Patches continues her winning ways

A report on the Irish TP52's most recent victory at the Regatta Ciudad de Malaga

Despite only arriving from the US via Palma 12 hours before the first race, Eamon Conneely’s TP52 Patches swept all before her in her first Mediterranean regatta of the season.

Winning four of the five races it was a commanding performance even if the turnout of four boats was disappointing. While the quantity was poor due to the fixture clash with PalmaVela there was plenty of quality with the winner of the last MedCup regatta Caixa Galicia finishing second and the overall circuit winner Pisco Sour now re-christened Ono finishing third. Fourth place was taken by the former Atlanti, the Farr designed Tau.

The regatta was Patches’ first outing as the newly re-branded Siemens and while the final scoreline looks emphatic the racing was close with no chance to relax. There is no doubt that while speed is important, the TP52s really reward good crew work and any small mistakes are punished.

Siemens has the core of Patches’ successful Rolex Global Championship winning crew for 2006 but for the 2006 MedCup circuit the team will have five changes including the addition of three Spanish sailors.

Skipper Ian Walker was delighted with the boats performance but clearly believes the team can improve. "We can be sure that we are fast in medium to strong winds now but we still have not tested ourselves in the light airs that will dominate the season. This has been great practice for the new Siemens team and we have high hopes for the season ahead".

Results

1. Siemens, Eamon Conneely (1,1,1,2,1) 6 points
2. Caixa Galicia, Vicente Tirado (2,2,3,1,2) 10 points
3. Ono, Inaki Castaner (4,3,2,4,3) 16 points
4. Tau-Andalucia, Javier Banderas (3,4,4,3,4) 18 point