When Vasco Vascotto is hot, the fiery Italian tactician for the Azzurra team can seem at one with the wind; and he’s nearly impossible to beat. That lesson was drummed into the heads of his competition on the 52 SUPER SERIES circuit once again during Race 4 of the 2017 52 SUPER SERIES Miami Royal Cup. The Azzurra team was everywhere on the racetrack — right side, left side, middle — and in every position from first to last. But when it came to the finish line, it was Azzurra taking the gun, its second win of the regatta, and a commanding 8-point lead in the overall standings after four of 10 races.
Azzurra had another great start at the pin end of the line and after less than a minute of sailing was able to tack and cross the fleet. But halfway up the beat, with the left side seemingly winning out, Vascotto had second thoughts. He tacked back to the left, leaving Alegre and Rán Racing, both of whom had second-row starts, all alone on the right side. Those two boats, in that order, led around the first mark with Bronenosec in third and Azzurra fourth.
The Italian/Argentinian team jibe set, but the right side of the course, looking upwind, wasn’t a profitable on the run and halfway through that second leg Azzurra was mired in last, 300 meters or more behind the lead group. Alegre and Rán Racing led through the gate, followed by Provezza, Sled and Platoon.
It was on the second lap where Vascotto worked his magic, picking his way through the fleet, rounding the final windward mark in third and then nailing the last quarter of the run to take the win. Platoon rebounded from an eighth in the day’s first race to take second. Rán Racing was third and Provezza continued their steady sailing to finish fourth. Alegre was fifth while Sled, in position for a top five finish, dropped to ninth after being whistled for a foul just meters from the finish.
For full results, visit: http://bit.ly/2miZdMV
To watch the race again, visit http://bit.ly/2e6o3tR.
The 52 SUPER SERIES Miami Royal Cup will take place from 7-11 March. Live commentary and boat tracking via the Virtual Eye is available Tuesday and Wednesday. 52 SUPER SERIES TV powered by Quantum Sails goes live THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY with live action streamed from the race course supported by tracking, commentary and comment from 15-minutes before racing starts each day. All available at www.52SUPERSERIES.com/LIVE and the the app.
