Puerto Portals (Mallorca)
Updated:08/26/2021 18:34h
Keep
The Sled is the new leader of the Rolex Puerto Portals 52 Super Series Sailing Week & TP52 20th Anniversary Invitational after the third day of racing in which three races were disputed. The winners of the day’s heats were Sled himself, Phoenix and Provezza. In the Invitational regatta again, Beau Geste gave no margin to his rivals and won both races.
The general of the Rolex Puerto Portals 52 Super Series has been compressed with the Sled with a point of advantage over the Quantum and four points over the Phoenix that closes the podium. But until Bronenosec, seventh, there are only eight points so the fight for victory is still open.
To understand the maximum equality that exists in the fleet, you just have to see that in the six races held in Puerto Portals there have been up to five different winners. Only the Sled has been able to repeat a partial triumph after today the three sleeves had different protagonists.
Today the wind was punctual for its appointment and as María Torrijo, director of the Race Committee, had already announced, the three starts could be given to recover the sleeve that could not be done yesterday. Throughout the day a breeze of about 12 knots on average blew from the southwest that as the day passed, it rose to 15 knots.
The first heat of the day was full of emotion in the first two stages. Alegre asserted his good start to control the first beat of the day and reach the mark with a certain advantage over the rest that prevented him from getting into trouble. Platoon tried to be second but an incorrect maneuver with Provezza made him penalize in the small section of unmarking, thus losing many positions. The first mark of the day also cost him dearly in the second round today so it will take time for them to forget that passage through the buoy. Sled passed fifth for that engagement.
But from there he used his incredible stern speed to take the lead at the leeward gate. The experience of Murray Jones’ crew, who runs the ship in Puerto Portals in the absence of owner Takashi Okura, has already flown them to the finish line while the rest of the fleet continues to fight. Alegre had a magnificent second showing that they are sailing very solid this week.
The second heat went to the Phoenix of the Plattner family. With Tony Norris’s tiller, the sailboat started from a dominant position in the fleet and was able to maintain that moment until the first stern. There again, Sled’s speed in the downwind sections rose to the head of the fleet, but the South African boat did not give its arm to twist and kept the pulse with the Americans to take the partial victory in this fifth round.
Already in the third he paid the left side of the race course. For the pin came the Provezza of John Cutler and the point guard Ergin Imre. He did it on the favored side and with a point more speed than the rest that earned him to be the dominator of the sleeve from start to finish. Only in a few sections of the first beat was the Phoenix who kept him in tension, but after the leeward gate the Turkish sailboat was already on its way to glory and in pursuit of its first victory of 2021. From behind he punctured again at the start Quantum and Sled was not very fine either. The two American ships had to go picking up the crumbs left by the rest of the fleet in order to recover some position.
Tomorrow the fight for the 52 Super Series general is postponed as the TP52 20th Anniversary Invitational regatta is scheduled to take place in which the 16 TP52s will compete together and the results of the day will not count for the general classification. It will be on Saturday when two new races of the regatta are held to meet the first winner of the 2021 season.
Joan Fullana, Majorcan prow of Provezza, states: “The day has been a bit long, but it was worth it. We have done three races without much waiting between races and the truth is that everything went very well on the water, so perfect. Today we have won the last and in the first we have made third and the penalty has been the second. There always has to be a bad one. We are happy because we are fourth in the general classification and there are options to be able to fight for the podium and for what we can. Tomorrow is the Invitational regatta and we are already thinking about Saturday for the 52 Super Series circuit. “
Sled Reed Murray Jones explains: “Every day here is tough with this even and incredible fleet. We did two very good heats and in the third we did not start well through the middle of the fleet and we had to escape from there. It was a surprise to come back to Puerto Portals as leaders because Quantum had a solid lead overall. We are happy to have recovered the distance and to have a point of advantage. The crew is doing very well and the boat is running great. Tomorrow nobody will go slow, that’s for sure, we will win, although very careful not to get into complicated situations “.
See them
comments
.
