The Valencian regatta was a Swiss-Italian affair. AIRIS and Near Miss, two newcomers to the GP42 class, share leadership on the first day of Trofeo de la Reina, after scoring a 1st and 2nd place in the 2 races that took place, under a nice southeastern but shifty sea breeze that reached 15 knots. Desafío still leads the overall QUEBRAMAR Cup standings but can clearly feel AIRIS behind their shoulders.
Valencia, 11 July 2008: When the winds start blowing, Near Miss and AIRIS are unstoppable. The Swiss-Italian duo clearly dominated the opening day of the Trofeo de la Reina, 3rd event of the QUEBRAMAR GP42 Cup, that started today Friday, under the a shifty Valencian sea breeze and choppy seas.
The starting gun of the first race was fired right on time under a nice 11 knots of sea breeze but quite choppy seas. Caser-Quum and Fermax make the right tactical decision and go to the left. Caser-Quum, another newcomer to the GP42 class, was in the lead but AIRIS, showing their superior speed, made a spectacular recovery, climbing to 2nd place in the first beat. More spectacular was Near Miss, that passed each and every boat, finishing 1st. Caser-Qumm was unable to fend off the two other boats but held on to 3rd place.
The race committee rolled on to the second race a few minutes after the last boat crossed the finish line. The breeze had considerably picked up, reaching 15 knots. The start saw the fleet separate and AIRIS with Caser-Quuum opted for the right side. The decision paid off for both, rounding the top mark ahead of the fleet. AIRIS never felt threatened and kept their leadership till the finish line. Near Miss again showed their boat speed, working their way up the fleet to 2nd place. Third position was for Roma GP42.2 that was always within the top-four group but was unable to reach AIRIS and Near Miss.
The race committee tried to start a third race but the breeze had already died down, giving them no option but send all 8 GP42 yachts back to port.
Racing will continue on Saturday and Sunday and, once again, the race committee will try to give 3 starts, weather allowing, this time at noon. Unfortunately, the initial forecast for Saturday is not very promising. A weather low is approaching Valencia and will probably bring clouds and rain, later in the afternoon. - http://gp42.eu/
