Storm clouds continued to postpone racing on day two of the TF35 Malcesine Cup; at the morning skippers’ briefing, the seven TF35s were instructed to stay tied up at the dock to wait for the forecast strong northerly Pelèr wind to abate in the afternoon, allowing the southerly Ora wind to kick in.
At 1300 hours, the teams headed out hoping to get some classic Lake Garda racing in, but this didn’t happen. The northerly, boosted by the morning storm, continued to blow at 20 knots and the teams returned to the safety of Fraglia Vela Malcesine.
“Lake Garda is a beautiful place. It is sublime and theoretically a paradise for sailing. For the past two or three days, there has finally been a bit of rain in Europe. We won’t complain about it, but it’s upset the regularity of the wind,” explained Team Sailfever helm Loïck Peyron on the dock as the team waited for the wind to settle.
The Spindrift crew, with Yann Guichard at the helm, extended their lead downwind and held on as the wind faded to nothing on the second beat. It was a welcome relief then when the call came through that the course would be shorted to finish at the second windward gate, salvaging the race and confirming their win.
“It was quite complicated on the second lap. It was necessary to both control the fleet while staying on its side to continue to follow the wind. We therefore protected the left which was a little stronger and we win this first round.”
Local crew Vitamina Sailing Team saw a much-needed boost in performance coming home in a comfortable second place, their best result to date.
“Second is a nice result, but it’s the first day and there is still a lot of racing. It’s good to start this way,” tactician Adam Minoprio said.
“We are focusing on making the boat more reliable. In the way the team is sailing the boat we can match the speed and manoeuvres of the other teams, we just need to make sure we don’t have any issues with the boat that slow us down.”
As the last boat crossed the line just before 17:00 hours, the AP over A flags were raised and the boats returned to the Fraglia Vela Malcesine for the welcome cocktails.
Results after one race:
- Spindrift – 1
- Vitamina Sailing – 2
- Realteam for Léman hope – 3
- Team Sailfever – 4
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing – 5
- ZEN Too – 6
- Ylliam XII – Comptoir Immobilier – 7
Racing continues tomorrow with the first start scheduled for 13.00CET.
All information: http://www.TF35.org
