June 5, 2008
by Mean Machine Sailing Team
5 Jun |
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Mean Machine moves up the City of Marseille Trophy rankings to 5th place overall, holding second place in the 2008 MedCup
The most eventful regatta in the AUDI MedCup 2008 so far and the seven leading entries will all be fighting for the top podium spots with just three races to go
The City of Marseille Trophy was always set to provide some tough conditions for the TP52s gathered in Marseille for the second event in the AUDI MedCup 2008. The promise of a strong Mistral breeze and some choppier seas would make for an exciting MedCup event, but the forces of nature and the incredibly close racing in this class have led to some incidents at sea with results of varying degrees of gravity for some of the boats during the coastal race.
Mean Machine made a strong start off the Southern French coast on Tuesday 3rd June, still reeling from the glorious Alicante finish. The team including Tactician and Team New Zealand crew-member Ray Davies and new addition to the team, ETNZ’s Kevin Hall navigating lead the fleet from start to finish around the area near islands of Marie and Frioul, with the spectacular Eyre cliffs in view. It was an action-packed day with a forceful Mistral and 3 races sailed, a different winner for each; Mean Machine in the first, Sweden’s Artemis in the second and Russell Coutt’s USA-17 taking the bullet in the third. Mean Machine missed out on some steady results to post on the scoreboard, finishing 14th in Race 2 following an incident with Italians AUDI Q8, but was back on form for Race 3, taking 3rd place behind the Swedes Artemis.
A postponement meant the sailors were forced to wait until the powerful Mistral dropped before the second day of battle could get underway, and there were still more than 25 knots blowing when the fourth race in this second AUDI MedCup 2008 event got going. Mean Machine paid the price of an error at the leeward mark with a 9th place finish in the first race of the day, but pushed up to fourth in the second, behind Quantum, Caixa Galicia and Artemis.
Day 2 was certianly a toughie…as Grinder Garry Bainbridge pointed out: “Today was a tough day with 25 knots. For us and the grinders it was tougher than the first day of racing, even though we only had two races because of the physical strain in these conditions. It’s a good job we’re all in good shape! Tonight we’ll be getting a good night’s sleep to get our strength up because tomorrow’s coastal race is going to be tough as well”.
Garry was right! Today was by far the most eventful day in the AUDI MedCup 2008 so far… the 45 mile coastal race.
Conditions made life pretty difficult for the 14-strong fleet of TP52s from the start. The titans were faced with big waves and gusts over 20 knots. Just metres away from the windward mark, various serious incidents took place with shocking results. Two incidents (between Mutua Madrileña and Caixa Galicia and Matador and Mean Machine), both port- starboard, took place. As a result, three of the four boats were forced to withdraw from the race with serious structural damage.
Victory went to an unstoppable Platoon with Olympic medallist Jochen Schumann. With lots of elbow grease from bowman Stu Bettany and trimmer Jon Gundersen Mean Machine rounded the scoring gate in sixth place and also finished off the race in sixth position in the fleet after a particularly tricky journey home The Machines move up to 5th place overall in the City of Marseille Trophy and Peter de Ridder’s crew hold on to second place in the AUDI MedCup 2008 rankings.
At this rate, what happens tomorrow is anybody’s guess…
Kevin Hall, Mean Machine Navigator on conditions in Marseille: The forecast was pointing towards a Mistral of up to 30 knots for yesterday and it looked like it was going to drop today, but the forecasts aren’t really that reliable… I think I’ll just look out of my window tomorrow to see if the trees are moving much.”
CITY OF MARSEILLE TROPHY
Position, Name, Designer, Skipper, R1,R1,R3… Total
1 USA-17, Raiche/Plugh 2008 (Larry Ellison) 6+ 5+1+1+3+3+2=21
2 Artemis, Reichel/pugh 2008 (Torbjorn Tornqvist) 12+1+2+2+3+2+3= 25
3 Bribon , Judel/Vrolijk 2007 (Jose Cusi/S.M D. Juan Carlos). 4+ 4+ 4+5+5+4+5=31
4 Platoon, Judel/Vrolijk 2008 (J. Schumman) 7+ 9+ 5+3+6+1+1= 32
5 Mean Machine, Judel/Vrolijk 2008 (Peter de Ridder) 1+14+ 3+9+4+6+6= 43
6 Quantum Racing, Botin & Carkeek 2008, (Terry Hutchinson) 3+6+ 12+6+1+11+8=47
AUDI MEDCUP CIRCUIT
Position, Name, Designer, Skipper, R1,R2,R3,…Total
1 Bribon, Judel/Vrolijk 2007 (Jose Cusi/S.M D. Juan Carlos). 42 + 31=73
2 Mean Machine, Judel/Vrolijk 2008 (Peter de Ridder) 41+ 43=84
3 Artemis, Reichel/pugh 2008 (Torbjorn Tornqvist) 60+25=85
4 Platoon, Judel/Vrolijk 2008 (J. Schumman) 58+32=90
5 Quantum Racing, Botin & Carkeek 2008, (Terry Hutchinson) 46+47=90
• NOTE TO EDITORS: AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION NUMEROUS PROTESTS FROM DIFFERENT BOATS ARE STILL TO BE RESOLVED
