After winning the second race today Quantum Racing powered by American Magic have now taking three winning guns from four starts at the XS 52 SUPER SERIES Newport Trophy to lead by eight points ahead of the Thai flagged Team Vayu.
Sticking to their key principles of keeping everything as simple as possible, sailing low risk and using their excellent boatspeed the New York Yacht Club team were fourth in the first race which was won by the Whitcraft family’s Vayu who were then tied for the regatta lead with the five times circuit champions.
But while Quantum Racing were able to take two places during the first round to go on and win, Vayu were closed out whilst pitching for the pin end of the start and then had to spend Race 4 fighting from the back of the fleet.
Conditions were nothing short of perfect, 12-14kts of breeze with warm early summer sunshine accompanied by some towering puffy cumulus clouds. Out there on a pristine day like this it is all too easy to daydream of the heydays of the J Class racing on these same waters at three America’s Cups between 1930 and 1937 before being superseded by the 12 Metres which raced eight America’s Cups out of Newport from 1958.
With Victor Diaz de Leon as skipper/tactician, Nevin Snow as strategist and Evelyn Hull navigating, Quantum Racing powered by American Magic started well in both races – never pushing one end of the line or the other – but then were always seemingly able to find their way up among the top two or three at the first windward turns. Even in this respect alone they are looking stronger and more consistent than at the first regatta of the season, last month’s PalmaVela,.
So far so good
“So far so good, we have had a couple of days of awesome breeze and we have come good but reall were still just trying to put the pieces together as a young team and minimise the mistakes and get around the course fast. We need to just to keep racing all the time You see at all the mark roundings it is always so close you have to keep pushing all the time.” Explains Sara Stone, Quantum’s mid-bow. “We have a few more new people this year and so everybody is learning again how we all work together and that is about what information is needed when and who gives that information. It is a continuous process. We are getting better every day.”
That poor second start saw Vayu take a ninth place which leaves them now just three points up on Tina and Hasso Plattner’s Phoenix which lies third. Again each of the owners steered a race, Hasso the first and Tina the second, backed up by Ed Baird and Cameron Dunn tactician and strategist.
“We do have a bit on. Hasso has not done this for a while and Tina is learning to drive with the wheels but it is awesome to get a seven and three today in this fleet. We keep it relaxed. Tina is super chilled and comes in and does a great job, she has no warm up between races, Hasso is just phenomenal. We had a bad start but you just keep chipping away and on the last run we took three boats.” Said strategist Dunn.
The first race saw Team Vayu and Jean Luc Petithuguenin’s Paprec jump clear by the first top mark, earning an initial lead which the fleet could not close. Vayu’s win is their third ever and second is the French team’s best finish this season so far.
“Today was good. We had a little briefing this morning, I said ‘OK boys now we need to play in the right division, the A group. We have spent a lot of time looking at the champions and the stars from behind them, now we need to be up there with them.” Said their tactician Loïck Peyron.
Racing continues from midday Thursday.
52 SUPER SERIES NEWPORT RI TROPHY PROVISIONAL STANDINGS after 4 races
1. QUANTUM RACING POWERED BY AMERICAN MAGIC (USA), Doug DeVos, 1+1+4+1 = 7
2. VAYU (THA), Whitcraft family, 2+3+1+9 = 15
3. PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso & Tina Plattner, 6+2+7+3 = 18
4. ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 5+10+3+2 = 20
5. SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 3+8+8+4 = 23
6. PLATOON AVIATION (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 4+5+9+5 = 23
7. GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 8+4+5+8 = 25
8. PAPREC (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 10+7+2+7 = 26
9. INTERLODGE (USA), Austin & Gwen Fragomen, 9+9+6+6 = 30
10. ALPHA+ (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 7+6+10+10 = 33
