GC32 World Championship, day two: the debrief

Lake Garda did not disappoint on the second day of the GC32 World Championship. Winds of up to 16kts saw the teams fly around the course, shaking up the leaderboard as they foiled to the finish.

Friday 25th May 2018

Lake Garda did not disappoint on the second day of the GC32 World Championship. Winds of up to 16kts saw the teams fly around the course, shaking up the leaderboard as they foiled to the finish.

Here’s what the sailors said after a fantastic foiling Friday on the water:

Phil Robertson, Skipper, Oman Air:

“It was a much better day, we had a nice pace around the course and started pretty well but we definitely threw a lot of points away – we’re actually a little bit disappointed with the end result as we can do better than second, but stoked to hear that we climbed the leaderboard. We know we can improve.”

Team Oman Air currently sit in second overall in the Championship, with big plans to top the leaderboard over the next two days.

Ernesto Bertarelli, Team Principal/Skipper/Helm, Alinghi:

“Overall we are pretty happy with our starts. The first race we made a few mistakes at the bottom mark. In the second, third and fourth races we did well. I’m happy with the boat speed and overall I’m quite happy with the result.”

Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi currently sits in third in the GC32 World Championship overall standings. A favourite to win the coveted title, this speedy Swiss team are a force to be reckoned with.

Adam Minoprio, Helm, SAP Extreme Sailing Team:

“It was a great day of sailing. We started well and had three great results in the first three races. We also had a big learning curve as this is my first time racing in Riva - the harbour walls really affect the wind, we learnt a couple of lessons there but managed to still get good results.

“13 boats with the reaching starts, you’ve got to be on your game to make sure you’re on the line, otherwise you can get buried at the start. I think we had a good day in that respect, but it’s just the little things we have to work on.”

SAP Extreme Sailing Team took a hit in the rankings today, falling one place from third to fourth overall.

Erik Brockmann, Skipper, Team México:

“Yesterday we had a perfect start for us but today there was a lot more wind. Still, we were feeling quite good onboard but in the second race we had the misfortune of breaking the main halyard. We came back on land and managed to fix it up in time for the last race. We’ll be back tomorrow!”

A breakage for Team México saw them retire to land for a short while, but with the help of their dedicated shore crew, they made it back out onto the water for the final race.

Racing starts tomorrow at 12:30 (CEST). Catch the action via the live tracker, provided by SAP, on the GC32 Worlds website.