Sport | Sailing
Team Sea Dubai keep early lead in fleet race
Ceeref and Team Aqua follow in their wake, even as the UAE outfit score a fifth-place finish in match racing.
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:29 July 11, 2009
Dubai: The fleet race contest of the RC 44 Malcesine Cup started yesterday afternoon.
Both Igor Lah (Ceeref) and Chris Bake (Team Aqua) crossed the starting line at full speed at the pin end, whilst Pieter Heerema (No Way Back) chose the opposite side of the line.
Torbjorn Tornqvist (Artemis) proved to be the best at this game. After taking an excellent start in the middle of the line, Artemis managed to cross ahead of the pack and reach the top mark in first. From then on it was plain cruising for the Swedish boat, thanks to an excellent control of their pursuers.
Team Aqua, in second, increased their lead over Ceeref and Organika throughout the race, whilst Team Sea Dubai achieved the comeback of the day after incurring a penalty against Organika at the top mark, going from tenth to fifth during the second half of the race. The rain unfortunately started to fall during the last run, resulting in a temperature drop and the thermal breeze going from 15-18 knots at the start to 6-8 knots by the end of the regatta.
Fearing a further drop, Chief Race Officer Peter Reggio launched the next regatta immediately after the arrival, in a fairly light breeze.
BMW ORACLE Racing, No Way Back, Jelik and Team Austria decided to carry on with their jibs no1 whilst all other teams quickly changed to genoas.
Starting perfectly at the pin end of the line, Team Sea Dubai grabbed an early lead ahead of BMW ORACLE Racing and Ceeref. Artemis, who was struggling to come back after a bad start, got penalised at the windward mark for tacking too close to Organika and ended up closing the fleet.
Despite BMW ORACLE Racing's pressure, Team Sea Dubai managed to keep the lead until the arrival line, dropping its kite on time as the wind suddenly switched by 100 degrees as the rainsquall was arriving. The American team finished second, ahead of No Way Back, Ceeref and Team Aqua.
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