Sun And Great Sailing On Day Two Of Volvo Cup In Punta Ala
The sun came out again for the second day of racing at the Italian Volvo Cup in Punta Ala and the sailors enjoyed blue skies, winds of 7 - 12 knots and three exciting and challenging races.
The fleet needed several attempts to get racing underway for race three of the series with the black flag claiming a number of the top teams including Alberto Bolzan and Gianni Catalognia's Pilot Italia and Riccardo Simmoneschi's Giacomelli Aui Q8. Once underway conditions were shifty throughout the day resulting in some very mixed results for all the teams and with five races completed no team is now counting an all top ten scoreline.
Overnight leader Tonu Toniste sailing EST790 Lenny got the day off to a good start with a second place in race three, followed by a sixth in race four, but even he could not keep on top of the unstable conditions in race five finishing in 20th place. Fortunately everyone else was struggling too and with the discard now in play he continues to lead by 14 points in the overall standings at the end of the second day.
Flavio Favini and Franco Rossini's SUI782 Blu Moon team put in a really solid performance today to move up the leader board from eighth place to second overall thanks to a seventh a tenth and finally a win in race five to count 24 points overall. Italy's Michele Giovanni's ITA716 Saetta remains in third place overall although he is tied on 26 points with Switzerland's Jean Marc Monnard sailing SUI599 Poizon Rouge and only gains the upper hand on count back.
For Alberto Bolzan and Gianni Catalogna with ITA727 Pilot Italia their black flag in race three was followed by a 21st in race four and despite recovering their equilibrium a little to finish seventh in race five it simply wasn't enough and they have dropped down from second overall to sixth, five points behind fifth placed Andrea Racchelli in ITA735 Altea.
After yesterday's late finish the fleet was delighted to be back at the dock shortly after 17.00 ready to enjoy this evening's Volvo pasta party. Volvo photographer Pierrick Contin has sent us more great images from day two so go check out the PHOTO GALLERY for the latest additions.
Tomorrow is the final day of racing in this second Italian Volvo Cup event.