First Five Practice Race MedCup Alicante.

1. Bribon (ESP)
2. Bigamist 7 (POR)
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)
4. Matador (ARG)
5. Quantum Racing (USA)

Quotes:

Thierry Peponnet (FRA), Bribon, helm:
“ This has been a good debut for me. We are happy with the atmosphere on board. It is pretty relaxed but at the same time we are very focused.”
“ Today’s result is due to several things, just 2,30 minutes before the start we caught a plastic bag with the keel, so we had to completely stop the boat to take it out. In fact we wanted to start closer to the committee boat, but we haven’t been able to do that and were closer to the buoy instead.”
“ Ross’s tactic was excellent, who together with Marcel predicted the evolution of the wind, and we chose the right time to cross the fleet, and to take the right side at the moment where the pressure came back.”
“ We have a crew which knows each other very well, and know how to trim and place the boat in relation to the wind pressure. With our boat, even if it’s older, we can gain more advantage from the wind.”

Pedro Mendonca (POR), Bigamist 7, owner and navigator:
“ It was a great training race. The boat is a bit faster this year, the tactics we chose today were good and we managed to maintain the second place. We didn’t let the gap with Bribon get bigger.”
“ We have trained a lot really this year already, we have worked on our jibes, the boat handling and among the crew members we have someone who knows the boat very well from last year Mikkel Rosberg. We also have a new Italian guy trimming the main and overall the crew gets along well.”

Grant Dalton (NZL), Emirates Team New Zealand, CEO and mast man.
“ In theory we have been working full time this year but because the America’s Cup is still in court that means that the guys haven’t got a lot of work other than this. The first time we have been out together was in Auckland at the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, and we sailed a little bit on the boat together but not so much. But, it’s not really hard to get the combinations going because we know each other very well, we speak the same language, understand each other’s jokes, and we have sailed together through the America’s Cup so getting the crew to actually go together is very simple. Some of us have been sailing together forever!”

Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing