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Incredible photos from Nico Martinez of Martinez Studio on day two in Puerto Calero. The volcanic south side of the island of Lanzarote and clear afternoon light making a spectacular backdrop to the all black carbon RC44s. 

The 44Cup Calero Marinas Lanzarote, final and deciding event of the 2021 44Cup, got off to a difficult start today. To race the nimble RC44s only need 5/6 knots of wind and on several occasions the race committee valiantly began a start sequence in more than this, only for the wind to disappear. 

Finally, moving the entire race course north towards Lanzarote’s capital Arrecife enabled one race to be held. In this there was a tight-run battle between Hugues Lepic’s Team Aleph, John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing and surprisingly, newbie 44Cup team Valeriya Kovalenko’s ARTTUBE. Among the nine racing, this trio did the best job of reading the shifts and the awkward current coming out of the mid-left. Then, on the final run, as the wind was getting ever shiftier and softer, Chris Bake and Team Aqua benefitted from a massive flier out to the right side of the course. Finding marginally improved pressure there pulled the reigning RC44 World Champions up to second place but the move was unable to advance them far enough to catch Team Aleph, which won what would prove to be today’s only race.  

With Michele Ivaldi calling tactics as usual and an otherwise regular Team Aleph crew, standing in for helmsman Hugues Lepic at this regatta is Italian Alessandro Rombelli. A highly accomplished owner/driver, Rombelli’s yachts are all named Stig and have spanned Maxi 72s down to the complete range of Melges sportsboats. 

“The race committee did a great job moving the course, because here in front of the harbour it would have been impossible to race,” Rombelli noted. “It was still difficult to keep momentum and speed and to get lucky on the wind shifts, but it worked well for us. It was a great start to the series. I am here just standing in for the owner, so I am happy that we have got a good result for him.”

Rombelli has not sailed an RC44 before, but said he was impressed with its versatility, now he has raced it successfully in impossibly light conditions today and in 18 knots while training.  “The boat is super fun. It is technical. It is a good combination. The big genoa is definitely helping when conditions are super light.” 

While none of Rombelli´s Stig regulars are on board, there are many in the crew he has raced against, including Italian tactical wizard Michele Ivaldi. “It is good to have today behind us,” noted Ivaldi once ashore. “The main thing was the very light breeze and the pressure coming in and out. We were pretty lucky on the first beat to get the right shift. But it was open to the end.” 

John Bassadone and his team on Peninsula Racing were sailing with a confidence not seen recently, boosted no doubt by their new tactician, British two time Olympic Finn gold medallist and America´s Cup sailor Giles Scott. They were headed for the podium until losing out on the final run. 

“We have done one race with Giles but it was great, a really good feeling, I´m really enjoying sailing with him,” said Bassadone. “He is obviously a fantastic sailor. Today was very positive in difficult conditions, but we made the right calls and the boat is going quite well.” 

With her Spanish crew, Peninsula Racing is effectively the ´home team´ here and Bassadone has fond memories of Lanzarote, having won here in 2017 but also it being the first place where he raced his now beloved RC44. “It is fantastic to come back to Puerto Calero. We have enjoyed some good results here and we have some good friends here in the Caleros. I love coming here.”

After finishing last in her first ever event on the 44Cup in Scarlino last month, Valeriya Kovalenko was all smiles once her RC44 ARTTUBE returned to Puerto Calero. Her third place today is her best result to date in the 44Cup. 

“Today it was light winds and we have had more training in that in Russia,” said Kovalenko, who struggled during her first regatta steering an RC44 last month in Scarlino´s strong breeze. “This wind is good for me. We are happy with our result today,” she concluded, adding that while this is her first time to Lanzarote, many of her crew raced here previously on Kirill Podolsky´s RUS7.

Racing continues tomorrow at 1200 when it is hoped conditions will be marginally improved. 

The final event of the 2021 44Cup sets sail tomorrow out of Puerto Calero, Lanzarote with technically any of the five top teams still able to win the overall prize and any of the top seven capable of landing themselves a spot on the podium following the four events so far this season. 

Due to the involvement of the Calero family, both as past competitors and hosts of the 44Cup, thanks to their portfolio of marina complexes spanning the Canary Islands, Lanzarote has been one of the most visited venues in the history of the high performance, owner-driver one design circuit. 

The Canary Islands may have been in the news recently due to the volcanic eruptions on La Palma, but the beautiful islands are quickly getting back to normal, with tourism having recovered along with Lanzarote being the popular host for sailing events such as the Minitransat that departed from La Palma in October, the Global 5.80 Transat which left Lanzarote today and the RORC Transatlantic Race in January.

