A record 52 SUPER SERIES fleet of 16 boats struggled through flat water and fickle breeze off Malvarrosa Beach on the opening day of Valencia Sailing Week, and it was Jean-Luc Petithuguenin's French team on Paprec that emerged with the tidiest scorecard.
A second and a third from two races is a solid return given the conditions. Sixteen boats from 11 nations lined up on the America's Cup waters, the biggest and toughest fleet of the season, and the mark roundings grew congested in a hurry.
Paprec didn't even start cleanly. They were over the line at the gun in race two, and neither start was flattering. But with Loick Peyron calling tactics and Yoann Richomme navigating, the French crew kept finding the right side of the course, and the speed to back it up.
"We could not expect something this good for the beginning of this event in Valencia," said Paprec's Stéphane Névé. "We are very happy with the result, happy to be leading. We had two bad starts but we could recover from of them, so that's pretty good. I think we had a good speed and also Yoann and Loick did a great job together and we really went where we wanted to go. We got to the good side each time."
Behind them, the fight for the season's third podium spot is heating up, with Paprec, Andrea Lacorte's Alkedo Cetilar, Joakim Sundberg's Trinity Racing and Pieter Heerema's No Way Back all tangled together.
At the top of the season standings, it's a different story. Harm Müller-Spreer's Platoon Aviation came into Valencia leading, and left day one still leading, but only just. Sled clawed back two points, trimming the German team's advantage from 11 down to nine.
Consistency proved almost impossible to find. Ed Baird steered Joakim Sundberg's Trinity Racing to victory in race one, matching Tony Langley's Gladiator off the start line, then dropped to 14th in race two. Gladiator finished the day with a 3 and a 13. Andrea Lacorte's Alkedo Cetilar won the second race after opening with a tenth, having also been over the line early.
Platoon Aviation's Victor Marino was philosophical about it. "We know that this event will be difficult, especially unstable winds and especially the 16 boats in the fleet all making everything more difficult. So sometimes you have good moments and sometimes not so good but we finish the day still in the fight."
Sled navigator Andrea Visintini described a day where the forecast models simply couldn't agree. "The breeze came in, super challenging, of course for us, every race really is really, really important for the championship. There were big shifts, and so it was difficult just to commit to one side. We tried to play more in the middle, and we got two fifth places, which are pretty good for us."
John Huhn's American entry Katana made a solid first impression, posting a pair of ninth placings on debut to sit 11th overall.
With the fleet this tightly bunched and the breeze this unpredictable, Valencia Sailing Week looks set to reshuffle the season standings well beyond day one.
Standings after two races: Paprec (FRA) 5, Vayu (THA) 10, Sled 10, Alkedo Cetilar (ITA) 11, No Way Back (NED) 11, Platoon Aviation (GER) 12, Trinity Racing (SWE) 15, Teasing Machine (FRA) 15, Gladiator (GBR) 16, Provezza (TUR) 18, Katana (USA) 18, Alpha + (HKG) 22, Vudu (ITA) 25, Alegre (GBR) 25, Crioula (BRA) 28, Caballo Loco (BRA) 31.
