Yesterday
So far the best of ours – Team Nika
On Thursday, October 3, in the sailing mecca of Europe – Portuguese Cascais – the 4th, penultimate regatta of the current 44Cup draw started. Elena Otekina reports from the scene:
© Elena Otekina
Among 9 RC44 teams from 6 countries, three represent Russia – Tavatuy Pavel Kuznetsov with Evgeny Neugodnikov as a tactic, Bronenosec Kirill Frolov with New Zealand tactic Cameron Dunn and Team Nika Vladimir Prosikhin with Australian S tactlin Tom just won the SailGP season .
According to the results of the first three regattas of the season, Nika is in second place with equal points with the owner of the Golden Helms of the RC44 fleet leader – the British Team Aqua. The other two Russian teams still close the overall standings.
The first race day in Cascais, the Russian team began modestly. After three races held, Team Nika had the best result – 4th place with 4th, 5th and 6th finishes. Two points more and 5th place in the Yekaterinburg Tavatuya (5–7–5), while the Battleship took 7th place in overall (8–3–8).
The winner of the first day was the champion of last year's season – Monegasque Charisma Nico Poons with the winner of the America Cup and Volvo Ocean Race John Kostecki as a tactic. The team showed amazing stability, despite the difficult weather conditions – two second and one first arrival.
The second place of the day is with the current world champion of the British Team Aqua (3–2–1), the third – with the French Aleph (1–6–4).
The waves from the hurricane Lorenzo flying over the Azores approached Cascais, and the run-up height exceeded two meters, while the classic local north-west wind weakened from 15 to 7 knots during the day and was very unstable.
First, the judges delayed the race for almost an hour and a half, and then several times changed the distance. High long waves added instability. “Emerging” from the troughs and climbing the crest, the helmsmen did not meet the wind that was below, and should have shown miracles of dexterity, returning their yachts to the course.
The Russian Team Nika all day sorely lacked speed, especially on the first tack. At the first sign, Vladimir Prosikhin's yacht was constantly circled at the end of the fleet. Then her stellar tactics managed to find successful positions, and the helmsman could cope with the wave, and as a result the crew won back several places to the finish line.
According to Vladimir, it was difficult for him to taxi the wave well. “Somehow it turned out worse than ours, we all the time caught up, passed the first maneuver very poorly, and it was purely for speed. In principle, the main thing here is the geek-clew, steering and boat settings, and here we lost, and the tactician then won back an average of three points in the race. "
Team tactics Tom Slinsby was unsatisfied with the launch and positioning of the boat. “Not our best day, we spent the whole day in the middle of the fleet. We couldn’t reach the first sign well, we need to work on the first tack, then the result will be better. ”
The helmsman and the owner of the Tavatuy team, Pavel Kuznetsov, was chasing Cascais for the first time and was delighted with the heat, wind and a long ocean wave. Although his team in the first two races did not manage to calculate the time well before the start, in the first race Tavatuy was able to finish 5th all the same. In the third race, the Yekaterinburg yacht went behind the layline and was in the 4th mark on the first mark, and finished fifth again.
Representing the Saint-Petersburg Yacht Club "Battleship" in the first race after a good start, he went ahead, but then went beyond the lane and appeared on the mark at the end of the fleet, finishing 8th. The second race the team started the second, but at the gate missed the Aqua in front of them. In the third race at the start, the Battleship could not find a place and started literally in the third tier; the result was again the 8th place.
According to Kirill Frolov, he was very hampered by the lack of training (Kirill was able to fly to Cascais just before the start of the Cup, missing training days), and in such a competitive fleet and in such a difficult water area this could not but affect.
Today, the forecast promises increased wind – and even higher waves. Follow the races at www.44Cup.org
Full results –
https://44cup.org/results
85 Yesterday # 9529
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