Astipalea Island, Tuesday July 23rd 2014, 19:00.
Race 3 of the 51st Aegean Rally produced major suspense for all competing yachts since the results posted on the scoreboard a while ago prove that the the heat is on. In the 22 nautical mile coastal race in Astypalea, OPTIMUM 3-ASPIDA-SAXOBANK scored a 7th, however still remains the overall leader with a score 2, 1, 7. The wind was light to medium from SSW and varying in direction throughout the duration of the race. The Optimum Team raced with no incidence whatsoever and did not record a crew error or a poor tactical call.
“It is one of these days that you race fair and square and you feel that you should have got a better result but you simply don’t. We were sharp at the start and fast around the numerous rocky corners around Astypalea and Pontikousa rock. Our guess is that the weather pattern and the variation of the wind strength and direction suited best the 40-footers that finished in the podium positions. Congratulations to the Teams of “Hakuna Matata”, “Chiara Iason” and “Faitytale” for seizing the opportunity nicely. We are in good shape and will keep pressing as hard as possible. I hope today says a lot to some people that believe that we have not much competition. We tell them that every single yacht team competing in the Aegean Rally is not here for vacation”, commented trimmer Manolis Markogiannakis right after the results were posted.
Our sponsors ASPIDA Maritime Security and SAXO BANK are operating in very competitive environments/markets and Team Optimum is reflecting that by racing in competitive regattas like the Aegean Rally. Tomorrow, we sail Race 4 from Astypalea to Ios Island. See you all there…