This will be the tenth time the 44Cup has visited and of the nine teams embarking on this last event of the season, five have previously won here. Igor Lah´s Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 is the only team to have come out on top twice here, when they beat Chris Bake and Team Aqua into second at the very dawn of the circuit in 2009 and then won the Worlds in 2013 from John Bassadone´s Peninsula Racing.

Torbjörn Törnqvist´s Artemis Racing won here in 2011, while the 2021 season´s leader Team Aqua was victorious during the opening event of 2012 from Hugues Lepic´s Aleph Racing. When the 44s last wintered here over 2017-18 it was Peninsula Racing that claimed the final event of 2017 while Nico Poons´ Charisma won the 2018 debut here. 

Both Charisma and Peninsula Racing return here this week, by coincidence both with British Olympic champions standing in for their regular tacticians. 

Standing in for Hamish Pepper on board Charisma, Paul Goodison won gold in the Laser in Beijing in 2008, was Moth World Champion for three consecutive years over 2016-18 and has since become an America´s Cup regular, most recently with American Magic in Auckland. 

Goodison has much experience in the RC44, with David Murphy´s Ironbound and then Artemis Racing Youth. “But,” he admits. “That was quite a while ago. The RC44s are cool boats. It is amazing how light and nimble they are and how they get up and go so early. It is super fun to be sailing these boats again.”

A decade ago, Goodison was tactician on Ironbound when they came close to winning the Worlds here. “We had a really good regatta – we were leading into the last day, but we had a bit of a disaster. It is a really interesting place to sail, really tricky. It is going to be fun.”

A sailor with more recent Olympic success is the towering Giles Scott, who this year secured the gold medal in the Finn class in Tokyo to accompany his gold from Rio. He too has been forging a career in the America´s Cup but alongside Finn legend Ben Ainslie in the last two America´s Cups and now again as part of INEOS Britannia. 

Scott is standing in for Ed Baird on board Peninsula Racing this week but comes with less RC44 experience than Goodison, having raced one only once previously as tactician on board Charisma. “I got a call from John [Bassadone] and jumped at it,” admits Scott. “The boats are so cool - they are nice and sporty and the racing is super close. I am looking forward to it. It is my first time to Lanzarote. It is a beautiful spot.” 

So far Scott has only done two days of training with Peninsula Racing but appreciates the depth of experience both within the Gibraltar-based team and their owner-driver. 

Who will win here in Lanzarote is anyone´s guess. To date this season all four 44Cup events have been won by different teams with the World Champions, Chris Bake´s Team Aqua currently holding a slender two point lead from Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 with Charisma a further point astern.

Artemis Racing was on the ascent when the Swedish team finished third at last month´s Worlds in Scarlino, Italy. “We are coming here on a high note and if we sail the way we did [in Scarlino] and learn from our mistakes we can aim very high,” said Torbjörn Törnqvist. “We have everything to make us go all the way. The class today, where you have four or five boats at such a high level - I can’t see any other class offering this quality of sailing.” 

Following practice racing today, racing starts in earnest tomorrow at midday GMT. The forecast is for light to moderate conditions of around 8-12 knots for the next four days, the wind direction dictated by the position of a shallow depression lying over the Canaries.   

Having started sailing oppies at Salterns Sailing club to being an instrumental part of Team Aqua on the RC44 race circuit, James Dodd talks us through his role as pitman onboard the boat. James progressed through the RYA Junior and Youth National squads in various classes, including Cadets and 420s, qualifying to represent GBR at multiple World Championships. We asked James a few questions to get a better understanding of his responsibility onboard. 

Tell me about your position onboard?

I do pit, which means I am primarily in charge of sails going up and down, uniquely in the RC44 the runners are also in the pit, so they add a big dimension to what I’ve got going on every time the boat changes tack.

What is the essential skill to have as a pitman?

I think timing is key. I need to recognise all the manoeuvres as they are about to happen and understand what calls the tactician will make because, as pitman, well-timed smooth manoeuvres are very dependent on what I am doing so I always need to be switched on.

How do you interact with the rest of the team?

During the racing, I tend to keep my head down and focus. A lot of things are happening around me, but I try to continue chipping away at what I’m doing and handling anything that gets thrown at me. When everyone does that, the overall team performance is more efficient. 

What do people not realise about the role?

I think everyone appreciates how hard being the pitman is, we are a pretty unique breed! No one wants to do the job. On the RC44 any manoeuvre involving the gennaker means the pitman has got to control the bowsprit, the halyard, and the runners; all in the same split-second movement. Everyone else in the boat recognises how demanding the role is. 

