Malta moves ahead

After a light second day at the Audi Sardinia Cup

Day Two of the Audi Sardinia Cup saw the Malta team take the top place overall. The team comprises the Farr 40 Enfant Terrible owned by Alberto Rossi, and the Melges 32 Rush Diletta, owned by Mauro Moccheggiani.

With five races won, three points now separates the Maltese team from second-placed Italy 2 with the Farr 40 Joe Fly and the Melges 32 B-Lin Sailing. Team Germany – Wolfgang Schaefer’s Farr 40 Struntje Light and Jean Francois Cruette’s Teasing Machine – had a very good day which raised them to third place, just one point behind Italy 2. With as many as five races left to run and 13 points separating the top six teams, all is still to play for in the event, the winner of which who will become the ISAF Offshore Team World Champion.

Two windward-leeward races were held today on the race course off Porto Cervo. The first, race four of the series, started in 9-10 knots of wind from 345°. The breeze dropped to approximately 5-6 knots for the start of race five while temperatures on the northeast coast of Sardinia remain high and are accompanied by sunshine and blue skies.

The team representing Malta claimed the lead today thanks mainly to a first and second place gained by the Melges 32 Rush Diletta with former Italian and European 470 champion Matteo Ivaldi aboard. The Farr 40 Enfant Terrible took sixth place in the first race of the day and second in race two.

Italy 2, first yesterday overall, fared less well today with Giovanni Maspero’s Joe Fly taking a fifth and fourth place while Luca Lalli’s B Lin Sailing also took a fifth in the first race but was back on form in race five to take their third bullet of the series.

Germany’s Struntje Light, with Danish match racer Jes Gram Hansen aboard, clearly liked today’s light conditions and scored two consecutive bullets. Team mates aboard the Melges 32 Teasing Machine managed a fourth and a sixth place.

President of the Farr 40 European Fleet, Wolfgang Schaefer was clearly pleased with today’s performance: “Today’s conditions were light and changeable but we are fairly used to that and we are happy that the event is being held here in Porto Cevro. I hope the wind will stay in for the next few days as we have only completed half of the races and with another five to go anything could happen in the classification. We had some luck today and we are looking forward to the next few days of racing.”

Commenting on the challenges faced in a team racing situation he affirmed: “ It is very different to racing on your own. In this kind of racing you are always responsible for the results of the whole team so both boats feel the pressure to fight for every point. Even if you are last you do everything possible to gain one extra point because that could make a big difference to the overall team result.”

At present several protests are pending.

Racing is scheduled to continue tomorrow at 12 midday. Winds are predicted to remain light, approximately 10 knots from north east.

Audi Sardinia Cup Provisional Overall Team Results after Day Two (provisional):

1- MALTA: Farr 40 ENFANT TERRIBLE (4,1,2,6,2 =7); Melges 32 RUSH DILETTA (4,5,3,1,2=12): Total pts. 30
2- ITALY 2 : Farr 40 JOE FLY (1,5,3,54 =18); Melges 32 B-LIN (1,1,7,5,1 =15): Total pts. 33
3- GERMANY: STRUNTIJE LIGHT (3,6,6,1,1 =17 ); TEASING MACHINE (3,3,1,4,6 =17): Total pts. 34
4- ITALY: NERONE (5,2,1,4,5=17); FANTASTICA (7,7,4,2,4=24): Total pts. 41
5- MONACO: PLENTY (2,4,5,3,6 = 20); AUDI GIACOMEL (6,2,2,8,3 =21): Total pts. 41
6- USA: BARKING MAD (7,3,4,2,3=19); BLIKSEM (2,6,5,3,8=24): Total pts. 43
7- UNITED KINGDOM: MANGUSTA RISK (8,7,8,7,7=37); NGONI (5,4,8,6,7=30): Total pts. 67
8- SWITZERLAND: VANITAS CUBE (6,8,7,8,8= 37); I.NOVA 2 (8,8,6,7,5=34): Total pts. 71

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