The match racing portion of the RC 44 Valencia Cup ended today with our two teams placed third and fifth.
Team CEO Russell Coutts and crew had an opportunity to win the first half of the week-long regatta, but came up short in a crucial match against Aqua, which went on to win at 9-1. They wound up third with an 8-2 record.
Main trimmer Dirk de Ridder said they hit some waves coming off the start line in that deciding race that slowed them down. The sea breeze does kick up a bit of a chop, and Aqua skipper Cam Appleton said he also hit some waves off the line but was able to find a smooth spot to tack and get out of dodge. After dropping that race Russell and the boys fell into a tie for second with Artemis, but lost the head-to-head tiebreaker.
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| Russell and Dirk |
“We only lost two races, and normally that’s good enough for a win,” said Dirk. “You lose a tiebreak, that’s the way it works.”
Team skipper Jimmy Spithill was a bit frustrated after his 2-3 day aboard the “old grey mare.” He showed some great finesse in pre-start maneuvering, but feels they need to find more boatspeed.
