Preparing for battle

The Audi MedCup's Region of Sardinia Trophy starts next week

The third of this season’s five 2009 Audi MedCup Circuit regattas, the Region of Sardinia Trophy, starts in one week. Last year it was the eventual winners of the Audi MedCup Circuit, Quantum Racing (USA), who conquered the fleet on the great sailing waters off Cagliari to win their first regatta of the season, marking the improvement in their standard.

With the level set so high in both the TP52 Series and the GP42 Series already this season and two different boats in each Series having won in Alicante and Marseille, the question is will we start to see a dominant performer move ahead in Cagliari.

In the TP52 Series, after winning in France, it is Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) which leads the overall standings by a clear 26 points after 19 races including one 40 mile coastal race, but the consensus among sailors in the top ranks of the fleet is that there are at least four boats still tipped as potential Audi MedCup Circuit winners. But there are now probably six teams who have the potential to win a regatta.

Sailors from both of the top teams, Emirates Team New Zealand and Quantum Racing, will be racing this week (17th-19th July) in a series regatta for the Audi Melges 32 Sailing Series in order to learn the waters and winds better.

Pos	Boat	Owner	Skipper	Nat	Alicante	Marseille	Tot
1	EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND	ETNZ	Dean Barker	NZL	38	27.5	65.5
2	QUANTUM RACING	Doug deVos/Fred Howe	Terry Hutchinson	USA	40	41.5	81.5
3	MATADOR	Alberto Roemmers	Guillermo Parada	ARG	36	47.5	83.5
4	ARTEMIS	Torbjorn Tornqvist	Torbjorn Tornqvist	SWE	37	62.5	99.5
5	BIGAMIST 7	Pedro Mendonça	Afonso Domigos	POR	46	55.5	101.5
6	PISCO SOUR	Vasco Vascotto	Vasco Vascotto	CHI	53	78	131
7	SYNERGY	Valentin Zavadnikov	Sergey Pichugin	RUS	74	63	137
8	BRIBON	Jose Cusi	Thierry Peponnet	ESP	79	62.5	141.5
9	VALARS III	Podolsky Kirill	Serguei Chevtsov	RUS	82	69	151
10	AUDI TP52 POWERED BY Q8	Riccardo Simoneschi	Riccardo Simoneschi	ITA	89	88	177
11	EL DESAFIO			ESP	65	147	212
12	MARAZZI SAILING	Flavio Marazzi	Flavio Marazzi	SUI	67	147	214
13	CRISTABELLA	John Cook	John Cook	GBR	126	99	225

GP42s chomping at the bit

While the GP42s have lost one entry in their ranks - Keisuke Suzuki’s team on Swing (JPN), which is undergoing modifications before being shipped to Japan - the remaining five teams are bracing for another intense series of races next week. As seen in the last Audi MedCup stage in Marseille, this group is small but highly-competitive, with any team capable of winning races.

And if the breeze ramps up to the high teens and over 20 knots, as is likely in Cagliari, watch out: these boats off the wind plane as fast as their larger TP52 bretheren, but with the added intensity of close tactical combat. This should make the gate mark roundings spectacular indeed.

And changes made to the hull forms of Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) and Caser-Endesa (ESP) have enhanced their high-wind performance, so they could be particularly tough to beat.

“We’re very much looking forward to Cagliari,” says Roma 2 helmsman Paolo Cian, winner of the last stage and current series leader by 4 points. “But we know this will be a tough fight because these other teams are getting better and better with each event.”

The Audi MedCup Village will take shape over the course of this week on the historic sea front, right in the heart of the proud region of Sardinia’s capital city. With its excellent racing waters, great record for winds, good shore-side infrastructure and heavy investment in regeneration and development as a tourism destination, Cagliari is constantly enhancing its reputation on the global grand prix sailing calendar.

With its new Audi MedCup Experience interactive expo, live reporting and tracking displayed in the regatta village, the site will be larger than last season but in the same position.

Racing starts for the TP52 Series with the official Practice Race on Monday 20 July and concludes on Saturday 25 July, while the GP42 Series’ Practice Race is on Tuesday 21 July.

Pos	Boat	Owner	Skipper	Nat	Alicante	Marseille	Tot
1	ROMA / MK2	Filippo Faruffini	Paolo Cian	ITA	22	17	39
2	ISLAS CANARIAS PTO.CALERO	Jose A. Calero Rodriguez	Jose Ponce	ESP	20	23	43
3	AIRIS	Roberto Monti	Cameron Appleton	ITA	21	38	59
4	CASER - ENDESA	Javier Goizueta Grasset	Juan Luis Paez	ESP	33	27	60
5	TURISMO MADRID	José María Van Der Ploeg	José María Van Der Ploeg	ESP	35	35	70
6	SWING	Keisuke Suzuki	Keisuke Suzuki	JPN	38	51	89