What is the biggest thing that can go wrong, and how do you deal with it?

I think for me, the biggest thing that can go wrong, and my biggest fear, is trawling the kite during a drop. All that is prevented by good halyard management and tack line management, which in the breeze is harder because there is water coming over the deck. So you have to pick your moment.

The fifth and final event of the 2021 44Cup Championship Tour is to conclude next week in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote. The nine boats entered are lining up for an ultra-competitive conclusion. 

In true 44Cup style, the scoreboard remains impressively close going into the final regatta of the season. At present, Chris Bake's Team Aqua is ahead on five points. Bake holds a slim lead over the chasing pack but has the psychological advantage, coming to Lanzarote fresh from victory in the World Championship event in Scarlino, Italy, last month with the 44Cup series leader's 'golden wheels' proudly fitted onboard. 

Two points behind in second is 2019 defending tour champion Igor Lah's team CEEREF powered by Hrastnik 1860 and in third 2018 tour champion Nico Poons' Charisma. Both teams won their titles in the previous year with impressive come-from-behind victories in the closing moments of the season and will be looking to do the same next week.

Hosted over the 17 - 21 November in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote's most established yacht harbour has been a favoured winter destination for the RC44 fleet over the years thanks to its winter sun and strong northeasterly trade winds. Organisers Calero Marinas have seen many 44Cup showdowns having hosted six regattas and three World Championships since 2008. 

"Two values embodied by the 44Cup we have sorely missed during the pandemic," explains Jose Juan Calero Managing Director of Calero Marinas, "the deep-rooted sailing camaraderie and a pure passion for insanely close, one-design racing. We've been fortunate to have hosted nine regattas in Lanzarote, and have made some life-long friends over the years. This November the event returns to its origins, for us, in Puerto Calero. We can't wait".

Of the remaining fleet, just eight points separate the top five teams. Hugues Lepic's fourth-placed Aleph Racing and Torbjorn Tornqvist's fifth-placed Artemis Racing are within reach of claiming the 2021 title. Aleph's best result this season has been a win at the Cowes event in the UK, whereas Artemis' has hit the podium in third twice this year, first at their home event in Marstrand, Sweden and then again at the World Championship in Italy.

Behind them is a tie between Vladimir Prosikhin's Team Nika and Pavel Kuznetsov's Atom Tavatuy; if either team is on form next week while the main contenders are not, then the Russian-based crews could reach the overall season's podium.

New to the fleet in Lanzarote will be British Olympian Giles Scott replacing America's Cup legend Ed Baird as tactician onboard Peninsula Racing and Valeriya Kovalenko with her team ARTTube who will return with a new boat. Kovalenko formally joins the fleet after a successful debut in Scarlino last month as part of the 44Cup's black boat project, which allows a guest team to trial race an RC44 at a regatta to get a feel for how good the competitive one-design fleet is. 

To find out more about the 44Cup Calero Marinas, visit www.44cup.org.

A last minute manoeuvre by Nico Poons’ Charisma won them the final race of the 44Cup Scarlino World Championship by a mere second, but it was the defending champions on Chris Bake’s Team Aqua that defended their title in this 11th RC44 World Championship by one slender point. Like a final curtain call to this World Championship, as well as a reminder of how close the racing always is between the high performance owner-driver one designs, the top eight RC44s all crossed the finish line for the final time within just 20 seconds after 40 minutes of racing. 

Off Scarlino, it was another supreme day of sun and 15-20 knot winds, initially from the north but veering northeast. 

Going into today just one point had separated the top three – Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing, Torbjörn Törnqvist's Artemis Racing and Nico Poons’ Charisma. So began a day where the podium changed after each of the three races held. 

A win by Team Aqua in the first race, to Artemis Racing’s third, launched Chris Bake’s team up to second, two points shy of Artemis prior to the penultimate race. In this, a wind shift, followed by a short lull, caused Igor Lah’s Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 to finish almost 1km ahead. In this second race of the day Team Aqua was second but had plummeted to eighth place on the first run, then had rocketed up the left side of the next beat to round the top mark back in second. They did well to hang on and 4 minutes 15 seconds after Ceeref, Team Aqua finished second just ahead of Charisma and Artemis Racing. 

At the top of the leaderboard, this left Artemis Racing and Team Aqua tied on points, with Charisma two behind, going into the final race.

