Bullseye for Near Miss

The Tom Schnack navigated GP42 wins in Valencia at the X Trofeo S.M. La Reina - Rolex Cup

Early in the morning, the closing day of the X Trofeo S.M. La Reina - Rolex Cup, conditions seemed to be dull and boring, given the light winds. However come start time it turned out to be completely different with Valencia’s waters once again bearing witnes to some close, thrilling races, with the top four boats in the GP42 class fighting ferociously for the podium spots.

After waiting for more than an hour for the breeze to build up and settle down, the first race started with a southeasterly wind of around 7-8 knots. The right side of the course was unquestionably favoured and the whole fleet opted for it. A leading group of three boats was quickly formed, comprising the Roma GP42.2, Near Miss and Desafío, rounding the top mark in that order.

On the first run, Near Miss overtook Roma GP42.2 who were holding a fierce fight with Desafío for third place in the Trophy.

Still, the race was far from over. Up the second beat, Roma GP42.2 took the lead once again as Near Miss and Desafío engaged in a gybing duel.

Ultimately Roma GP42.2 finished first and Near Miss second, after fending off repeated attacks from Desafío.

The race committee didn’t waste any minute to get the second race underay, given the breeze was stable at 13-14 knots. The eight strong fleet made a clean start and once again the right side of the course proved favoured.

Spanish newcomers Caser-Quum made an excellent start and led the fleet from the outset, despite the steadily increasing chop with waves reaching up to 2 metres. Nonetheless Caser-Quum sailed cleanly and managed to hold on to their margin around the race course, leaving a tough battle for second place between Roma GP42.2, Near Miss, Desafío and AIRIS, which continually swapped positions. After a thrilling final leg, Roma GP42.2 and Near Miss crossed the finish line ahead of Desafío.

That the regatta overall went to Near Miss with Roma GP42.2 second and Airis third.

"There was no secret in our victory although some times you need some luck," admitted Near Miss' navigator, America's Cup legend Tom Schnackenberg. "You obviously have to sail well and take advantage of all opportunities. The boat is going better now and we had a good regatta. Consistency was not a feature of our sailing in the past, we had some wins but also some very low places. Here in Valencia we never finished worse than 4th and that is good. Now that we have passed the mid-point of the Quebramar GP42 Cup we feel we are in the top group, we just have to keep improving and see if we can win again. We have the potential to improve, as does the rest of the fleet. It’s amazing how the fleet is improving after every race. We see some boats improve and the ones that don’t do so well, in the next race they are better. I’m very impressed with the sailing skills of the whole crew, they are top level and I learn a lot each time I sail with them. It’s a top French-Swiss boat but I talk to them in English..."

Paolo Cian, helmsman on Roma GP42.2 added: "The day began in a strange way with waves and light wind. The race committee correctly waited for an hour and half before giving the start but at the end we had two nice races. We sailed fast in both of them, continuing yesterday’s trend, being very fast upwind and defending ourselves downwind where we managed to hold on to our lead. We are satisfied but we still have to work. Our reference was Near Miss, they chose today to control AIRIS and as a result, we were given the opportunity to slip in between them a couple of times upwind. I know feel we are the fastest boat upwind and if we succeed in finetuning some remaining details, I hope next time we are the boat to beat. The modifications we carried out before the Trofeo de la Reina have bore their fruit beyond our expectations. We are now calmer on board and if the feeling is good, results come more naturally.

Results:

	Team	Races							Total
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1.	Near Miss	1	2	4	1	1	2	3	14
3.	Roma GP42.2	8	3	3	3	2	1	2	22
2.	AIRIS	2	1	2	2	5	6	5	23
4.	Desafío	4	4	1	5	7	3	4	28
5.	Caser-Quum	3	6	6	7	3	4	1	30
7.	MADRID	6	7	5	4	4	8	6	40
5.	Canarias Puerto Calero	5	5	7	6	8	5	7	43
8.	FERMAX	7	8	8	8	6	7	8	52

Quebramar Cup - overall

	Team	Event						Points
		Trofeo Pirelli	Giraglia	Trofeo Reina	Copa del Rey	Quebramar-Chrysler	Puerto Calero
1.	Desafío	6	28	28				62
3.	Near Miss	19	35	14				68
2.	AIRIS	19	28	23				70
4.	Canarias Puerto Calero	18	29	43				90
5.	Roma GP 42.2	21	49	22				92
6.	MADRID	20	36	40				96
7.	Seawonder 007	28	54	63				145
8.	Caser-Quum	36	81	30				147
9.	Roma GP 42.1	31	67	63				161
10.	FERMAX	36	81	52				169