Italy Gets Through Race Day Two Best.

With two races held, Team Italy leads the overall classification of the Audi Sardinia Cup thanks to two bullets claimed by Andres Soriano's Soto 40 Alegre and solid third and second places from the TP52 Audi Azzurra Sailing Team, owned by Alberto Roemmers.

The team classification sees Quantum Racing (TP52) and Iberdrola (Soto 40) representing the USA in second place while Sweden, represented by Niklas Zennstrom's TP52 Ràn and the Soto 40 Black Pearl, round out the provisional podium in third place.

Doug DeVos' Quantum Racing, skippered by Ed Baird, also took two bullets to dominate the fleet of TP52 and IRC52 yachts - with points also valid for the 52 Super Series - ahead of Azzurra, with Francesco Bruni on tactics, and on equal points Tony Langley's Gladiator in third, tactics by Chris Larson.
 
Both of the windward-leewards were held in light breezes of approximately 6 to 8 knots which rotated from 10° at the start of race one to 085° by the early afternoon and the start of race two. Race one for the TP52s saw Quantum trailed by Gladiator and Azzurra. Then Ran, Paprec and Powerplay.

Race two saw French boat Paprec round the first windward mark ahead of the 52 fleet before slipping to the back of the group while Quantum, Audi Azzurra Sailing Team and Gladiator took the top spots. In the Soto 40 fleet Black Pearl and Alegre battled for first place with Alegre taking the advantage on the second run. Iberdrola took their second bronze of the day.
 
Andy Horton, Tactician Quantum Racing (Team USA); "It was pretty light and shifty but I think we were going pretty well in these conditions, but we also had two good starts and that really made it a bit easier. We were not really crossed by any of the first beats and the good starts allowed us to get into the best of the pressure. The finish of the second race was close, we had the pin end favoured by a big bit and then the wind just started shifting and then it was the boat end by a big bit, and Azzurra just came down in it."
 
For Day 3 of the AUDI Sardinia Cup Sirocco winds of approximately 8 - 10 knots are forecast.

Participants will attend a gala dinner at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda this evening while a barbecue overlooking the marina is scheduled for Friday evening. During the gala dinner Alberto Roemmers under roaring applause was rewarded with the Yacht Club's Golden Burgee for his long support of the club, his racing achievements and for keeping the tradition going that the club is represented by a yacht racing under the Azzurra name.