The 10th and last race of the series saw Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy lead around the top mark while in the battle for the World Championship title Artemis Racing was second and Team Aqua fourth. However crucially at the bottom of the run Artemis and Charisma chose the port gate mark while Team Aqua went right. Running their larger J2 as most were on their J3, up the second beat Chris Bake’s team benefitted greatly from a right shift propelling them into the lead. They rounded the top mark first ahead of Aleph Racing, Charisma with Artemis Racing now down to fourth. 

On the final run, most of the fleet gybed early on to port, but halfway down Charisma put in a hitch to the left and when the two groups converged Poons’ team gybed in front of Team Aqua to win the final race by a hair. Artemis Racing arrived fifth dropping them to third on the podium behind Charisma. 

At a prizegiving in Marina di Scarlino, Chris Bake and his Team Aqua were given a rapturous applause worthy of defending champions in one of sailing’s most hotly contested classes. 

“It wasn’t an easy one,” admitted Bake. “The last run of the last race of the day and it could have gone three ways between Charisma, ourselves and Artemis Racing. It was a great day of sailing.”

Of that race Bake said: “We took the right mark [at the leeward gate] which put us in the wind a little bit earlier and that gave us the shift and a little bit of an advantage. Then on the second downwind there were boats either side of us that could have rolled us, so it was really tense. The 44Cup is still as full-on competitive as it ever is. Racing doesn’t get any better than this frankly. To be able to still compete in this class is really good.”

Team Aqua’s tactician Cameron Appleton was equally ecstatic. “In this fleet on the final day, when the pressure is on, in those sort of conditions, with this sort of fleet pushing hard, that was some tense sailing - to go 1-2-2 there was nothing easy or straightforward about that. What an amazing regatta - the fleet is as tight as it ever is and we are just really pleased to have won.

“Our starting wasn’t that great this week, but on the rest of the race course we managed to do the right things at the right time. We are pleased that the guys on the boat, as always, with their familiarity and friendship, that our teamwork was on a high and pulls us through.” The Team Aqua crew comprised Bake, Appleton, Andrew Estcourt, Christian Kamp, Juan Marcos, Ben Graham, Aaron Cooper and James Dodd with America’s Cup legend Rod Davis coaching. 

Meanwhile of their killer move in the final run Charisma’s Nico Poons said: “We were fourth or fifth rounding the buoy and decided to go to the other side where there was a bit more breeze. That is how we beat the rest, and finished first, just a few millimeters ahead of Team Aqua. For a Worlds it was quite strange!” 

Charisma main sheet trimmer Chris Hosking described the conditions today: “It was shiftier than a bag a weasels and there were a lot of weasles out there today! Good on Pepsi [tactician Hamish Pepper] for keeping it real. We are all dealing with the same thing – you can’ t get frustrated, you just have to deal with it the best as you can and everyone did that really well today.

“This is truly one of the best grand prix racing circuits in the world – if you look at the competitiveness of all the boats. You can’t bother counting the points - you just have to sail every race as if it is the last on the earth.”

Artemis Racing was on World Championship winning form all week but saw their chances slip through their fingers in the last race. “We rounded the left gate and the right one was better, but you don’t know that. Sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t,” said Törnqvist. “At the finish it was almost impossible to say who crossed the line in what place because it was so close. It will be one of the best regattas we’ll remember,  because it was a World Championship and really high quality sailing and it all came down to the end of the final run.”

44Cup first timer Valeriya Kovalenko and her ARTTube team enjoyed the World Championship despite coming last. “I am happy. It was a great World Championship with great races. Today we finished one race fifth and my team is very proud with this result. My crew is happy to be back in this class and now in the team we have a conversation about next season…”

The 44Cup continues with the final event of the season, the 44Cup Calero Marinas Lanzarote over 17-21 November. 

 

Conditions could not have been better for day three of the 44Cup Scarlino World Championship. Coming out two hours ahead of schedule to make the best of the breeze, the wind was already knocking on the door of 20 knots. By the time the first race started at 1000 the wind was firmly 20 knots and then spent most of the day in the low 20s, frequently gusting more. 

Blowing off mountainous Tuscany, the offshore breeze was shifty and puffy. It caused numerous lead changed and seemed to favour no one. Thus, to make up the schedule after a lost opening day four races were held and each featured a different winner. 

The overall 2021 44Cup leader, Igor Lah's Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, got off to a strong start winning today's opening race, but then a collision with Aleph Racing in the next saw them come home last with a two point penalty imposed on them for 'hard contact'. 

Meanwhile Nico Poons' Charisma team was sailing a blinder. Winning today's second race caused them to move to the top of the leaderboard, tied with Artemis Racing, the Swedish team showing excellent consistency, despite the difficult conditions. But, as is proving typical here, this position was shortlived for both as they scored deeply in the next race. In this Chris Bake's Team Aqua finally scored a bullet, propelling his team up to second overall as Aleph Racing took the lead.

