The first day of this Wednesday at the Puerto Calero Gold Cup RC 44, consisted of the first test of the Match Race, in which the boats compete one against one, skippered by professional sailors.
James Spithill, the Australian who was the helmsman of Luna Rossa in the last America's Cup and who skippers the Ceeref in this regatta, was the one who best adapted to the strong winds that have inaugurated this prestigious sailing trophy, finishing the day undefeated.
The Slovenian boat Ceeref of owner Igor Lah is the first leader of the competition by winning the five matches played, so it counts its stakes for victories. Spithill won demonstrating why he is the leader of the RC 44 Championship Tour in the match race mode.
The premiere was precisely with another of the greats, the BMW-Oracle skippered by the American Larry Ellison and who has the three-time America's Cup champion Russell Coutts in tactics. Afterwards, he would beat Dean Barker's Artemis, runner-up in the last America's Cup skippering Emirates New Zealand. He also managed to beat José María Ponce's Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, Mark Mendelblatt's Banco Espirito Santo and Cameron Appleton's Aqua.
Precisely this last confrontation between Ceeref and Aqua -the current champion of the circuit- served to determine who would finish the day as leader, since both arrived at the fifth flight with four victories and no defeat, but Spithill prevailed over Appleton and leads the Round Robin alone.
The BMW-Oracle is third overall, after a discreet start, with two defeats against Ceeref and Aqua and victories against Banco Espirito Santo, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and Artemis, with which it recovered and finished the day two points behind the leader.
Artemis with Dean Barker at the helm did not have his day and could not beat any of the boats, like him, favorites; he won against Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and Banco Espírito Santo and lost against Ceeref, Aqua and BMW-Oracle.
The debutant was the Islas Canarias Puerto Calero of Jose María Ponce, the first Spanish boat to participate in the RC 44 Championship Tour. The Canary team skippered by the Spanish match race champion, lived up to the circumstances and had the first triumph in hand, which they lost in the last stretch against Aqua.
For this Thursday it is planned to finish the Round Robin with the remaining five flights, in a day that is again marked by the strong wind, which during Wednesday accompanied blowing from the northeast between 18 and 25 knots of intensity, which gave spectacularity to this first day of the Puerto Calero Gold Cup RC 44.
The Puerto Calero Gold Cup RC 44, a regatta in which the best sailors in the world participate and which is held for the first time in Spain, is held in waters of Lanzarote until Sunday, a spectacle for sailing lovers.
Round Robin
Flight 1
BMW-Oracle 0-Ceeref 1
Islas Canarias Puerto Calero-Artemis 1
Aqua 1-Banco Espirito Santo 0
Flight 2
Artemis 0-Ceeref 1
Banco Espirito Santo 0-BMW-Oracle 1
Aqua 1-Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 0
Flight 3
Banco Espirito Santo 0-Artemis 1
BMW-Oracle 0-Aqua 1
Ceeref 1-Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 0
Flight 4
Artemis 0-Aqua 1
Banco Espirito Santo 0-Ceeref 1
Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 0-BMW-Oracle 1
Flight 5
Ceeref 1-Aqua 0
Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 0-Banco Espirito Santo 1
Artemis 0-BMW-Oracle 1
MATCH RACE CLASSIFICATION (After five flights)
1 Ceeref, James Spithill, 5 points
2 Aqua, Chris Bake, 4 points
3 BMW-Oracle, Larry Ellison, 3 points
4 Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist, 2 points
5 Banco Espirito Santo, Patrick de Barros, 1 point
6 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, José María Ponce, 0 points
