GC32s @Riva del Garda 2017: Day 3 by Renedo
All images Jesús Renedo / GC32 Racing Tour . Click images for HQ and slideshow- GC32 racing for me is like Fangio in the 50s driving like crazy bare hand no tech but full control at Nürburgring (or Monaco ciruit on the tight starts) , and the AC50s are Vettel with all bells and whistles of traction control every tech soulution available and permitted nowadays.
GC32s sailors are like the old F1 pilots relying only on their abilities and the mechanical leverages of their spartan systems.
Had a good chat today with Lucas Gonzalez Smith, main trimmer Código Rojo Racing Team and they are missing hands to keep maneuvers smooth, they are on a learning process and he confirms the GC32 is physically demanding.
One the of the aspects we always remark about this Class is the difference with AC50 boats is that all efforts are functional to sailing the boat, you don’t have 4 guys on fixed bikes generating power, those NZ guys put same heart or more , but being power source to buttons and hydraulics takes away the allure and hard sailing work required to tame a GC32 or an AC45 F for the matter.
Shots above by Jesús Renedo show a bit of sailors work and how tough sailing in 18knots can get. Still the Arg rookies felt good today and Lucas told me is hard but manageable, and more hours will bring more confidence to the team.
They keep starting behind the fleet in the reach starts to get used to speed and the GC32 beast itself.
Below press release and results sent by GC32 Racing Tour. Official web www.gc32racingtour.com
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Team Tilt on the ascent as Realteam leaps ahead
GC32 Racing Tour press release issued on 13/05/2017
After yesterday’s three way near-tie at the top, the GC32 Riva Cup has a stand-out leader going into its final day. Today Lake Garda was behaving, the southerly Ora wind a constant 15-18 knots, although this cut down tactical options and in all today’s four races it always seemed to pay to venture as close as one dared to the sheer vertical cliff face on the west side of the lake.
The Swiss Realteam, skippered by Jérôme Clerc, won today’s first race but as a result of her incredible consistency (in eight races she has scored five seconds), she has now pulled out a seven point lead.
This is the first time the Swiss team has led at the GC32 Racing Tour and their advantage tonight lines them up nicely to claim the GC32 Riva Cup tomorrow.
“Conditions were great and we put in a very good result in every race. We know that our boat is going very fast,” said Clerc. “Yesterday it was more about tactics. Today it was technique – flying, good manoeuvres and going fast all the time.” Realteam only joined the GC32 Racing Tour last year and missed the 2016 GC32 Riva Cup. Over the winter they benefitted from picking up several top crew from other teams like trimmer/tactician Lucien Cujean and trimmer Bryan Mettraux from Team Tilt and their ‘big guy’, bowman Christophe Carbonnieres from Team ENGIE.
“They have brought a lot,” admits Clerc. “Lucien and Brian were too old to do the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup so they have joined the ‘old’ team! It is great because they know a lot about the boat, the flying technique, the trim, etc. With this kind of boat if you want to get to the top quickly you need to have experienced guys.”
While Realteam will be hard to beat, even if the full schedule of racing is held tomorrow, Saturday’s ‘boat of the day’ was unquestionably another Swiss campaign, Team Tilt. Sébastien Schneiter’s team, which finished second on the 2016 GC32 Racing Tour was back on form today after a Friday they would prefer to forget. In fact following a second with three consecutive race wins today, their performance resembled that of Franck Cammas and NORAUTO, the immaculate overall 2016 winners. However even this outstanding performance has only elevated Team Tilt to second.
“Yesterday was a bit of a disaster for us,” admitted Schneiter. “Today we went for easier solutions at the gate and sailed like we used to sail. Even so, yesterday we learned a lot – we had a good debrief and today we were even better than usual.”
Schneiter felt they were sailing a lot better. “We made some really good manoeuvres, especially in the gybes. We were one of the few teams to do some foiling gybes. We made a lot of gains there.”
With two former Team Tilt sailors on Realteam, including Lucien Cujean, his Olympic 49er crew, Schneiter was pleased that some of his friends are leading overall, despite the two teams spending much of the day hounding each other with various protests behind hurled between the boats – although none stood up.
Team Tilt was deemed to be the innocent party in a collision for a second consecutive day. Yesterday’s incident resulted in Pierre Casiraghi’s Malizia – Yacht Club de Monaco receiving two penalty points. Today it was Team ENGIE’s turn to lose out. Having led going into today, this penalty for Team ENGIE came in addition to their hooking a semi-submerged line in today’s third race, spinning them into a crash tack. The French team has now dropped to third overall.
Elsewhere Team Argo had a disappointing day today but continues to lead the owner-driver championship while Team Tilt is ahead among the crews bound for next month’s Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in Bermuda. Sadly Team BDA fortunes didn’t go so well today after they experienced a capsize while they were not racing. Fortunately they were quickly righted with the generous help of the Argo’s experienced support crew and the US team’s big black tender.
Two rounds of the ANONIMO Speed Challenge were sailed today but neither succeeded in surpassing Flavio Marazzi and ARMIN STROM Sailing Team’s supersonic speed of 31.02 knots recorded yesterday. Today’s fastest time was that of Realteam, which managed 28.44 knots in the second round while Team ENGIE recorded 27.07, the fastest in today’s first round. One more round of the ANONIMO Speed Challenge is scheduled for tomorrow, along with another four races – conditions permitting.
Results:
Pos Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Tot
1 Realteam 2 8 2 2 1 4 2 2 23
2 Team Tilt 6 6 9 4 2 1 1 1 30
3 Team ENGIE 3 3 7 1 5* 2 9 3 33
4 ARMIN STROM Sailing Team 7 5 1 5 5 5 3 4 35
5 Team Argo 5 1 3 6 6 8 7 5 41
6 Team France Jeune 9 4 5 3 7 3 4 6 41
7 I’M Racing Movistar 1 2 6 10 8 10 8 8 53
8 Mamma Aiuto! 4 7 4 7 9 7 5 10 53
9 Malizia – Yacht Club de Monaco 10 9 12* 9 4 6 6 9 65
10 Team BDA 8 10 8 8 11 9 10 7 71
11 Código Rojo Racing 11 11 11 11 10 11 11 11 87
*including a 2 point penalty for ‘hard contact’
Following the GC32 Riva Cup
The aim is to hold up to five races each day on a mix of windward-leewards or ones with reaching starts/finishes, depending upon the wind conditions. A live blog from the race course can be found on the GC32 website along with Georacing tracking provided by the French company Trimaran.
GC32 Riva Cup – teams
Team Argo (USA) – Jason Carroll
ARMIN STROM Sailing Team (SUI) – Flavio Marazzi
Team BDA (BER) – Mackenzie Cooper
Codigo Rojo Sailing Team (ARG) – Federico Ferioli
Team ENGIE (FRA) – Sebastien Rogues
Team France Jeunes (FRA) – Robin Follin
Malizia – Yacht Club de Monaco (MON) – Pierre Casiraghi
Mamma Aiuto! (JPN) – Naofumi Kamei
Realteam (SUI) – Jérôme Clerc
Team Tilt (SUI) – Sebastien Schneiter
I’M Racing Movistar (ESP) – Iker Martinez
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