Niklas Zennström’s Carkeek 52 Rán (SWE) won a highly contested battle in the hi-tech class. Peter & David Askew’s Botin 52 Wizard (USA) was second by just three minutes and 10 seconds after IRC time correction. Third was Frederic Puzin’s Ker 46 Daguet 3 (FRA), just seven minutes after IRC time correction ahead of Jon Desmond’s Mills 41 Final Final (USA)
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Niklas Zennström was delighted with the class win; tinged with a little frustration at just missing out on the overall win to Leopard 3 by under two hours after IRC time correction.
“We did as much as we could; we sailed a really good race and Steve (Hayles) and Bouwe (Bekking) made very good calls. The end was a bit of an odd feeling. It was pitch black at Redonda with a big cloud overhead that we could not avoid. We lost all speed and watched Wizard close the gap unaffected, so hanging on to beat them was a bit of a relief.
“Once you step ashore and think about it, you ask yourself; did we sail as good as we could? Did we make any stupid mistakes? The answer is that we sailed well, but sometimes you are on the wrong side of a cloud and sometimes not; that is part of the sport. Did we have a good time? Absolutely, you have to play your strategy well and as far as luck goes, eventually that will even out.