Azzurra show: no history in Miami, but Vasco still hungry

The water is Azzurra ahead of Miami, Italy’s TP 52 dominates the second event of the 52 Super Series, the Miami Royal Cup, after a week with extremely even placings (2,2,1,2,1,8,3,4). Behind him were Platoon and Provezza, while longtime opponent Quantum ended the week in Miami in fourth place.

The fact of the matter is that the quality of the Tp 52 fleet, with several new boats or boats launched last season, has gone up a lot, which is why Azzurra’s achievement gains further value. Despite reoccurring some old performance issues in very light air, Azzurra literally dominated the week, mathematically winning the Miami Royal Cup with one race to spare. A very good sign ahead of the Tp 52 world championship to be held in the waters of Scarlino, Tuscany, May 16-20. The closing day saw Azzurra dominate the starts and early sides, but without going on to win individual races, a detail that did not escape the Italian tactician.

Vasco Vascotto, tactician: “It had been a year and a half since we had led the circuit, we have to keep it up! I am really happy, it feels good to have been able to close the performance gap in Key West. We sailed well here, fast and smooth, winning with one round to spare. The guys worked well in every area, we know there is still room for improvement and this is an incentive for us not to rest on our laurels. In fact, I, who have a tendency to always look at imperfections, feel a little sorry because we had two very good starts today and could have finished with a one-two, but we are still the second boat of the day. Really a good day and a good win for Azzurra!”

Alberto Roemmers, owner and helmsman: “The first few days we had some incredible results, and in the end came a victory that we particularly appreciate, the result of a lot of hard work after Key West, where we had lacked speed even though we had gone fairly well anyway. Here we managed to be competitive upwind, now we need to improve something stern. It was a great team effort, and I am very proud to feel part of this crew.”

WATCH THE SLED AND GLADIATOR INCIDENT HERE