“It was pretty tricky!” admitted Bake later. “But what beautiful conditions – sunny, breezy. It was a full-on day today, but it was good. All the boats are going really well, one mistake and you are toast – you’ll get spat out mercilessly.” 

Team Aqua’s tactician Cameron Appleton added: “It has been a battle. This fleet is tight and we’ve had tricky conditions to execute all the time out there. We always know we are capable of it, we just have to connect everything together. We finally got a good start and sailed well in the placement up the course. As soon as you get your nose out, things become a bit easier than when you are in the back of the pack trying to fight your way out of there, because you don’t get much room in this fleet. 

“The fleet is so close and everybody just knows how to sail the boats well. Every regatta this year has been windy, so we don’t have to worry about that anymore. It is now about going out there and positioning better and doing the basics well. It is going to be a good battle all the way to the finish.” 

In the fourth and final race of the day, a 1-2 for Artemis Racing and Charisma caused them to catch Hugues Lepic's Aleph Racing creating an ultra-close leaderboard going into the last day. In front is Aleph Racing, but the Frenchman's team is just one point ahead of Torbjörn Törnqvist's Artemis Racing and Nico Poons' Charisma. 

“We have always known in this fleet that it is important to be always up there,” explains Aleph Racing tactician Michele Ivaldi. “You win regattas with an average of 3.5-4 points. So if you manage to squeeze in 2nds, 3rd and 4ths you end up in good shape.” 

But consistency has been the one thing difficult to achieve in the blustery conditions this week and even the leader’s average score has been just under 4 per race. “With the offshore wind there are huge shifts, as much as 30° during a single race,” continued Ivaldi. “I think we managed to start reasonably well and be able to sail the first shift and then you have to sail the wind that you have and try to get out of phase as little as possible….”

As to the tight leaderboard going into the final day, Ivaldi is not surprised: “It is good to be coming into the last day with the possibility to win, but we know perfectly that four or five boats can still win. Everything is still up for grabs. We’ll just go out tomorrow as if it is a normal day.” 

In the final race victory slipped through the fingers of Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy, not once but twice. Firstly a beneficial shift while on starboard propelled them into the lead at the first top mark rounding. “We started very nicely on the downwind and gybed at the right time and we were leading by 100m,” recounted tactician Evgeny Neugodnikov. “But then the wind dropped to 12-13 knots and Charisma got in front but we were still second [Charisma going left as they went right at the gate].” 

There was another roll of the dice up the second beat as Artemis Racing did well on the right to lead at the second top mark rounding with Atom Tavatuy a close fourth behind Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika. Gybing early and splitting from the leaders, Kuznetsov’s team rolled Team Nika and was again in contention for the lead but Artemis Racing and Charisma covered to leave Atom Tavatuy third. “It’s nice weather, nice wind and very close racing – like usual! I hope tomorrow we will be better,” concluded  Neugodnikov. 

Tomorrow, the final day of the 44Cup Scarlino World Championship, racing is scheduled to start at 1100 CEST and with three or four races likely to be held, weather permitting any of the top eight boats remains capable of winning. 

After 30 knot winds prevented any racing on day one of the RC44 World Championship in Scarlino, Italy, the race committee pulled out all the stops to ensure racing took place today by bringing the start time forwards by two hours. As a result the 11th RC44 Scarlino World Championship was finally able to get underway at just after 1000. Three races were successfully held on the big bay off Marina di Scarlino in a northerly breeze that built to just over 20 knots with 25 in the gusts. 

Partly due to the difficult-to-read conditions, partly due to the intense competition between the nine boats, it was a high scoring opening to the World Championship. But most incredibly after three races, and with a potential 27 points available today, just one point separates the top seven boats and two points the top eight. 

The first race was the hardest fought with Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing seeming to do well on the upwinds and Nico Poons’ Charisma edging into the lead on the runs. The Dutchman’s team was first home as the Swedes had problems on the last downwind to finish fourth. 

Artemis Racing turned this result around in race two. Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing led around the top mark, showing some of the same form that won her the 44Cup Cowes in August, but a gybeset around the top mark launched Artemis into the lead which she never relinquished. 

In the third and final race Igor Lah’s Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 won the pin, then stayed to the mid-left and eventually crossed the fleet on port to lead around the top mark. The overall 2021 44Cup leaders then never looked back. Artemis Racing held a strong lead after race two, but lost her advantage with a seventh place finish in race three, thus ending the day the closest it has ever been in 44Cup history, or in perhaps any sailing class, after three races. 

