Riccardo Simoneschi Claims Double Victory At Kiel Week - European Sailing Series Event 2

Riccardo Simoneschi's Audi Italia Sailing Team, claimed a double victory on Tuesday at Kiel Week, event two in the European Sailing Series.  Not only did they win the Melges 24 Class with a day to spare, but the team also conquered the Kaiserpokal, the trophy presented for a special race combining all the classes (calculated through a balance-rule every boat is considered as if they are all the same).  Audi Ultra won with a 26 point margin over their nearest competitor, GER-731 helmed by the highly skilled Markus Wieser. The third place was claimed by NED-645 of John Den Engelsman.  
 
The race is run in a pursuit format and follows a 1 mile triangle shape track just in front of the audience and tv broadcasters.  It was a particularly tough race with winds of up to 30 knots, Audi Italia Sailing Team was one of the fastest boats in the fleet so crossed the start line almost last and accomplished the course with no mistakes winning out over the J-80 Pike and Laser SB20 Norah.
 
“We are happy we have once again won the Kiel Week and the Kaiserpokal: this trophy is considered to be a very ambitious reward, being able to win it has given a different taste to our participation – says Audi Ultra helmsman, Riccardo Simoneschi.  Apart from our results, it has been a very favourable championship as a preparatory step for the European Championship in Medemblick, we have sailed with very changeable weather conditions and a pretty competitive fleet”.
 
Click here for the results:
http://manage2sail.com/en-US/Home/ResultsFragment/event/da33884e-24fe-44f6-8501-d253587f7cc8/regatta/cc954968-100b-4fd6-ba59-55d95f323855
 
Click here for the Kaiserpokal results:
http://www.kyc.de/fileadmin/regatta/Dokumente_13/Kieler_Woche/Offshore-weitere/Kaiser-Pokal.pdf