easy to put your thoughts into words. You really need to anticipate a lot.”
Cameron Appleton, helmsman, Team Aqua: “We have new guys on board, so we have grown as a team throughout the event. I think we sailed very well. Sometimes last year we were in a position to win, but we just lacked that little winning spirit.
José Maria Ponce, helmsman, Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 1: “I am not very satisfied with the way we
sailed; there were a few races we could have won. Obviously, we need more time to get the feel and reach the right level, but our team is great and very compact and I already look forward to Cagliari.”
Russell Coutts, helmsman, BMW Oracle Racing: “This was really a tough day wind wise. There wasn’t a clear favored side, and we struggled to find the right strategy. Ceeref and Seb Col obviously sailed very well today.” Pic from Nico Martinez and more here.
