Defi Atlantique, we’re off again! Beccaria and Bona on the hunt for Lipinski
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Here we go again, the second leg of the Defi Atlantique starts today from Horta , 1300 miles to La Rochelle to decide who will be the winner of this west-to-east Atlantic crossing crewed on Class 40s. Ambrogio Beccaria with the crew of Allagrande Pirelli, composed of Alberto Riva and Gianluca Guelfi, restarts from second position; Alberto Bona on IBSA, with Pietro Luciani and Pablo Santurde from Arco.
Defi Atlantique – The situation in the standings.
The two Italian Class 40s will launch in the wake of Ian Lipinski on Credit Mutuel, winner of the first leg, who has just under a 2-hour lead over Beccaria and about 5 over Bona. The times of the first leg are very important, because the final winner will be the one with the best time on the sum of the two races.
The stage of only 1,300 miles imposes a different strategy than the first one. Stalling will not be possible, but to catch up with Lipinski will require attacking immediately and probably also doing a lot of match-race style coverage if one of the Italians manages to get in front. On paper, both Allagrande Pirelli and IBSA have slightly better performance than Credit Mutuel, especially if there should be a strong wind on the slack.
And speaking of weather: the start should be favorable to ours with southwest winds around 20-25 knots on the passage of a front affecting the Azores in these hours. Then the situation will change, but it is still early to understand the developments in the coming days. This second stage is expected to last just under a week.
Defi Atlantique – The Rudders of Allagrande Pirelli
The pit stop in the Azores for Ambrogio Beccaria and his crew was more complex than expected. Toward the end of the first leg, the Italian Class 40 had a problem with the rudder bushings that turned out to be more serious than expected upon arrival.
Vibration and movement caused by the loose bushing caused damage in the aft area of the boat, and extensive maintenance was required to allow the boat to be on the starting line today. Allagrande does not start at 100 percent of his potential, but Beccaria and his team are unlikely to keep their foot on the brake.
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