Nominally the leader after day one is Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, but with such a leaderboard, this is all but meaningless and the 44Cup Scarlino World Championship will effectively restart tomorrow.

With a similar forecast tomorrow, racing is again being brought forward by two hours with a first warning signal at 1000 CEST.

 

 

 

 

While the forecast indicated that it might be sailable, the opening day of this 11th RC44 World Championship was blown out with the northerly winds off Scarlino, Italy regularly reaching the high 20s and gusting into the high 30s. After a wait out on the water the race committee sent the boats back to the Marina di Scarlino to see if conditions would abate and when instead the wind built, soon after 1400 racing was abandoned for the day. 

44Cup Principle Race Office Maria Torrijo explained: “We knew the forecast was for strong wind, but we didn’t expect it to be SO strong - we were expecting a maximum of 22-23 knots, but we had gusts up to 39. The average wind was very high as well – there was no way we could start a race. It was not even marginal.”

America’s Cup winning helmsman American Ed Baird, tactician on John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing, was in no doubt about the PRO’s decisions: “When we left the dock we had 15 knots-ish; by the time we got sails up and got moving it was in the low 20s and we went for a little sail around the race track but then the low 20s became the bottom of the wind and the top was around 30. And it increased from there. It was just too windy for these boats…”

Even with no racing, the crews took their nimble RC44s hooning up and down the race track, causing broad grins all round. 

Tomorrow the forecast is for marginally lighter conditions and to capture the most sailable part of the day, racing will commence two hours earlier, ie at 1000 CEST. 

Nine teams are in Scarlino, Italy this week to contest the annual RC44 World Championship. This is fourth event of the 2021 44Cup, following Portorož, Slovenia; Marstrand, Sweden and Cowes, UK, before the circuit concludes with the 44Cup Calero Marinas Lanzarote in November. 

This is also the 11th edition of the World Sailing-sanctioned RC44 World Championship since Larry Ellison and his ORACLE Racing team won the first in Puerto Calero in 2010, en route to winning that year's annual fleet racing season.

Going into this World Championship for the high performance owner-driver one designs, there is a tie for overall lead between two 44Cup titans, Igor Lah’s Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 and Chris Bake’s Team Aqua. Both are on seven points, having respectively won in Portorož and Marstrand, four points ahead of Hugues Lepic’ Aleph Racing, winner of the inaugural 44Cup Cowes event in August. 

Igor Lah has raced in Scarlino before, but some years ago, in a different class. “I know it a little - I think it is a marvellous place. And you have Tuscan wine!” Lah’s team was recently rechristened Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, after receiving backing from a Slovenian high quality glass company, renowned for manufacturing cognac and vodka bottles internationally. As to their performance, his team, on which Britain’s Adrian Stead is tactician, is no stranger to having the 44Cup leader’s golden wheels fitted. “For now, everything is fine, we should improve a little bit, but I made some mistakes. I have to work on them. But we are getting better and better,” concludes Lah, who is celebrating his birthday today. 

A newcomer to the 44Cup for this event is the circuit’s first ever female owner-driver. While some women have been reserve helmsmen for teams, Moscow-based lawyer Valeriya Kovelenko is the 44Cup first official female owner-driver and has put together her ArtTube team with tactician Igor Lisovenko, who represented Russia twice at the Olympic Games in the Laser dinghy.

Kovelenko has been campaigning a J/70 for the last five years and in the smaller sportsboat has twice won the competitive Monaco winter series as well as the Russian National Championship. Her crew comes from the J/70 as well as the former 44Cup teams, Synergy and Kirill Podolsky’s RUS-7. “A lot of my crew sailed in the RC44 and have great memories of the class. For five years it has been my dream to join it,” admits Kovelenko, who knows RC44 owners Vladimir Prosikhin and Nico Poons from racing them in Monaco and in Russia. “I am happy to be sailing in the World Championship. Thanks to Bertrand [Favre, Class Manager] and Jessica [Gray, Event Manager] for making this happen to us.” 

Kovelenko is racing here on the 44Cup’s class boat. This is available for teams interested in joining the circuit. “The RC44 Class Association makes the boat available, ready to go with sails, etc and covers the insurance and transport to events. You just have to bring your own crew,” explains Favre.  “We have a lot of interest.” 

Two points short of the podium on the 44Cup leaderboard is Nico Poons' Charisma which is having an up and down season after their second place in Marstrand. For Pavel Kuznetsov’s promising team led by Evgeny Neugodnikov on Atom Tavatuy, they are showing more consistency but would prefer that this was on the podium rather than mid-fleet.

