[Source: 52 Super Series] Azzurra suffered on the final run of the first race with a malfunctioning primary winch, losing a potential third race victory to Rán Racing just at the finish line on the final gybe. Quantum Racing kept themselves in contention with a great recovery in an electrifying, breezy, bumpy, second race when they fought back from being over the start line early to cross the finish second behind Gladiator.

The second race showcased the 52’s at their sparkling best. Crews arrived ashore wet, chilly and exhausted after the brisk 22-25kts winds, but after an afternoon of high octane downwind sailing in building swells few had many reasons to grumble.

Rán Racing owner Niklas Zennström was pleased to have stolen their win on the finish line of Race 4: “It was nice to win, but it was also good to pass Azzurra on the finish line after they had done that same thing to us yesterday.” He smiled.

And a win for Gladiator, following up from their third in Race 4, was just the tonic for tactician Chris Larson after an opening day, Thursday, he is keen to forget. Their four points aggregate over Friday’s two races elevates Gladiator to fourth overall.

“ It was just the difference of day.” Larson recalled, “ Unfortunately yesterday everything I did turned to custard. Not much went right. I was actually scared to walk home and allow myself to cross the street as I thought I might get hit by a car. It was one of those days that nothing seemed to work out. We talked about it. I apologised to everyone on the team and said ‘hang in there and I’ll try and make it up and have a better day’ and so we did.”

After five races the three top boats have stepped slightly clear of the chasing pack but correspondingly only three points separates regatta leaders Azzurra from Quantum Racing in third. Their premature start might have left them wondering what might have been, but after lying a slightly distant seventh early on, Quantum Racing’s fightback was nearly total as they were just on the point of challenging Gladiator at the finish line.

Such powers of recovery were not just confined to the American flagged team. In the previous start Rán Racing were less than perfect off the line and had to scrap hard on the first beat and thereafter to get themselves into the position to eclipse Azzurra on the finish line, although the Italian team’s Vasco Vascotto regretted that he did not realise the extent of their damage to the winch and would have altered his final approach to the finish line had he known.

While Rán Racing delivered on their pledge to win races it remains Azzurra who have the upper hand. But a regatta which last year was finally separated in favour of Quantum Racing only on tie break from Azzurra, this 2013 European curtain raiser might still finish up just as close.

52 SUPER SERIES Conde de Godo Trophy, Bareclona,
Ranking after 5 races.

1- Azzurra (ITA), (1-3-1-2-4) 11 points
2- Quantum Racing (USA), (3-1-2-4-4) 12 points
3- Ran (SWE), (2-4-3-1-3) 13 points
4- Gladiator (GBR) (5-7-7-3-1) 23 points
5- Interlodge (USA) (4-2-6-5-6) 23 points
6- Provezza (TUR) (6-5-4-7-7) 29 points
7- Rio (USA) (7-6-5-6-5) 29 points

A milestone was reached on Thursday in the America’s Cup as for the first time three AC72′s sailed together in San Francisco. A local sailing aficionado shot some of the best video footage we have seen so far and one wonders why race organizers can’t provide something so simple:

Video highlights from the opening day of racing in Barcelona at the Trofeo Conde Godó, first event of the European season of the 52 Super Series:

[Source: 52 Super Series] In breezes which built from 10 knots for Race 1 to a sparkling 16-18 knots for the third heat, it was a day marked by tit-for-tat racing between the two rivals with the current 52 SUPER SERIES champions laying down the early marker by winning Race 1 comfortably.

Quantum Racing countered by winning the second race with Azzurra third to leave the top duo on equal points going into Race 3. The team which races under the flag of the Yacht Club Smeralda then executed another great pin end start, a near facsimile of their Race 1 opening, and were well clear of second placed Quantum Racing by the finish line.

The differences between the leading two boats were small across the day. Quantum Racing’s strategy in Race 1 did not work as planned and they rounded each mark in sixth but staged a valuable recovery on the final run, using the building breeze to good effect, to just steal a useful third on final approach to the finish line. After that they looked increasingly strong.

Azzurra are leading by just one point. Barcelona, 23 May 2013. Photo copyright Xaume Olleros / 52 Super Series

Ed Baird, skipper-helm of Quantum Racing recalled:

“ We made an assumption about the first race and stuck to our plan but the plan didn’t quite work out but we were fortunate at the end of that race that the breeze came up from behind and we were able to get into some good situations and we were able to get third. We rounded sixth in most of the mark roundings so we were lucky there.”

Well executed starts at the pin end of the start line twice were the foundations for Azzurra to build on. The number of sails allowed over the season is limited. With their programme foregoing new sails in the USA in order to bring on line a new inventory for the European season Azzurra were notably quick in key situations:

“ The reality is that we didn’t use new sails for Miami. We suffered a little for that. We decided to keep all our new buttons (each counted sail has a registered button) for European season. So we have an all new fresh inventory here. We are going a little quicker and so can hang in there when we get in some tough positions.”

Guillermo Parada, Azzurra’s skipper explained.

For Quantum Racing Terry Hutchinson and Jordi Calafat combined neatly on the first run of the final race, more readily identifying a big change in the late afternoon breeze which allowed them to pass Rán Racing and Interlodge to gain that second place.

