Gladiator Triumphs on Barcelona's "Big Friday"

Barcelona 26 May 2013. A strong Mistral breeze dominated day two of the Trofeo de Conde Globe in Barcelona, Spain last week, which saw seven TP52's line up to do battle in this, the inaugural event of the season's Mediterranean series, held May 23rd-26th.

Tony Langley's Gladiator Sailing Team came back fighting in the heavy airs after tactical errors on day one of racing had the team lying in last place overnight with 7,7,5 in the first three races on Thursday.

In race 4 the team sparred for the pin-end of the start line with Quantum, the event's eventual winner, to force Americas Cup winning tactician Terry Hutchinson's team over the line early, opening up the left side of the course to the Gladiator team which saw them lead the race until the final gybe to the finish when a wind shift opened the door to Swede Niklas Zentrum's, Ran and Argentinian Pablo Roemmers' Azzurra, to snatch first and second place.

Race 5 saw more hand-to-hand combat on the start line for the favoured pin-end in up to 25 knots of breeze, this time with Azzurra, which capitulated in the exchange to see Gladiator lead the race from start to finish, hotly pursued at each mark by the eventual podium finishers, Quantum, Ran and Azzurra. Gladiator was the day's top boat, touching speeds of over 20 knots down-wind, but could only manage to claw back to fourth position overall in the eight race series.

Race 5. Gladiator lead the race from start to finish, hotly pursued at each mark by the eventual podium finishers, Quantum, Ran and Azzurra.