Uncharacteristically closer to the bottom of the leaderboard than the top is Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika. Since their second place in Portorož, their performance has plummeted. “We started this season very well, but then we found some areas to work on and we are doing that and we are hoping to get better at this event,” admits tactician Manu Weiller. Alongside Aleph Racing’s Michele Ivaldi, Weiller, despite coming from Spain, is the 44Cup tactician with most experience racing in Scarlino. He has won several events here in other classes. “It is a very nice place, with many different conditions. It can be shifty, from offshore and with waves and wind outside or very light from the south. We might see a bit of everything this week. And it is a beautiful place…”

 Bringing up the rear are Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing, which finished third at their ‘home’ event in Sweden and John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing. During practice racing today, Peninsula Racing had a special star guest helm in Hubert Detrey, who fulfilled his dream of steering one of the RC44, after years managing the hospitality program for the 44Cup. 

The RC44 World Championship starts tomorrow with a first warning signal at 1200 and will conclude on Sunday. 

The 44Cup returns to Italy next week for the first time since Porto Cervo in 2017. This time the high performance owner-driver one designs will be racing on the mainland, at a new venue for the 2021 44Cup World Championship. Located some 250km north of Rome, Scarlino is a favourite with other one design classes and features a magnificent bay, spanning Piombino in the north and, another famous Italian sailing venue, Punta Ala in the south with the island of Elba as a backdrop offshore.  

While the RC44s may be new-comers to Scarlino, many of the sailors are not, as the marina is a key base for Nautor's Swan. “We have made one design racing our core business, that’s why we are so glad to welcome the 44s. As one of the leading owner-driver classes, with sailors of the highest calibre, we know it raises the bar. We feel excited to be part of this challenge,” explains event manager Claudia Tosi of Yacht Club Isole di Toscana.

Someone who knows these waters better than most is Michele Ivaldi, tactician on Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing, winner of August's 44Cup Cowes. Ivaldi spent six years with the Italian Luna Rossa America’s Cup challenger training out of Punta Ala during the 2000s. “From there, the first test we would do in the normal breeze was on port and we would go right across the top of the course in Scarlino. But that was a long, long time ago!”

Since then Ivaldi has returned and won events on these waters in a variety of classes. So he enters the 44Cup Scarlino with the benefit of ‘local knowledge’ but, as he warns, “when you know the place, that is when the problems start… You are confident and you don’t look at what is happening, or you are in denial about what is really happening.”

Taking place in early October, the 44Cup Scarlino comes at the end of the Mediterranean season with the temperature expected to be in the less scorching low 20s°C. Any of several different weather scenarios can occur. If there is high pressure then the differential between the land and sea temperatures is still enough for the sea breeze to develop. If not, then the wind may be offshore, from the north/northeast and very shifty or if a depression is approaching, then it could be southeasterly, wrapping around Punta Ala point, with flat water inside the gulf but rougher the further you go offshore.

Ivaldi has praise for the land-based side of the set-up in Scarlino. “It has a good ‘race track’. When we go sailing there, it is beautiful outside. And I like the place very much - the marina is relatively new and is very well done and they have good residences right there. It is a very good place to go out for dinner, with plenty of nice places to go. The class made a good choice to go there. Every time new classes visit Scarlino, like the 52s, they have enjoyed sailing there so I think the owners will be happy.”

“The events organised by Yacht Club Isole di Toscana are nothing without the Marina, the Yacht Service and the Resort, that create a special combination of services that make our venue highly appreciated by everyone that comes,” adds Tosi.  

While Aleph Racing won in Cowes, their victory was narrow, just one point ahead of Igor Lah’s overall 44Cup leader on CEEREF powered by Hrastnik 1860 where local Solent expert and tactician Adrian Stead was calling the shots in the heavily tidal waters. The result elevated the French team to third on the overall leaderboard for the 2021 44 Cup, four points astern of CEEREF tied on points with Chris Bake’s Team Aqua

Of their World Championship prospects on ‘his home waters’, Ivaldi continues: “We had a few events where we started very well, but had a couple of bad races which put us back in the fleet. We have been really close to the top and all the time we were on the unlikely side of the points, just missing the top, but we have been racing well this year. We just needed a boost of confidence at the last event.”

But this means nothing the talented Italian tactician warns: “In this class, there have been so many times when we get to the last race and four or five boats can win and the regatta gets decided on the last cross of the last run. It will be another week like that - full stress all the way through.” 

