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GC32 European Tour day 2 report on lake Traunsee GC32 European Tour day 2 report on lake Traunsee
The GC32 Sailors showed they won’t let light, unstable wind conditions or rain dampen their spirits on day 2 of the inaugural GC32 Austria... GC32 European Tour day 2 report on lake Traunsee

Gmunden - GC32Gmunden – The GC32 Sailors showed they won’t let light, unstable wind conditions or rain dampen their spirits on day 2 (29th May) of the inaugural GC32 Austria Cup on beautiful Lake Traunsee.

Eight teams, four boats and thousands of spectators watching the live broadcast around the world waited in anticipation this morning as racing began. Could anyone beat Tom Slingsby and AEZ Sailing to the finish line to destroy their score line of straight bullets? Would Paul Campbell-James’ C3R Racing Team rattle more cages after dealing Chris Draper’s Luna Rossa Challenge their only defeat on day 1?
Would the owner/drivers step to the challenge from three rock star America’s Cup drivers? And perhaps, above all, what would four flying catamarans look like, all lined up together, screaming down the alpine race course? Day 2 had arrived and one thing was for certain; eight hungry teams were ready to go into battle.

Luna Rossa Challenge skipper Chris Draper joined the commentary team for the first races of the day, making his predictions on how to get ahead on day 2. “Make the most of the start, sail with your heads out the boat, sail for what you see, expect anything and make less mistakes than the rest.” Would he follow his own advice?

With four boats and eight teams in attendance, existing GC32 owners are sharing their carbon-fiber rocketships with newcomers; Laurent Lenne, creator of the GC32 Class and skipper of Spax Solutions, explained. “It can be worrying to see your boat race in tight situations, but the bonus is that you can learn a lot from the way some of these top sailors set up your boat – as long as they don’t mess with it before swapping out to keep you from finding out their secrets!”.

Today’s standout performer was Team C3R, with former Luna Rossa skipper Paul Campbell-James taking 3 wins on the day. Revelling in the light, unstable conditions in the morning and charging down the course in the breezier, full-foiling afternoon, even a late start in race 13 couldn’t slow “CJ” down. “Tom [Slingsby] got stuck in a bit of a hole at the gate and left just a little too much room to the mark; we flew in and passed him before he could do a thing about it,” said Campbell-James. The UK- based team would turn that decisive move into the most convincing victory of the young series; a 90-second trouncing.

After near-perfect performances yesterday, both AEZ Sailing and Luna Rossa were dealt a mixed bag today. Whilst Slingsby’s AEZ team got off to a convincing start by winning the first two races of the day, C3R’s come-from-behind drubbing may have rattled the America’s Cup winners; they didn’t win a single race afterwards. Luna Rossa sailed a solid day, making few mistakes, but when they came, they were costly, and the Italian team’s failure to protect the heavily-favored left side led to a loss for skipper Chris Draper against his old teammate, Campbell-James.

Coming back strong after a lacklustre first day, Swiss owner/driver Flavio Marazzi and his Armin Strom Sailing Team came back fighting, with a solid performance on the day. This included a monster pass ‘around the outside’, when former Olympian Marazzi put the bow down and rumbled past Luna Rossa on the final leg to the finish.

Jes Gram-Hamsen and Team Sail Racing along with Laurent Lenne and Spax Solution Team were perhaps a bit too eager to show their speed, with an OCS in race 1 for the Dane and the same for Lenne in race 2. Whilst Spax Solutions struggled to rejoin the leaders on the race course, Team Sail Racing managed to sail around the fleet to get in front of AEZ Sailing, following it up with the first true tacking duel we’ve seen from the foiling GC32 fleet.

Today might not have been a day of glory for Frenchman Sebastian Col and his Seb Col Racing Team or Zsolt Kalocsai’s RSM DTM Hungary Sailing, but for the first- ever outing for these foiling racers going head to head against America’s Cup superstars, they performed admirably. The boats are new, they are quick to foil, and almost a complete unknown; meanwhile, these sailors are improving race by race and already competing with some of the world’s best sailors.

No position is safe and with 3 more days of racing to go and 10 races scheduled each day, the first Great Cup in Austria is wide open.

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