Oman Air supported by EFG Private Bank Monaco, where winners of the GC32 Villasimius Cup
Adam Minoprio and Oman Air were once again lowest scorers with a lead of nine points, but Alinghi and INEOS Rebels UK were only one and two points behind.
This situation would have been markedly different too had these two teams not been called OCS in the final race, in which they finished seventh and eighth respectively.
The main feature of the day was the overcast sky and torrential rain combined with intense gusts due to the northerly wind blowing across mountainous southeast Sardinia.
In one race, wind speed ranged from 9 to 23 knots. However it was a day of high adrenalin reaching starts.
Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Rebels UK got out of the blocks strongly in Villasimius’ uncharacteristic ‘British’ weather, relieving Jason Carroll’s Argo of the lead in race one to finish ahead of Alinghi and Oman Air, thereby setting the tone of the day.
In fact INEOS Rebels UK was called OCS in the last two races, but in the penultimate one, when Red Bull Sailing Team was also penalised, both teams recovered superbly, finishing third and second respectively.
After a strong start to the event, Franck Cammas and NORAUTO had a Saturday the Volvo Ocean Race and Route du Rhum winner would rather forget and a decidedly mixed Sunday, the French team’s bullets in the third and final races surrounded by deep results.
Second event of the 2019 GC32 Racing Tour will be the GC32 World Championship, taking place in Lagos, Portugal over 26-30 June.
GC32 – Final Overall results after 16 races
1st Oman Air – – 44 pts
2nd Alinghi – – 53 pts
3rd INEOS Rebels UK – – 60 pts
4th NORAUTO – – 67 pts
5th Red Bull Sailing Team – – 88 pts
6th Zoulou – – 100 pts
7th Argo – – 104 pts
8th Código Rojo Racing – – 114 pts
9th CHINAone NINGBO – – 120 pts
10th Black Star Sailing Team – – 131 pts