Audi Sardinia Cup: Gladiator secures 3rd place overall.

Porto Cervo, 20 June 2012, The Mistral blew hard on practice day in Porto Cervo, Sardinia and the Langley Gladiator team were fortunate not to lose their rig when a back-stay failed in 30 knots of breeze. A quick re-action from helmsman Tony Langley, turning the yacht sharply into the wind unloaded pressure, but not before the jib and mainsail were seriously damaged as the carbon fibre mast whipped forward and then back again. The practice race was cancelled, as was all racing on day one of the Audi Sardinia Cup.

The Mistral passed through overnight and the 2012 event finally got underway on Wednesday with shifty 6-8 knot breezes prevailing for the rest of the week. Gladiator found reasonable form in the tricky conditions finishing 2/6 and 3/6 respectively in race 1 & 2, but came in with a superb win in race 3 and 2nd in race 4 to put the Langley team in podium contention.

A poor start and first beat in the coastal race on Saturday saw the Gladiator team trailing by 30 boat lengths for over an hour, as the fleet made its way amongst the islands and rocks off the NE Sardinian coast, but slowly the team inched their way back into contention to finish 2nd by a nose after more than four hours racing!

The final day on Sunday saw just one race with the US Quantum team, helmed by America’s Cup winning driver Ed Baird, taking victory over home team Audi Azzurra in an exciting match race for the Cup. Gladiator finished 3rd in the final race, 3rd overall in the TP52 Series event and 3rd, along with team mate Soto 40, Ngoni, in the Sardinia Cup. Tony Langley took the prize for best amateur driver against Swede Niklas Zenstrom, and France’s Jean-Luc Petithuguenin.

See the Langley Gladiator in action winning race 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7_gnbjcZuY and in the nail-biting coastal race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln_0wSqpUZE

About Yacht Club Costa Smeralda

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda has been synonymous with yacht racing at the highest international level since the Aga Khan founded the club and the exclusive resort of Porto Cervo in 1967. The Costa Smeralda takes its names from the colour of the vivid turquoise waters of North East Sardinia.