NICO MARTINEZ
Super Series
And the fat lady sang
Consistency won the 2019 52 Super Series title for Azzurra. At five regattas they finished as the runners-up, each time pained by how close they had come to winning that title. But the crew that is led by Guillermo Parada and sails in the blue of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda played the long game better than anyone this year, never taking their eyes off the top trophy and what is their fourth, and hardest won, season title. Azzurra have the complete package. There is no doubt that
tactician Santi Lange required some of the 2018 season, his first full year back in the class since 2014, to get on top of the latest subtleties of this, the highest level of inshore grand prix competition. But this year his risk management has been second to none – he rarely puts Azzurra in high-stress situations yet is still prepared to split from the fleet when extra points are seemingly on offer. ‘We are sure Azzurra got a little quicker through the season, and
we are pretty sure that changing their rudder after the early-season Valencia training sessions and sailing with more and more rake through the year were a big part of it,’ suggested Simon Fry, trimmer on the Vrolijk-designed Provezza, with whom Azzurra sailed as tuning partners this season. Fry places Azzurrafirmly as one of the quickest three boats this year and especially potent in 12-17kt TWS. According to Fry, Azzurraappeared to give up a little of its previous
ability to go fast, bow down off the startline, in favour of being able to sail a higher mode to hold her lane. And holding lane is always the first thing mentioned wherever TP52 performance is discussed. Azzurra and others seemed to learn from Luna Rossa’s 2018
set-up with deeper, more twisted jibs but using a straighter leech design which makes a change in car position that much more
40 SEAHORSE
powerful. These changes are still subtle, however, but they are understood well by Azzurra’s sail designer Juan Garay who previously filled the same role with… Luna Rossa. In 2019 Azzurra also ran four mainsails, light, medium, AP and super-heavy. For certain this year the team also dealt with pressure better
than in 2018. It would be true to say they worked tirelessly through last winter, spurred on by finishing a, for this team, painful third overall in 2018 (and missing second on countback to Platoon). They are one of the very fastest boats in the strong breeze and have noticeably improved their light to medium airs set-up; in part at least this is down to their steady work with tuning partners Provezza who, along with Platoon, were the quickest two boats this year in light to medium conditions. ‘Azzurra were super-consistent and improved a lot in the way they
worked the geometry of the course,’ said Platoon’s strategist and sail designer Jordi Calafat, a former Olympic gold medallist in the 470. ‘They very rarely got to the layline too early, for example. Down- wind they were very fast and Santi did a good job of always keeping his options open, only banging the corners when he was super- confident of the outcome.’ Second for the third year in a row, but Rolex TP52 World Cham-
pions for the second time in three years, Platoon were hurting after this year’s final day of racing. The improvements they had made through last winter had definitely given them a boat that was more competitive in the strong winds of Cascais and Porto Cervo, where last year they struggled. Platoon were in the title battle until that long last day, but the harsh reality is they had left too many points on the table in Cascais. Then, to make matters worse, when they
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