The Audi MedCup Circuit 2008 season is over. Quantum Racing win the overall Audi MedCup Circuit and the Trophy of Portugal, adding to their wins in Sardinia, Mallorca. Matador finish second in this regatta, their third second place in a row, to finish third for the season behind Bribon. Second on the Audi MedCup Circuit standings is the best finish yet for Bribon in four years of MedCup racing for the iconic Spanish boat who finished third here in the Trophy of Portugal Regatta.
14:16:02
The wind is very very very light. Everyone is just milling around on the calm seas, mainsails are still up, but no one going anywhere fast. It's a waiting game. With CXG winning here there are now 13 boats having won at least one race Synergy
Quantum Bribon Caixa Galicia Mean Machine Matador Mutua Madrilena El Desafio Platoon Ono Artemis Usa 17 Tau Ceramica
14:08:33
And all the focus is on the Portugal Trophy now as we wait to see if we will get a third race. Time limit is 1530hrs for a start sequence but the overall top 5 standings at least for the Audi MedCup Circuit standings are settled with Quantum winning on 252 points, 2nd for the season a great result for Bribon on 306.2 points, Matador third on 328 points, Artemis fourth on 347 points and Platoon powered by Team Germany on 364pts in fifth.
14:05:23
So the regatta standings see Quantum leading on 37 points, 2 is Matador on 41pts, 3 is Bribon on 50pts, 4 is CXG at their best regatta standing this season on 52pts, CXG winning their first race this season, 5 Platoon powered by Team Germany 54 pts, 6 El Desafio 57pts, 7 Audi Q8 60pts.
13:52:44
CXG win, Matador stay ahead of Cristabella, just, the British boat gets third and Quantum get fourth. That keeps Quantum four points up on Matador in the regatta standings.
13:41:35
A long. sticky run this is proving as the breeze dies again Cristabella and Bribon have taken to the right and are coming back at CXG and Matador a little but it is very patchy, and Matador in particular have slowed a bit, but CXG should get to the finish line first but it is close between Matador and Cristabella. Matador gybe in front of them .
13:37:15
7 Artemis 8 Mutua Madrilena 9 Audi Q8 10 ONO 11 Synergy 12 Bigamist, CXG have a good lead as the three leaders run down the same line on port gybe.
13:35:53
CXG lead at WW2, 2 Matador 3 Valars 4 Bribon 5 Cristabella 6 Quantum
13:29:38
CXG keeping Matador in check as they drag out to the starboard tack layline, they are 50 metres clear ahead with Valars about the same distance behind, wind has increased a little to 9 knots.
13:25:56
And that move paid off for CXG who rounded first just ahead of Matador, coming in with a hotter angle and better pressure, Valars digging in in third, Bribon fourth, 5 Cristabella, 6 Quantum 7 Mutua Madrilena 8 Artemis, 9 Tau Ceramica Andalucia 10 Audi Q8 11 Synergy, 12 ONO, 13 Bigamist, 14 Platoon powered by Team Germany and 15 El Desafio
13:15:46
Straight follow my leader run, Matador leads off to gybe first, with Valars, Bribon and Quantum all going successively, CXG hang on on starboard as do Cristabella and Mutua Madrilena.
13:13:13
Matador first round, 2 is CXG, 3 Valars, 4 Quantum and Bribon overlapped, Quantum inside boat, 6 Cristabella 7 Mutua Madrilena, 8 Artemis, 9 Tau Ceramica Andalucia, 10 Synergy, 11 Audi Q8 12 ONO 13 Desafio 14 Platoon 15 Bigamist
13:10:58
Matador, Caixa, Valars haciendo un tapon termendo, Quantum a sota de Bribon de nuevo....sextoCristabella, Mutua, Artemis, Tau, Sybergy, Audi, Ono, DesafioPlatoon y Bigamist.Izan de natural, 6 nudos de viento..
13:05:32
And it is Matador who come out of the middle left with shift and pressure to lead half way up the beat, coming back to the middle of the course to bank their gains, but in turn that leaves Cristabella to the left and they, now, are emerging with a gain, but Matador still lead, Quantum at OK, top 5-6 certainly...or as certainly as there is in these conditions.
12:55:39
Another starting masterclass by a team at the top of their game, Quantum roll away from the start line taking a 10m advance in the first seconds of the race, starting in the middle of the line. Bribon stayed late for position on the boat and were able to tack on to port early, Desafio are not so good on the right, best in the middle is Matador, CXG best on the left, inshore side.
12:51:15
We go into the countdown for the second race with the breeze at 115 degrees, 6-7 knots, very flat seas, warm autumn sunshine but not hot. Two minutes to start.
12:39:32
And the race committee plan to go straight into the next race within the next ten minutes. Breeze is lighter again though, not so good at about 5k knots, we had max 8 knots in that last race.
12:36:33
No great dramas on the overall Audi MedCup leaderboard, Quantum gain an extra point over Bribon, and Bribon gain a little more daylight over Matador - 24.8 pts - while Matador in turn now have 13pts over Artemis.
