Mistral Rules Final Day At Cagliari

September 26 2010

The mistral really blew at Cagliari on Saturday bringing an abrupt end to the 2010 Audi MedCup 2010 series.

With three of the regatta’s 11 races cancelled, Emirates Team New Zealand finished the Cagliari regatta third behind Matador and Audi A1. Matador (Argentina) finished on 25.5 points and Audi and NZL 380 on 38, with the countback going to the French-German team.

The Russian entry Synergy was chasing hard, finishing on 38.5 points.

The mistral, blowing well into the 30s, ended the regatta and the season. Emirates Team New Zealand won the 2010 series, the first team to successfully defend the title.

The win was achieved in the face of a vastly improved standard across the fleet which kept the pressure on sailing and shore crews alike.

Skipper Dean Barker acknowledged the strength of the opposition: “We had to work very hard and never felt comfortable or secure. We didn’t win as freely as we did in 2009. Crew work and tactics had to be spot on and reliability was tested over and over again.”

Emirates Team New Zealand set up the season with a win at Cascais, Portugal, in May winning three races as well as the key coastal race and gaining an initial lead of 20 points.

Then followed a fourth at Marseille, second at Barcelona and first at Cartagena.

Barker: ‘We were planning to finish the season with a flourish. We needed two more races today if we were to improve our position on the leaderboard. It was a very hard regatta and Matador sailed so well – they couldn’t do anything wrong.”

Barker said he was proud to be part of a great team. “Their professionalism is outstanding. They never give up.

“The shore crew prepared the boat so well. We did 44 races without any significant gear failure.”

The team now prepares for a Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta to be raced at Dubai in November.

ENDS

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