In the bag for Siemens

Despite a disappointing final day's results for Eamon Conneely's TP52 at Copa del Rey

Ian Walker and the crew of Eamon Connelly's Siemens secured their second win in three regattas on the Breitling MedCup TP52 championship circuit with a hard earned 13th place, which allowed them to win by four points from a delighted Tom Stark and his American crew on Rush Valle Romano.

The seventh and final race of the XXV Copa del Rey for the Breitling MedCup proved a fitting test to what has been a long and stressful week for the TP52 crews. And for the Siemens team, who entered the final race with an 11 points margin, it was a little too much of an emotional roller coaster.

“I think you call that winning ugly” smiled a visibly relieved Walker, “But I think that is one of the strengths of this team that we pulled through. Everything we do on this boat is always about concentrating on our sailing performance, but today it was just about the result. It was a little too close for our liking.”

A last gasp dip, powering in from windward, sails eased, was enough to give the winning gun to Michael Illbruck and the crew of Pinta. Their win with John Cook’s Cristabella finishing 11th was enough to give them third overall.

With racing starting after a one hour delay in five knots of sea breeze, once again the left side of the course paid. The three first boats at the windward mark lined up at the pin end of the start line.

First to turn was Torbjorn Tornquvist steering Artemis, last year’s Copa del Rey class winner, with Russell Coutts calling tactics, rounding just ahead of Caixa Galicia and Pinta. Siemens started too close to Rush Valle Romano and had to double tack to find clear air. Unable to find a fast lane to the left they rounded the windward mark in 12th.

They overtook Warpath who gybed early and lost out on the first run, but there always some pressure with Rush in fourth. And with a 25 degree windshift to the left on the final beat there were big gains and losses to be made in the final half mile Siemens held their nerve for 13th, their worst score of the week, but it ensured they have now won three of their last five major regattas, including the Global Championships.

“I felt like it was in the lap of the gods until the finish. We dropped at the start of the last beat and I had my heart in my mouth until the end but we managed to take three or four places and it was okay,” explained Siemens Irish owner Eamon Conneely.

A final beat recovery from a modest early showing earned Mutua Madrilena sixth overall which sees them leaving Palma with their overall leadership of the Breitling MedCup series intact again, even if it is only by one point from Steve and Fred Howe’s Warpath.

“We have confirmed what we knew that the boat is still going well we can leave here as a team on a high, knowing we are leading overall by one point, because we were a little bit down in the dumps during the week, so it is important to us,” confirmed Mutua Madrilena’s tactician Ray Davies.

Siemens now lies fourth overall in the Breitling MedCup TP52 standings, Warpath second and Caixa Galicia third. Fifth for Rush Vallee Romano gave Tom Stark second at the XXV Copa del Rey, their best result of the season so far and top Corinthian.

“It is great to see another Corinthian on the podium.  And with Pinta third, thi  just shows again this just shows the strength of Corinthian class,” commented MedCup Technical Director, Nacho Postigo.

Results:

Pos	Boat	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Tot
1	SIEMENS	IAN WALKER	1	6	1	4	1	8	13	34
2	RUSH VALLE ROMANO	THOMAS L.STARK	8	3	3	3	12	3	5	37
3	PINTA	JOHN KOSTECKI	11	8	2	5	4	11	1	42
4	CRISTABELLA	JOHN COOK	2	12	10	2	2	4	11	43
5	WARPATH	DEAN BARKER	10	16	4	1	3	10	14	58
6	M.MADRILEÑA-MEAN MACHINE	PETER DE RIDDER	4	1	8	12	14	13	6	58
7	SANTA ANA - STAY CALM	STUART ROBINSON	9	2	14	9	5	16	4	59
8	ARTEMIS	RUSSELL COUTTS	16	4	12	11	9	9	3	64
9	BALEARIA	GONZALO ARAUJO	7	11	5	13	11	2	16	65
10	LEXUS	PAUL CAYARD	12	10	6	6	10	12	9	65
11	CAIXA GALICIA	ROBERTO BERMUDEZ	3	18	7	14	17	5	2	66
12	ORLANDA	LORENZO BRESSANI	13	5	13	8	15	7	17	78
13	ANONIMO	RICARDO SIMONESCHI	5	13	11	16	18	6	19	88
14	BAMBAKOU	JOHN COUMANTAROS	17	19	9	7	13	17	7	89
15	FRAM XVI	H.M.KING HARALD V	14	14	15	15	7	19	8	92
16	AIFOS	JAIME RODRIGUEZ TOUBES	20	9	17	17	6	14	10	93
17	ONO	IÑAKI CASTAÑER	19	7	16	19	16	1	20	98
18	BRIBON	S.M.JUAN CARLOS DE BORBON	6	15	18	10	19	20	12	100
19	TAU CERAMICA ANDALUCIA	SANTI LOPEZ	18	20	19	20	8	15	18	118
20	IMB	RAINER WILHEIM	15	17	20	18	20	18	15	123