Niklas Zennstrom’s world champions Rán Racing finish the first day of racing in third place overall counting a 2,4,3, a consistent scoreline given that conditions may have looked good but there was always something happening to challenge the tacticians.

Adrian Stead, Rán Racing’s tactician confirmed that he felt they could have been one or two points better for the day and that now need to be going out punching tomorrow to win races.

Good starts and first windward legs were vital. Austin Fragomen’s Interlodge – with John Cutler calling tactics – held on to second all the way around Race 2 and in Race 3 Ergin Imre’s team on Provezza scored a good fourth place which keeps them in touch with Interlodge which lie fourth overall.

Azzurra are leading by just one point. Barcelona, 23 May 2013. Photo copyright Xaume Olleros / 52 Super Series

Ed Baird (USA) skipper-helm Quantum Racing (USA):

“It was a pretty interesting day there was a lot going on, especially towards the end of the day with some major windshifts but we made it through with a pretty reasonable scoreline.”

“ We made an assumption about the first race and stuck to our plan but the plan didn’t quite work out but we were fortunate at the end of that race that the breeze came up from behind and we were able to get into some good situations and we were able to get third. We rounded sixth in most of the mark roundings so we were lucky there.”

“ The new guys are all great but that’s part of the mission is to figure out the communication between each other and make sure we are doing the right things that each other are expecting of what has to happen around the race course, and understanding that language. It’s all English but everybody says it a bit differently!”

“ Azzurra had a good day but we are very happy to be in the hunt and looking for our opportunities.”

Azzurra are leading by just one point. Barcelona, 23 May 2013. Photo copyright Xaume Olleros / 52 Super Series

Guillermo Parada (ARG) skipper-helm Azzurra (ITA):

“ It’s a good start if you look at the scoreboard its shows that the fleet is still pretty much together still. Its good to start on the right foot, we had two very good races, two clean ones but in the other one we were in the middle of the fleet but we hung in there and we were able to recover one position in the last run which was very good. I think that was the most important part of the day. It is a lot easier when you are in front but when you are not so good you have to be tough.”

“ I am very happy with the boat, the crew, the tactics, everything went very good so a good day for us.”

“ It is a difficult venue because many times you are looking at the right but the starts were a little bit on the left and so in order to get that advantage to get the bias of the line you need to make it perfect, to take all the bias that you can and then hope that when the right comes you have enough of a lead to hang on to the lead. We were lucky that there was not a big fight for the pin and Tomislav did a very good job on the starts, getting the starts that Vasco was after.”

“ The reality is that we didn’t use new sails for Miami. We suffered a little for that. We decided to keep all our new buttons for European season. So we have an all new fresh inventory here. We are going a little quicker and so can hang in there when we get in some tough positions.”

Conde de Godo Trophy, Barcelona after 3 races
1- Azzurra (ITA), (1-3-1) 5 points
2- Quantum Racing (USA), (3-1-2) 6 points
3- Rán Racing (SWE), (2-4-3) 9 points
4- Interlodge (USA) (4-2-6) 12 points
5- Provezza (TUR) (5-5-4) 14 points
6- Rio (USA) (7-6-6) 18 points
7- Gladiator (GBR) (6-7-7) 20 points

[Source: America's Cup] Structural reviews of AC72 boats and wings, a 10-knot lower wind limit (23 knots maximum) and enhanced sailor safety equipment are among the 37 recommendations issued today to increase safety during the Summer of Racing at the 2013 America’s Cup.

Many of the recommendations are intended to increase the personal safety of the sailors and they include buoyancy aids, body armor, crew locator devices, hands-free breathing apparatus and high visibility helmets. Other recommendations are specific to the AC72 yachts, additional support equipment and race management.

Regatta Director Iain Murray presented his “2013 America’s Cup Regatta Director Recommendations” at a meeting with the four competing teams and the America’s Cup Event Authority on Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco.

For reasons of insurance and liability, the Review Committee stopped short of making its own recommendations. Regatta Director Iain Murray has formulated the specific safety recommendations.

These additional recommendations have been incorporated into the safety plan produced by the America’s Cup, which was forwarded to the U.S. Coast Guard today.

“Producing and implementing the safety plan is within the scope of the America’s Cup, as the sponsoring organization for this summer’s racing,” said Stephen Barclay, the CEO of the America’s Cup. “This America’s Cup safety plan is a necessary component of the permit application submitted to the Coast Guard for their consideration.”

The Regatta Director will now form a number of task forces to bring in experts to define additional technical recommendations for specific safety items such as protective gear for sailors.

Since its first meeting on May 16, the Review Committee has worked diligently interviewing 25 team members including team heads, skippers, designers, engineers, sailors and support boat operators.

“All four competing America’s Cup teams have cooperated in an open, helpful and constructive way,” Murray said, “and the Review Committee noted there is a clear desire on the part of the teams to ensure the safety of the America’s Cup as much as possible.”

“I want to thank the members of the Review Committee for their exceptional and efficient work,” Murray concluded.

Iain Murray, America’s Cup Race Management CEO, addresses the media. San Francisco, 10 May 2013. Photo copyright Guilain Grenier / America’s Cup