GC32: New Zealand's Frank Racing mixes with the Pros
by GC32 World Tour Media/Sail-World.com/nz 3 Jul 2018 00:30 NZST
Frank Racing - GC32 racing Tour , Lagos Cup,Portugal. Practice race. GC32 Racing Tour. 27 June, 2018 © Jesus Renedo / GC32 Racing Tour
Six races were sailed on the final day of the GC32 Lagos Cup, the second event of the GC32 World Tour.
All up 20 races were sailed, with the fleet at this event featuring two skippers from the 2917 America's Cup - Franck Cammas (Team France) and Ben Ainslie (ex Land Rover BAR, now INEOS Team UK).
Simon Hull’s Frank Racing (NZL) was the outstanding performer on the final day winning the first two races and followed this with a 2-4-4-3.
“The crew just continued bashing away and doing fantastic turns and we put ourselves in better positions and got lucky a couple of times as well no doubt,” explained a very proud Hull. “The conditions were fairly steady, although later on they were quite puffy. We got a couple of good starts which enabled us to control our lanes. The quality of the fleet has astounded me. It is so close - you drop off the foils once and three boats go past you, which makes for superb sailing. And Lagos – what a great place! I hope we will come back.”
Frank Racing was also winner of this week’s Anonimo Speed Challenge. Their average speed of 25.26 knots (across the two reaching legs with the gybe in between), recorded on day one, was the highest of all teams this week. For this Hull was presented with an Anonimo Nautilo GC32 Racing Tour edition timepiece.
Frank Racing’s performance on the final day also caused them to push American Jason Carroll’s Argo from the top of the Owner-Driver leaderboard, albeit by just four points after 20 races.
Ben Ainslie and his INEOS TEAM UK who joined the GC32 World Tour this week spent a frustrating few days learning the nuances of the GC32, but were rewarded with a win in the final race of the day.
“It has been a really fun event,” said Ainslie. “The GC32 is a great class. They have done a really nice job at this event. Here in Lagos we have had really good conditions – a mix of strong winds, waves, some lighter airs, so it has been a good challenge for all the teams and a great standard of racing. We couldn’t have asked for any more in terms of the class of boat and the competition.”
The GC32 Lagos Cup was the first occasion the GC32 Racing Tour has visited Portugal and took place with the generous support of the city of Lagos, Sopromar, Marina de Lagos and Turismo do Algarve.
The flying catamaran circuit now moves on to its third event, Copa del Rey MAPFRE in Palma de Majorca over 31 July to 4 August.
For results gc32racingtour.com/results