Three races should be possible for both 52 and 42 Series today on the strength of a positive forecast for sea breeze on the Gulf of Angels
21 09 2010, Region of Sardinia Trophy © Ainhoa Sanchez/Audi MedCup
by Sabina Mollart-Rogerson
The wind predictions for the second day of the Region of Sardinia Trophy Regatta suggest a typical late season sea breeze day and the early indications around the Audi MedCup Public Village, dockside in Cagliari look quite promising.
It’s a blue sky morning and there is a light NE’ly breeze lifting the pennants and flags on the race boats on the pontoons.
With three races scheduled for today, this morning’s forecasts point to a good seabreeze day with enough sustained pressure to keep the regatta up to schedule with three races planned today.
The GP42 Series racing for the Region of Sardinia Trophy starts today. but like the larger TP52s, they also have their eye on the overall picture as well.
Skipper Jose Maria Ponce (ESP) and his team on Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) are wondering how to overcome a 7-point gap in the overall standings between them and series leader Madrid-Caser Seguros (ESP). Navigator Alicia Ageno (ESP) said of their prospects yesterday, “It could be better, but it could be worse.” The Canarias team last year won the overall championship crown in dramatic fashion, winning in the last leg of the last race in the last stage of the series.
Jules Salter (GBR), navigator Emirates Team New Zealand:
“It could be quite good conditions for the SE’ly sea breeze. There is kind of a line across the middle of the bay where the thermal effect on the left side of the bay and the breeze on right side of the bay battle out, there is a thing in between, a transition between the two, and sometimes our race track is on it, and that is the key to it, whether the left side pays. The left side of the bay generally had a bit more pressure, and there a lot of shifts, short lived shifts. It was quite unstable. But today the sea breeze should be a bit more stable, but because it is quite a deep bay, surrounded by land on three sides with some quite high land on one side, there is definitely probably a favoured side.
“I think it will be a little more open today. I think that the lighter it gets the harder it is to see a firm pattern and the closer it is amongst all the boats. You can easily get one little shift which can make the difference between a third and eighth, like it did to us.
“It definitely helps to be fast. If you have a bit of speed you can normally wriggle of tight situations.
“We might see up to 13 or 14 knots and do three races.”
Audi MedCup