12:31:27
Quantum back on course to win their third regatta this season, now on 33pts, 2nd is Matador who gained two places on the last run to have 39points, 3rd is Platoon powered by Team Germany on 42pts, with 4th Desafio on 42 points only, 5th is Bribon on 45pts.
12:24:36
Ninth is Platoon, tenth is ONO, 11th is Matador, 12th Caixa Galicia, 13th Artemis, 14th Synergy and 15th Mutua Madrilena.
12:22:10
At the finish it is Quantum, Bribon, Tau Andalucia, Cristabella, Bigamist, Audi Q8 in sixth, Valars get seventh, Desafio eighth.
12:17:43
Well down the final run and Quantum will win this race which will give them the lead over Desafio if the places stay the same, Matador dropping to third and Platoon fourth - if the places stay the same that is. But there would only be three points between 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Quantum could have an eight point lead depending if Matador can pull back some points on this run.
12:08:26
And Audi Q8 make it up to fifth at the WW2 and gybe set offshore, Desafio in sixth, Bigamist seventh, Valars eighth, Platoon ninth, CXG tenth, Artemis 11th, ONO 12th, Matador having a bad one in 13th now.
12:05:42
So if Quantum can hold their places over Matador which seems likely then they will lead the Portugal Trophy Regatta too, Bribon also doing a nice job in simply conserving second place. At WW2 it is Quantum, Bribon, Tau Ceramica Andalucia, Cristabella.
12:02:14
Audi Q8 making a nice comeback after they did a penalty turn by WW1 and are up to sixth, maybe, Bigamist are getting swallowed back into the pack, Quantum are rhree boat lengths to weather of Bribon as they approach the WW2 mark with two short tacks to go.
11:48:48
At leeward mark it is Quantum Racing, 2 Bribon, Tau Ceramica Andalucia with the Doreste brothers Luis and Manuel combining forces are in third. New course is 100 degrees to WW2, so we've seen the breeze shift 40 deegrees, Bribon is seven seconds behind, Tau Ceramica Andalucia is third at +45 seconds and Cristabella have overtaken Bigamist for fourth in 1m 2 s, sixth is Audi Q8 at 1.35, seventh is Desafio, eighth is Valars, ninth is Platoon, 10 is ONO, 11 Matador, 12 Artemis, 13 CXG, 14 Mutua Madrilena and 15 Synergy
11:47:04
Half way down the run and the leading three boats have extended a little with a nice gap, Quantum, Bribon and Tau Ceramica, Bigamist have erred a little more right, inshore and there seems a bit less pressure over here.
11:41:28
At WW1: 1° Quantum Racing, 2° Bribon 8", very close between Bigamist and Tau Ceramica 38", 5° Cristabella 46", 6° El Desafio 56", 7° Ono 1' 02", 8° Valars 1' 05", 9° Platoon 1' 13", 10° Audi Q8 1' 22", 11° Matador 1' 24", 12° Artemis 1' 29", 13° Synergy 1' 47", 14° Mutua Madrilena 1' 50", 15° Caixa Galicia.
11:39:21
First round was Quantum Racing eight seconds up on Bribon, Tau Ceramica Andalucia third, Bigamist fourth, Cristabella fifth, so a good beat for the older boats in the fleet. Desafio in sixth, Matador in tenth.
11:31:38
Qunatum just tacked underneath Bribon to impose a bit of lee bow action which in turn bounced Bribon back to the right to clear, Cristabella are furthest inshore to the left, Matador doing their best to get back into this beat and could be OK, but they need to keep close to Quantum. Quantum look set to lead around the mark at the moment if they cross Cristabella, Desafio in the mix too.
11:24:15
Bribon is furthest to the right at the moment and look good as the moment with Bigamist and Tau Ceramica Andalucia, Quantum are strong in clear air on this side too. Valars towards the inshore, left flank are the best of that group and have a nice advance. Breeze is six to seven knots.
11:21:11
Race gets away with CXG over start at the pin and recalled. Matador did not get a good one, Desafio and Quantum started alongside each other and Quantum rolled neatly over the Spanish boat, Bribon started late at the boat and have gone right, Matador have worked to the left and have a fair line now just below and ahead of Platoon.
11:16:12
The windward mark has been moved to 125 degrees but we are under the preparatory signal, inside the start sequence. Will we see any fisticuffs ? Unlikely give the light conditions, there is no-one in the top four boats who would run the risk of losing big points.
11:06:50
Postponement continues for the moment but the race officer is hopeful of getting this race away with a sequence starting at 1115h. Breeze is light, there are some calm patches around still. Quantum Racing is checking the first third of the beat at the moment with a crew up the mast spotting the breeze, as do two or three other teams. The pin mark is down, the course is 130 degrees to the WW1, 1.8nm.
10:36:31
Breeze looks fair but there will be a short postponement as it is onyl just settling in. On the committee boat they have 5.5 to six knots which is pretty marginal. Wind direction is 130-140 degrees compared with a forecast of about 115 rising to 12 knots. It is very much clearer, warmer and sunnier than yesterday, with flat, smooth seas.
