Dubai: Team Sea Dubai is not particularly concerned with the side's off-day during the RC 44 Valencia Cup sailing in Spain this week.

The team's sailing manager Sid Bin Saleh told Gulf News: "The Sea Dubai team is a great outfit and I am sure they will bounce back in the next two days."

The first day was dominated by Anders Myralf of Denmark as he guided James Spithill and the 17-strong crew to three first-place finishes, and to take control of the regatta's fleet-racing section. The crew won the first, third and fourth races, and placed fourth in the second to accumulate a low score of eight points, including a one-point penalty imposed by the international jury.

No concerns

Chris Bake and Team Aqua winners of the match-racing section of the week-long event was second, while third place is being held by Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis with 20 points.

Team Sea Dubai was at the rear of the standings after the four races, but Bin Saleh was still convinced of the maturity of the team. "I think our results were bad due to some bad tactics downwind. On the upwind we were fantastic as our boat stayed among the top three. But the downwind was horrible in all four races," Bin Saleh said.

"Hopefully, things will be different on the last two days and there is no reason for concern," he said.

Myralf had every reason to be happy. "It's incredible to come down here from Copenhagen and jump into a boat that is so organised and well sailed," said Myralf, an amateur sailor who races aboard the Farr 40 Nanooq with the Prince of Denmark.

"I've never seen such a good crew. I've got the easiest job on the boat," he beamed. The southeasterly sea breeze that marked the match racing didn't materialise on Friday until the fourth race. Instead, the fleet sailed mostly in an easterly wind between 8 and 10 knots.

Results

Provisional results of Fleet racing in the RC 44 Valencia Cup: 1. 17 / Anders Myralf (USA) 1-4-1-1, 8 points*; 2. Team Aqua / Chris Bake (UAE) 2-3-5-4, 14 points; 3. Artemis / Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE) 5-7-2-6, 20 points; 4. Katusha / Guennadi Timtchenko (RUS) 9-1-8-3, 21 points; 5. BMW ORACLE Racing / Maxim Logutenko (USA) 10-6-4-2, 22 points; 6. No Way Back / Pieter Heerema (NED) 8-2-7-5, 22 points; 7. Ceeref / Igor Lah (SLO) 6-11-3-7, 27 points; 8. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero / Daniel Calero (ESP) 3-9-9-10, 31 points; 9. AEZ RC44 Sailing Team / Rene Mangold (AUT) 4-10-10-8, 32 points; 10. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team / Vincenzo Onorato (ITA) 11-5-6-11, 33 points; 11. Team Sea Dubai / Harm Mueller-Speer (UAE) 7-8-11-9, 35 points. (* includes 1 point penalty by International Jury).