The evening sun was already dipping low in the sky as Quantum Racing (USA) took the winning gun for the second of two races yesterday at the TP52 World Championship off Palma, Mallorca. Their win, paired with a fifth from the first heat ensures the current world champions lead overall by a single point.

Even if the sea breeze took its time to build and only peaked with short spells offering 11 knots, it proved a tricky afternoon over which the usual Palma tactical conventions did not always hold true, and consistency in the ten boat fleet across these first two windward-leeward races proved elusive.

After two races Quantum Racing (USA) lead the Russian team on Synergy who took a second and fifth and are matched on the same seven points tally by Alberto Roemmers’ current Copa del Rey champions on Matador (ARG) who took a third and a fourth.

Real Club Nautico de Palma member John Cook on the helm of Cristabella – which last year won the Copa del Rey as Iberdrola with Terry Hutchinson as tactician – triumphed in the first race. The British crew, with Manchester export John Cutler (NZL) as tactician, recognised the additional wind pressure and small shift to the right of the course on the first beat, and after a modest start, were able to cross the fleet two thirds of the way up the leg.

They lead at the windward turn by a clear 40 metres from Synergy and went on to win by 22 seconds with Matador third.

It was after 18:00 when Quantum Racing’s afterguard of Morgan Larson (USA) and Mark Mendelblatt (USA) conspired to read the opening beat of the second race to best effect, calling the favourable left shift on the left of the track ahead of the slight extra pressure on the right. The current champions were ahead at the windward mark to lead local favourites Bribon across the finish.

Morgan Larson, tactician on Quantum Racing commented: “It proved to be every bit as challenging today as Palma can be. Sometimes it is like that where the right looks windier but everyone knows about that geographical left shift. I think the race committee did a nice job of making the right hand a little favoured so it was enticing and so Cristabella got it right. We thought it would be about one in ten times when the right paid out big and it happened, they did a nice job.

Second race was great for us. It was still a challenge because we knew the fleet was thinking right and the pressure looked to be on the right, but we were happy to go for the left shift. That made it easy to take the pin and it paid out.”

Overall standings after Day 1:

1. Quantum Racing (USA, Terry Hutchinson, 6 points

2. Synergy, RUS, Sergey Pichuguin, 7

3. Matador, ARG, Alberto Roemmers, 7

4. Bribon, ESP, Gonzalo Araujo, 9

5. Cristabella, GBR, John Cook, 10

For more, visit www.tp52worldchampionship.org .