Vascotto continues his winning way

After day one of the TP52 racing at the Breitlig regatta

The 11th edition of the Breitling Regatta commenced today with a coastal race which covered a course of over 34 nautical miles, taking the fleet of ten TP52s to Begana and San Juan de Dios, to then pass a buoy positioned to the southwest and back to the start-line, in front of Puerto Portals. The winds were light, at about 8 knots, but varied in force during the entire race.

After the first 5 mile beat, the leader was the Spanish Royal Navy boat Aifos followed by Thomasso Chieffi’s Orlanda-Olympus and then by Cristabella helmed by owner John Cook, who were enjoying improved performance after the modifications made to the boat.

Behind this group the new Siemens, Caixa Galixia and Bambakou rounded the weather mark next followed by the three strongest competitors, Atalanti XV steered by Paul Cayard, and Lexus on this occasion skippered by Emirates Team New Zealand skipper, Dean Barker. Finally Bribon, overall leader in the Corinthian class brought up the rear.

At the Sech buoy, and again later off Calanova, the four leading boats maintained their positions, while John Coumantaros' Bambakou overtook Caixa Galicia to move up to fifth place. For the duration of the race Caixa Galicia had a tough battle with Bambakou and Orlanda-Olympus.

At the halfway point at the San Juan de Dios buoy, Vasco Vascotto’s Leche Pascual managed to overtake Aifos, who were sailing their first spectacular race, roughly one and a half boat length ahead of their rivals. Cristabella, Orlanda-Olympus and Bambakou all fought hard in the second group in the fleet, passing the mark in that order. They were followed by Atalanti, Bribon and Lexus, who, despite having a substantial Team New Zealand component in their crew, lost valuable places when they lost four men overboard due to a broken stanchion.

At the finish line, Leche Pascual posted another an impressive victory, with Aifos nipping at their heels in second place.

“It’s been a beautiful race. We have done the whole race inside the Bay of Palma, one of my favourites, because the coastal races here are really tactical," said Vasco Vascotto, skipper of Pisco Sour. "The wind has been fantastic, although really hot, a great race. At the beginning there was no chance to pass Aifos, who was leading by a good distance, but we were happy because our direct rivals for the Breitling MedCup overall results were far behind, so we were okay in that aspect, but then we got the chance to pass Aifos and luckily we did pass them and went on to win the race.”

Tito Galnares, helmsman Aifos gave his account: “This is the first time I've ever sailed on a TP52, and the feeling has been absolutely new and great: it’s a superquick, superlight boat, with acceleration that I still can’t believe. We decided to start on the left side of the start line and as usually happens, when you take the good side, and go with good speed, you win. We have maintained our lead in the following legs, but then the wind went light and Pisco Sour Leche Pascual came really fast and passed us. We have to congratulate the winner - they had a really good race.”

Results - day one:
1. LECHE PASCUAL VASCO VASCOTTO 10.00 Puntos
2. AIFOS LUIS GALNARES 9.00 Pts.
3.CRISTABELLA JOHN COOK 8.00 Pts.
4.ORLANDA-OLYMPUS TOMMASO CHIEFFI 7.00 Pts.
5.CAIXA GALICIA ROBERTO BERMUDEZ DE VELASCO 6.00 Pts.
6.BAMBAKOU JOHN COUMANTAROS 5.00 Pts.
7.ATALANTI XV PAUL CAYARD 4.00 Pts.
8.BRIBON S.M. JUAN CARLOS DE BORBÓN 3.00 Pts.
9. LEXUS DEAN BARKER 2.00 Pts.
10.SIEMENS PEDRO PERELLÓ 1.00 Pts.