Tudor Team Alinghi shows promise on opening day
Tudor Team Alinghi delivered an encouraging opening performance at the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Sardinia, closing out the first day fourth overall after three fleet races in demanding conditions off Cagliari.
Racing together for the first time as a crew, Paul Goodison, Phil Robertson, Nicolas Rolaz and Pietro Sibello showed improving consistency and solid boat handling against one of the strongest AC40 fleets assembled.
With steep chop and building breeze testing the fleet throughout the afternoon, several teams suffered capsizes or major errors. Tudor Team Alinghi, however, completed all three races cleanly and returned the AC40 to shore dry and without damage, an important step for both the sailing team and shore crew as the team continues to build experience.
The opening race provided an early highlight for the Swiss challenger, securing third place behind the Italian women & youth team and the French. The team followed with two fifth-place finishes in tightly contested races where small mistakes and difficult conditions proved costly across the fleet.
Race 2 proved particularly frustrating after onboard tactical software glitches contributed to boundary penalties that dropped the team deep into the fleet early in the race. Despite the setbacks, the crew recovered steadily and remained competitive throughout the afternoon.
For skipper Paul Goodison, the opening day represented an important step forward for a new-look crew still learning rapidly together.
“I think we’ve had a good day. At the time, it felt like there was plenty going on, plenty going wrong, bits to repair and a near capsize; it was full of excitement. But coming back in, it was probably one of the most fun days I’ve had racing in a long time. So, I’m super happy, and the team did a great job today. Obviously, we have a lot to work on. For our first time out there in that much wind as a new group, I think we did okay.”
Phil Robertson praised the progress made overnight after helping guide the team into contention during the opening race, and also confirmed the technical issues that affected the second race.
“The first race was fantastic. Yesterday, during practice, we were clearly the slowest boat on the racecourse, so to work hard overnight and then come out and be competitive, fighting for the lead and racing inside the top three, was really cool. It was a nice confirmation that the hard work is paying off. We had a few strange software issues during Race 2, which was unfortunate because that’s supplied equipment.”
Swiss trimmer Nicolas Rolaz highlighted the growing cohesion on board despite the limited time together for preparation.
“We’re pretty proud of what we achieved today. We made some costly mistakes and had some penalties, but in these conditions, everybody was making mistakes. We have to remember we really haven’t sailed much together before today, so overall it was a solid effort from the team.”
After the opening day of racing, Tudor Team Alinghi sits level on points with second place overall, underlining both the competitiveness of the fleet and promising an exciting day on water on Saturday.
All Images © Tudor Team Alinghi/ Samo Vidic
