Quantum Racing take overall lead in Cascais Trophy

Stuart Alexander
Friday 20 May 2011 20:40 BST
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It was windy on the Atlantic coast of Portugal for the third day of the Audi MedCup but they proved ideal conditions for the crew of Quantum Racing and its new skipper, Ed Baird.

Back-to-back wins catapulted the new green and black TP52 into the overall lead for the Cascais Trophy.

With the north-westerlies building in the second race to top 25 knots in the gusts, the 2009 world champions remained strong from gun to gun in both races.

José Cusi’s Bribón had looked strong in the first race, but was penalised for hitting the first mark and the double penalty turn dropped them well back from second.

The double wins gave Quantum Racing its third win in a row, and what should be strong rivals to the Americans, Italy’s Azzurra team from the yacht Club Costa Smeralda, put in a storming final run to steal second from Udo Schutz’s consistent Container. The German team, led by Marcus Wieser on the helm and tactician Hamish Pepper, count one fourth but otherwise have not finished outside the top three in each race to lie second.

The pain continued for Britain’s Rán as owner and helmsman Niklas Zennström posted a seventh and a fifth and now lie sixth out of the seven boats competing. The crew hopes to make an improvement in a coastal race scheduled for Saturday.

In the new Soto 40 fleet there was a win apiece for Patagonia and Bigamist in the brisk conditions, but Iberdrola’s two second places, maintains its overall lead.

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