Staying within their target points budget for the day’s two races, the 2008 champions’ fourth and first was joint best score of the day, and leaves them three points clear of 2007 title holder Artemis, whose day was the mirror image of Quantum Racing’s.

The start of the second race proved the most telling, as Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis (SWE) jumped off the line to an early lead which they extended to nearly one minute, whilst overnight leader Synergy (RUS) made their poorest start of the regatta so far and had to work hard to recover to a seventh.

The America’s Cup waters off Valencia have so far spoiled the TP52 championship crews for choice. Monday’s building sea-breeze was replaced by an altogether more benign, but equally testing 7-8 knots of thermal SE’ly yesterday, and today’s scheduled 25 miles coastal race is presently expecting at least 20 knots, maybe more.

Quantum Racing’s tactician Adrian Stead (GBR) returned to the Real Marina Juan Carlos dock pleased not only with their Race 4 victory, but of equal importance was that they recovered two places in the next race when the breeze offered more advantage to the right with a small right hand shift. They had started smartly off the pin, never felt the same benefit and were forced on to the back foot from there.

But they stuck with it, gaining two places on the second beat and one at the death of the final run, to lead Artemis overall by three points after five races, the theoretical half way point of the regatta. Stead and Hutchinson both started the regatta in the belief a race average of 3pts could be good enough to clinch the title, and they kept to their target average again today.

Race 4 started in the gentle SE’ly and the early tussle was between Quantum Racing and Synergy, but Quantum closed them out in the top third of the beat and they rounded first and second, with Terry Hutchinson’s crew going on to win by 37 seconds.

Artemis’ broke the Quantum and Synergy race winning run when they made the best start to Race 5 and were able to gain from a small increase in wind pressure and shift as it moved across from the right of the course. With owner Tornqvist steering they were able to lead comfortably around the first turn, while Audi A1 powered by All4ONE (GER/FRA) and Bigamist (POR) who both went right early were able to round second and third, their final finishing positions.

Quantum Racing were starved of this initial advantage, rescuing a good fourth, but Synergy were not so good off the line and rounded the first mark in eighth and gained to seventh.

Today’s 25 miles coastal race will be a variation on a traditional Olympic triangle type course, with an opening two miles beat followed by a four miles downwind leg.

TP52 World Championship 2010 – Day 2

1 Quantum Racing (USA) – Terry Hutchinson (USA), 1+3+3+1+4= 12 points
2. Artemis (SWE) – Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE), 3+5+2+4+1= 15
3. Synergy (RUS) – Eugeni Neugodnikov (RUS), 5+1+1+2+7= 16
4. Matador (ARG) – Alberto Roemmers (ARG), 4+2+5+3+5= 19
5. Bigamist 7 (POR) – Afonso Domingos (POR), 7+6+6+5+3= 27
6. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER) – Jochen Schuemann (GER), 2+10(DSQ)+8+6+2= 28
7. Cristabella (GBR) – John Cutler (NZL), 6+4+4+8+9= 31
8. Pace (GBR) – Johnny Vincent (GBR), 9+8+7+7+6= 37
9. Weapon of Choice (GBR) – Tom Wilson (GBR), 8+7+9+9+8= 41

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