Villasimius Cup: Compete against the strongest GC32 Racing Tour line-up ever

Yesterday Thursday was the day: The first race of the GC32 Racing Tour was about to start.
After two training camps the Black Star Sailing Team was already quite experienced – but still a new formation.

Of course our first race could have gone a bit better. But also the conditions were not optimal. So all participants had to fight with the fact that the European weather caprioles made themselves once more noticeable at the yesterday\’s opening of the Villasimius Cup. The organisers write about this in a press release:
\”The opening day of the GC32 Villasimius Cup, the first event on the 2019 GC32 Racing Tour saw a stiff southwesterly buffeting the ten GC32 catamarans while moored in the Marina di Villasimus as their crews prepared for the season’s first encounter. Unfortunately once out on the water and preparing for the 1300 CET start the wind went through a 180° and dropped, now coming from off the shore. Mercifully this wind stabilised itself for long enough to get one race completed and a second started.“
The changing wind moved the race commission to stop the races in the further course of the first day. A decision that not all participants support equally – the weather prospects for the coming days are also uncertain.

Difficult weather, strong rivals

The participants now have to adapt to the variable weather conditions – 10 teams, which are already rated as the strongest line-up in the history of the GC32 Racing Tour.
After the merger of the Extreme Sailing Series and the GC32 Racing Tour at the end of 2018, 2019 will be an exciting year. For example, Team France Skipper and GC32 Racing Tour 2018 winner Franck Gamma face many extremely successful teams. He estimates the level of the competition as follows (quote from the GC32 Racing Tour press release of May 22):
\”It’s going to be tough because it’s the first event now that the GC32s from the Tour and the Extreme Sailing Series are racing together. The level has gone up, with teams coming from the America’s Cup or SailGP. Everyone has come well prepared.\”
Also Lucas Gonzalez Smith, team manager of Codigo Rojo, finds only words of respect for the field:
\”It\’s going to be tough because it\’s the first event where the GC32s from the Tour and the Extreme Sailing Series will be riding together. The level has increased, also because of the teams that joined from the America\’s Cup or SailGP. Everyone is well prepared\”.

So we will see how the Black Star Racing Team will continue to perform. The starting position isn\’t easy. But that\’s how sport is: You don\’t know where you stand until you measure yourself against others.
To compete against the best in the world is certainly an honour and even more an incentive for best performances.

Read the full length of the GC32 Racing Tour announcements: