ADESSO VELA

E' Banco Espirito Santo il vincitore del circuito 2008 degli RC 44.
Si laurea campione a Puerto Calero dove la Gold Cup è stata letteralmente dominata da Team Cereef di Igor Lah con James Spithill alla tattica.
Il team di Patrick de Barros, che vantava Russel Coutts ai ragionamenti, fa tesoro dell'assenza di Team Hiorshi - Città di Milano per superarlo nel rush finale.
La classe nonostante l'arrivo di nuovi armatori sembra aver difficoltà a crescere, in questa tappa sono scese in mare solo 6 imbarcazioni.
Anche per loro il 2009 sarà un corcevia importante.

Lanzarote, December 14 2008 – Having dominated proceedings all week in the Puerto Calero RC44 Gold Cup, Igor Lah nearly let victory slip from his grasp as Team Ceeref struggled to make sense of the big windshifts that tumbled off the mountains of Lanzarote in gusts that sometimes blew up to 27 knots.
Meanwhile the Slovenian’s closest rival - both at this event and for overall honours in the 2008 RC44 fleet racing season - was having a much better time in the tricky, puffy conditions. Owner of Banco Espirito Santo, Patrick de Barros credited Russell Coutts for making sense of the 40 degree shifts as the Portuguese boat picked up a 1,2 in the first two heats while Team Ceeref struggled with a 3,4.
The Portuguese were now within striking distance of the Slovenians for winning the event in Lanzarote, and were looking more secure in the defence of their lead in the 2008 rankings. Going into today, de Barros held a slim 3-point advantage over Lah in the season points scoreboard, and Ceeref had been the class act of the past week. Now de Barros had a bit more breathing room, and if he could win the final race with Ceeref last then perhaps he could steal the Gold Cup trophy too. With the strength and variable direction of the northerly wind, anything was possible.
Unfortunately Artemis had to bow out of the final race as keel problems forced Torbjorn Tornqvist to head home early. The battle for the remaining five boats was intense, with the whole fleet nose to tail at the leeward mark. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero led round that mark and while the other four boats tacked inshore, Daniel Calero kept on driving out to the right. When Calero tacked back to converge with the fleet, he was well ahead. The local spectators were getting excited at the prospect of a surprise win by a young and inexperienced team over some of the best professional sailors in the world.
The Canaries crew sailed a beautiful beat to lead handsomely around the final windward mark. However the chasing pack poured down behind them in a huge gust. At this stage Team Ceeref was way back in last place, and looked in danger of losing the Gold Cup if Banco could find their way through to first. But Ceeref tactician James Spithill called for an early gybe with the new breeze as the Slovenian boat hit 22 knots boatspeed in a gust of 27 knots. BMW ORACLE Racing was next to gybe and these two boats were locked in a high-speed battle for the lead. Ceeref prevailed, surging across the finish line in first place and securing victory in Lanzarote, to go with their match racing victory three days earlier.
Banco Espirito Santo was second in the fleet racing, followed by Team Aqua who edged third place by just a point from BMW ORACLE Racing.
Any disappointment that Patrick de Barros had for not winning the Puerto Calero RC44 Gold Cup was easily compensated for by his season victory. And Daniel Calero was happy despite having lost that last race which seemed to have been his. He is hugely encouraged by his team’s progress over the past week, and will be training harder than any team in the two months before the fleet returns to Lanzarote in late February.

2008 Fleet-Race Season (top six boats only)

(Name of team, nationality, helmsman, points)

1) Banco Espirito Santo (Portugal), Patrick de Barros - 154 points
2) Team Ceeref (Slovenia), Igor Lah - 159 points
3) Team Hiroshi (Italy), Armando Giulietti - 180 points
4) Team Aqua (United Arab Emirates) Chris Bake - 182 points
5) BMW ORACLE Racing (USA), Larry Ellison - 242 points
6) Sea Dubai (United Arab Emirates) DIMC - 276 points