Quantum Racing sixth on Marseille Opening Day
The TP 52 Quantum Racing finished sixth overall in the first day of racing of the five-day City of Marseille Trophy Regatta, after a premature start in the last day of the race pulled the American boat down from third overall. 
'Quantum Racing'
ThMartinez
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Competing in Mistral conditions on the Mediterranean outside Marseille's Vieux Port, the Botin Carkeek-designed TP-52 was in third place overall with a 3-6 record in the first two races of the day. Quantum Racing recovered after restarting the last race and finished 12th.
The City of Marseille Trophy Regatta is the second event of the summer-long six-race 2008 Audi Med-Cup Circuit which will finish in Portimao, Spain, next September. Quantum Racing finished third overall at the opening regatta in Alicante, Spain, two weeks ago.
In Marseille, the beginning of several days of strong Mistral breezes brought with it a steep, lumpy confused cross sea and a gusty shifty 20 knot breeze out of the northwest.
'We had really good mid-line starts in the first two races and it felt like the boat was going pretty well,' said skipper Terry Hutchinson. 'In the first race we went left and we were in good shape but the guys on the right did a little better and we got tangled up in traffic pretty badly about three quarters of the way up the first leg. However we pulled some boats back on the first run, and then had a really good second beat to finish third.
'In the second race we had another really nice start. This time we liked the right. It was the same story as the last race but in reverse. We were doing real well until the breeze went left.
'In the last race, the recall signal was a surprise,' Hutchinson said. 'The computer had us inside the line, the bowman had us inside the line. Usually when there's the possibility of an early start everyone on the boat gets a little nervous. We seemed to be in the pack. We weren't pushing it. The race committee thought otherwise.
'Conditions were hard today with very lumpy seas. We sailed all three races pretty well but things refused to go our way.
The competition on this circuit is really good but I still think we're our biggest competition. We've got everything we need here that it takes to be successful. We just have allow it to happen.
There is one crew change aboard Quantum Racing this week. Grinder and main caddy Steve Howe was unable to make it to Marseille and his place has been taken by Piet van Nieuwenhuizen, bowman for the Alinghi America's Cup campaign. 'It's too bad that Steve couldn't be here but we couldn't ask for a better replacement,' said tactician Morgan Larson.
Although Hutchinson, and Larson have built distinguished careers as professional American sailors they have only sailed together twice before this, and only once as skipper and tactician.
'We raced the Cup challenger AmericaOne together,' Hutchinson recalled. 'I was mainsheet trimmer and Morgan was on the traveler and strategist. We raced as skipper and tactician in a 1D48 regatta on Chesapeake Bay but that was it. This is a new partnership for us and we've only sailed in these roles for about 20 days. For me it was important to have someone with a different personality than me, someone who will see things in a different light and someone who will work with the team.'
Larson agreed, noting that the two men's styles are very different. 'But that's good,: he said. Terry plays to my weaknesses and I play to his, if there are any. Terry's pretty intense and driven and my style is more relaxed. It's good to have a balance there.'
Skipper and tactician come to TP52 racing from different backgrounds. Larson campaigned for three and a half years with his crewman Pete Spaulding for the US berth in the 49er Class at the Qingdao Olympics and although ranked fifth in the world they narrowly missed selection. Hutchinson has recently raced in the Farr 40 worlds and has campaigned the Quantum-powered Melges 24, Quantum Rosebud.
'That was my cross-training for this series,' said Hutchinson with a small. 'I worked on that program through the fall and the winter and it was a great opportunity for me to take the helm of a boat again.'
by Keith Taylor 
Margaret River or Osborne Park (severne shop), WA
