A 1st and a 5th make triumph harder for Islas Canarias Puerto Calero at the Cartagena Audi MedCup

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero has one day to catch up. PHOTO: Nico Martínez

The Canarian boat broke the tie of the genoa tack in the second race of the day and Ponce’s team is now four points away from the podium with one sailing day ahead.

The second to last day of the CAM-Región de Murcia Trophy ended with three boats tied at the top of the ranking (Airis, Peninsula Petroleum and Madrid-Caser Seguros) and with Islas Canarias Puerto Calero having a breakage in the second leg, which places it four points behind podium places.

The day began really well for Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, steered by José María Ponce, winning the first race by a comfortable margin. This seemed to foretell a good sailing day, as it situated it provisionally as leader of the overall ranking with a one point lead over John Bassadone’s Peninsula Petroleum from Great Britain. The Canarian boat gradually improved and after taking third place in the first stretches, it gradually climbed places to overcome Roberto Montu’s Airis, which was leading the race then. From then on, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero controlled well the situation and this, added to a problem with the spi of its main rival, Paolo Cian’s Madrid-Caser, enabled them to lead by a comfortable margin in the overall ranking. Islas Canarias won, followed by Peninsula Petroleum and Airis.

In the second race of the day, fifth overall, Airis again dominated and this time it did not let itself be caught by surprise. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero had decided to sail on the opposite edge until it broke the tie of the genoa tack in the second beat, which forced it to stop and lose all options to win, finishing fifth. Airis claimed victory in this leg, followed by Peninsula Petroleum and Madrid-Caser in third place.

The Canarian team asked the Race Committe for some time to try to repair the breakage but they were refused this, so they had to sail the third and last leg of the day with an urgent fix. The Canarian boat, with hardly any time to react, started with tension from the beginning of the leg, but was always behind the fleet also because the stay was not tense enough due to the previous brakeage. It finished fifth, a few meters behind the fourth placed boat, Peninsula Petroleum. Airis won the race, followed by Madrid-Caser.

Gustavo Martínez Doreste, tactician of Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, commented at the end of the day that “we began the day really well, with a victory that gave us a lot of confidence in order to face the rest of legs, but a breakage in the second race affected us a lot”. Regarding tomorrow, and four points behind the first three boats, he commented that “there is nothing decided yet, and we depend on ourselves to win the championship, there is a full day ahead of us and as we have seen today, absolutely everything can happen”.

Standings
1. Airis Essential (ESP), 5-2-4-3-1-1, 16 points
2. Peninsula Petroleum (GBR), 1-5-2-2-2-4, 16 points
3. Madrid-Caser Seguros (ESP), 2-3-1-5-3-2, 16 points
4. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3-1-5-1-5-5, 20 points
5. Iberdrola (ESP), 4-4-3-4-4-3, 22 points