First Audi MedCup Circuit regatta 2011 starts next week in Portugal – Sailing news
The leading regatta circuit of the world will gather next week at Cascais in Lisbon, Portugal for the first ever Audi MedCup Circuit regatta 2011, running from May 16 to 22. The event will feature
the top boats and crews in the world.
The contenders have been divided into two classes with two brands of boats; brand new six TP52s and four Soto 40s. TP52s have been in European waters for two weeks in the practice session and there
has been a great complement about them.
The leading contestants in both the classes have spent more than a dozen days in training session and some of them have raced already. The crews will be shining their crew work and tuning their boats
as they reach the Atlantic waters.
After the warning signal at 13:00 on Tuesday, May 17, the official practice race of 52 series will begin for the Cascais Trophy. Points racing for the series is scheduled on Wednesday while the windward
leeward races are scheduled on Thursday, Friday and Sunday with Coastal Race on Saturday.
Last year, the Franco-German team grabbed the second position on their debut at the Cascais with a 2008-built boat. This time Jochen Schuemann and Sebastien Col will enter the Cascais with a new boat.
However, the former Audi MedCup and current World Champions, Quantum Racing, have a brand new boat of Botin Partners with many key changes in crew, now skippered by Ed Baird.
Ed Reynolds, Quantum Racing's project manager said, "To be frank we are not quite where we would really want to be, but such is the way life always seems to be with a brand new boat and several crew
changes. We are perhaps 75% of the way to where we want to be in, say, a couple of events time and for sure the few days of training off Cascais before racing starts will be very valuable to the team. There are certain differences in the styles and approaches
of Ed (Baird) to that of Terry Hutchinson and they will take some time to get used to for the crew."
The event will go live on Audi MedCup TV including live commentary during race action. The Audi MedCup Circuit Open Village, a parallel event with the Championship which showcases different interactive
activities for the crowd, will be open from Monday, May 16 to 22 with live music concerts on each evening.
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