CHASING 1%
As the TP52 fleet sweeps around the bottom mark off Palma, eyes turn to the sky. This isn’t a predictable day’s racing in Mallorca. The 2021 Rolex TP52 World Championships were – unusually – held in early November, and the summer sea breezes that crews are used to have been replaced by a shifty, chilly, offshore wind that is fluctuating from eight and 18 knots. It’s a mentally taxing scenario for the tacticians, who rank among the best in the world: Francesco Bruni, Tom Slingsby, Terry Hutchinson. This is the most competitive inshore racing in the world, and place gains and losses are decided on margins of inches.
Fluffy clouds are forming over the Bay’s north-western shore, and the Quantum Racing team scan the course for clues. The decision on which headsail to use on the next beat is toss-a-coin marginal. Numbers are called thick and fast, in clear specifics: “There’s 900kg on the mainsheet right now.” Load readings from the runners, diagonals and deflectors, along with angles, margins to competitors… It’s a constant stream of information that captures the stresses
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