TP52 racing resumes

There will be stiff competition between the ten boats in today's first race of the Breitling Regatta

The first race of the third event on the Breitling MedCup TP52 Circuit, the Breitling Regatta, will be a coastal race with the start signal programmed for today at midday local time. A maximum of seven races are scheduled to be raced until Sunday, the last day of the regatta. The coastal race will be around 38 nautical miles, with a course to be determined according to the conditions. The rest of the races from Friday to Sunday will be windward-leewards.

The ten competing TP52s are: Atalanti XV, Bambakou, Bribón, Caixa Galicia, Leche Pascual, Lexus, Orlanda-Olympus, Aifos, Cristabella and Siemens spent yesterday training after working on their boats to maximise performance for this event. Among the boats that have made modifications, is Cristabella. 'Big' George Skuodas, trimmer on the boat commented on the changes: “Valencia was great and very competitive. We based the changes we’ve made on our performance in Valencia. We’ve optimised the boat for the upwind courses and we’ve aimed for more stability. We are still learning to sail this class of boat and hope to improve race by race.”

Siemens, have recently joined the Breitling MedCup TP52 fleet and will also be participating in the fourth regatta in the circuit, the Copa del Rey in Palma de Mallorca. Pedro Perelló, owner of the boat, has acquired the former Sjambock, one of the most successful boats on the American Transpac circuit. Launched last year she is a sistership to Bambakou, owned by John Coumantaros. Siemens will be skippered by former Star World Champion Jim Allsop.

Another team being closely watched will be Lexus where Dean Barker, skipper on Emirates Team New Zealand, has taken over the reigns for this regatta from his old skipper and mentor Russell Coutts.

Meanwhile John Kostecki will take over as tactician on Caixa Galicia, substituting Dee Smith, who has other obligations to attend to for this event only. Both Coutts and Smith will return to their positions for the Copa del Rey on 30 July to 7 August at the Real Club Nautico, Palma Mallorca. Lexus' Jaime Yllera gave his views on the team's progress following today’s training session: “I can definitely say this is a star team. To have a crew on board who have just stepped off America’s Cup boats is a real luxury, and it is a privilege to witness the fantastic team spirit they have already.”

After the impressive victory in Valencia of the Leche Pascual team, led by America’s Cup Skipper, Vasco Vascotto, with help from his fellow crew members from the Mascalzone Latino team, and the success of Bribón, owned by José Cusí, and skippered by HM King Juan Carlos of Spain, in the Corinthian Class, the competition is becoming more tough, as the tuning of the yachts and the strength of the teams increases.

Ignacio Postigo, navigator on Vasco Vascotto’s boat, commented on this third event in the Breitling MedCup Circuit: “We will do our best to sail as well as we did in Valencia, if it is possible to repeat that kind of racing. We will try to sail without pressure on us, and to get the maximum out of the boat’s performance. We haven’t made any major modifications to Leche Pascual, as we think it is sailing well - perhaps it’s best not to tempt fate!”