The second race of the Audi Sardinia Cup 2012 was marked by a photo finish of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda‘s TP52, competing with Quantum, which has won today’s two races in light as well as shifty conditions. Audi Azzurra Sailing Team, along with the Soto 40 yacht Alegre, takes Italy in the top position of the overall leaderboard of national teams.

Audi Azzurra Sailing Team - Photo by Carlo Borlenghi/AZZURRA

Quotes of the day:

Guillermo Parada, skipper: “It was important to start racing after spending two days ashore because of the mistral. Today, Quantum had an excellent day and knew how to read the light breeze in the day’s two races. We will wait for tomorrow’s races in order to attack.”

Vasco Vascotto, strategist: “As always, you risk a lot in these light conditions. We are in second place, under attack by Quantum, but Italy is in the lead, thanks to Soto40 Alegre’s two bullets. However, for us this is not enough, we want the whole thing and we’ll try to sail well tomorrow.”

Francesco Bruni, tactician: “We had two excellent starts, in the first race we had a tremendous opportunity in the first run, nevertheless, we shouldn’t have followed Quantum in the gybe set but we should have done like Gladiator that, by sailing straight ahead, finished second. In the second race we wanted the left and got it but we should work a bit more on our upwind setup in light winds. Quantum was a tad faster. From a tactical point of view it was an excellent race, despite the very complex race area.”

Audi Sardinia Cup 52 Super Series Ranking:

Quantum Racing (USA) – 2pts
Audi Azzurra Sailing Team (ITA) – 5pts
Gladiator (GBR) – 5pts
Rán Racing (SWE) – 8pts
Paprec Recyclage (FRA) – 10pts
Powerplay (CY) – 12pts