Breitling Regatta commences with Mean Machine hoping for a new Gold Cup

Peter de Ridder, tactician Ray Davies and crew will be battling it out on the waves to regain the Golden Cap, bestowed upon the winners of the Breitling Regatta.

Mean Machine Valle Romano starts the second race in the Breitling Medcup as leader in the Corinthian class and in second place in the overall rankings, just 8 points away from José Cusí’s Bribon.

Puerto Portals, the Mean Machine Valle Romano team base for this regatta is the epicentre of sailing activity in the Mediterranean this week with the celebration of the 13^th Breitling Regatta. Last year’s winners, Mean Machine Valle Romano are one of the firm favourites for this event, which sees a record number of TP 52s hitting the start line. There will be 24 entries, among them some new designs such as Russell Coutts Artemis, José Cusí’s Bribon, Roberto Bermúdez and the new Caixa Galicia, Fernando León’s Cam and Vasco Vascotto’s Mutua.

For the team sponsored by the Spanish Golf Resort of Valle Romano, this second sail date in the Breitling Mecup Circuit is a very important one. As well as coming to the event as the 2006 Breitling Regatta winners the team’s also getting back to its original configuration for this regatta.

But Peter de Ridder knows this year’s Circuit is going to be particularly tough given the high standard of the entries: “Coming to this regatta in Mallorca as the 2006 winners doesn't mean anything special to me. It's just another race in the Breitling Medcup 2007 Circuit where we have to try to be consistent and put in another good result”.

Louis Vuitton Cup winners Ray Davies, Tony Rae, Joe Allen, Jono Macbeth, Tom Dodson and Stu Betanny are back on board the TP 52 founded and skippered by Dutchman Peter de Ridder.
Ray Davies, tactician on Mean Machine Valle Romano, followed the first regatta closely, despite being tied up with his America’s Cup commitments: “The level of the game is pushing forward at every event. This year it’s going to be much harder to win, the new boats and teams are sailing at a much higher level. We will give it our best shot though! It feels a lot like the AC rule in that the top boats are getting closer to the top of the pyramid of performance and the best team at the end of the day will win”.

The Breitling Regatta started today with a training race. Then Mean Machine Valle Romano will line up with the rest of the mighty fleet for three days of windward-leeward racing and one coastal regatta on Saturday July 21^st in the outskirts of the Bay of Palma.

Helena de la Gándara.