Persico 69F Grand Prix 3.1 in Malcesine - Day 1
by Persico 69F 2 Oct 2020 01:58 BST
1-3 October 2020
Persico 69F Grand Prix 3.1 in Malcesine - Day 1 © Persico 69F / Studio Borlenghi
The more flying hours increase, the more competition increases. The first day of Grand Prix 3.1 of the Persico 69F Cup has offered a great show with an extremely close ranking.
There is only one point separating first from third, respectively occupied by Fantastica 2 (Nico Celon at the helm with the brothers Umberto and Pietro De Luca at his side) and FlyingNikka 47 (with the owner/helmsman Roberto Lacorte, Lorenzo Bressani and Enrico Zennaro), with the crew of Young Azzurra (Ettore Botticini, Federico Colaninno, Francesca Bergamo and Erica Ratti) in second place.
Fourth place for the other boat of Team Cetilar, FlyingNikka 74 (Alessio Razeto, Andrea Fornaro, Lorenzo de Felice), and fifth for Guido Gallinaro, Andrea Spagnolli and Kevin Rio, at their first experience together on the Persico 69F and still looking for the best crew chemistry.
Six races were held during the morning, with a Peler blowing from 9 to 13 knots, while in the afternoon, with an unstable and difficult Ora, the race committee decided for only one more, before concluding for the day.
Nico Celon at each stage of the Cup reiterates that he just wants to have fun, but at each appointment his performances improve: "I'm having a lot of fun with Umberto and Pietro De Luca. It's a blast and they are so good, I have seen them grow up since they were children and let me tell you that this 'old man' is fine with the two kids! For now we are at the top of the provisional ranking, but we are all very close. On this boat if you are not precise, even if you are good, there is too little time to think and get a good result, also because the other crews are always catching up, it is stimulating."
"The competition is very tight," confirms Ettore Botticini and Federico Colaninno of Young Azzurra, "we are only half a point from both the first and the third in the provisional ranking. Today we struggled a little bit: we took a couple of penalties that we didn't expect and the conditions were difficult, the wind was light and very fluctuating, but despite everything we managed to bring out the best, taking home also a first place. Tomorrow we hope to change gear and recover. The level of performance increases with each regatta, it is great to compete with more experienced crews and train in a group."
"The summary of today," says Lorenzo Bressani of FlyingNikka 47, "is that at the moment we are an afternoon crew, with Ora and about ten knots of wind: in those conditions we are really strong. Today in the first races with very strong wind we had difficulties in bearing away from the beam to the stern and managing the first jibe. In short, training is still needed for extreme conditions because the boat becomes very tactical and making a mistake is easy."
"Nothing is taken for granted in the events of the Cup," comments the Chief Sailing Officer of the circuit, Dede De Luca, "today's races have brought this aspect to the maximum with continuous exchanges of positions in the individual runs and three crews who alternated to be the first to cross the finish line. Today we completed seven races, which allows us to look at the uncertain weather of the next few days with serenity, and we did it despite an unexpected event to a boat: there was damage to a high shroud, something that on other boats would even break the mast and that was instead solved in just 20 minutes with the hull on water, a technical virtuosity that confirms not only the solidity and the easy management of this monotype but above all, highlights the excellence of the Shore Team which must be applauded for an exceptional work in terms of quality, competence and speed."
The Provisional Ranking:
1. Fantastica 2 - 32 pts
2. Young Azzurra - 31,5 pts
3. FlyingNikka 47 - 31 pts
4. FlyingNikka 74 - 22 pts
5. SV Marmolada - 9 pts