The final day of the 44Cup Cowes was always going to be big. Despite the overnight seven point gap between the leaders Aleph and second placed Ceeref, experience told Hugues Lepic and his team that they should take nothing for granted. 

Behind them the battle for third was intense with three teams on equal points.

But few could have anticipated the intensity of how the final day played out.

More breeze was always on the cards with the forecast showing over 20+ knots. And this was precisely what the fleet got. Yet this time around the tide was with the wind most of the day making for flatter seas, which in turn meant that there were some superb high speed sleigh rides downhill. 

The pace was now at full bore and when it came to mark roundings the pressure was on. Crash gybes, kite trawls and round ups delivered plenty of action at the bottom end of the course. 

And when it came to the way that the points shuffled out to close the 44Cup Cowes, there was plenty to talk about.

The day started with plenty of breeze and a forecast that said it would stay - It did. But, along with the tide direction which would be east for most of the day, that’s where the certainty stopped.

In the first race Ceeref smoked around the course to take the first win, leaving Aleph, who finished in fifth, to wonder where their points buffer had gone. 

Charisma had finished second, their best of the series and possibly a trigger for believing that more was possible.

In the second race it clearly was as they took their first win of the week with Aqua in second.

By now the points table had been compressed and shuffled, the last race would decide a great deal. It did so in dramatic style, especially on the last downwind leg where boats hit 22knots in the relatively flat water.

In the end it and after some stressful moments deep in the fleet, it was Aleph who took the overall win by one point.

“This was an amazing day, a lot of stress but three great races, great competitors and for us it went all the way to the last run,” said Aleph’s owner Hugues Lepic. “Winning any race in Cowes is a treat, but winning an event is something very, very special. A lot of our points margin from earlier in the week got eroded but we managed two decent last races.

“I’m so pleased and happy for our team that has put in so much effort. We have been improving over the last two years and now we can show it.”

With two wins on the final day, second placed Ceeref knew that they hadn’t left much on the table. 

“We knew we had to come out firing today because we had a few points to make up,” said tactician Adrian Stead. “We had 27 knots of breeze during the gybe for the committee boat for the final finish, but we pulled off. It was hard though and could have changed our fortunes completely.

“But what a race, everyone overlapped at the top mark on the first rounding in the last race after a 1.4nm beat is testament to just how close the racing is in this fleet. Another regatta decided on the last run of the last race which is awesome.”

For Chris Bake, taking the third podium spot was also a success but having been the catalyst for making the Cowes event happen the week had been particularly special. 

“It’s been a great event. Showcasing the 44s here is really important, so I was happy to help get the fleet here,” he said. “It’s a boat that I think deserves to be more popular and we wanted to show the fleet off a bit and see if a few more owners would be interested in trying it.”

Any that watched today must have been sorely tempted.

In A Nutshell

Race 10 – SW 20-25 knots – Flood tide

Low cloud, drizzle and a stronger breeze than was expected kicked off the first of the final day’s racing, these were punchy conditions. But so too was the start for some, especially Team Aquas who were prepared to hold back at the committee boat end to ensure that they could tack onto port straight away and bag the right hand side of the course.

It paid off and at the top mark Chris Bake’s team rounded in the lead. But a right hand shift and the strong east going tide had meant that an early gybe was favourable. Among those that did was Igor Lah’s Ceeref team who then managed to soak down at speed on port to overtake Aqua. 

But there was more fun to come thanks to the tide and the wind shift as the bulk of the fleet approached the right hand leeward mark so close to the lay that putting in two gybes and a round up was going to be a big ask. 

Ceeref saw this coming and did an early drop, two quick down-speed gybes and a round up. Simple, if you do it right. But when you’re in the pack and under even more pressure, things can go wrong and for some they did, shuffling the fleet in the process.

Here, Artemis came off worse, trawling their kite and going from third to last.

By the end of the second lap Ceeref had held their lead with Charisma in second and Aqua third.

Race 11 – SW 20-22knots – Flood tide easing

Another boisterous affair in which the east going ebb tide continued to favour the right hand side of the course. By now the fleet knew it. Once again Aqua, now joined by others, tried to bag the right hand side of the course by starting close to the committee boat. 

This time is was Nico Poons’ Charisma that got to the top mark first with Aqua second, which is how things stayed through to the finish.

But there was another battle developing further back in the fleet where overall leaders Aleph were trying to extricate themselves from the bulk of the fleet in 6 and catch Ceeref who were then in 4>sup class="">th. If they were to finish like this Aleph’s lead would be eroded badly.

But the French team kept pushing and managed to not only force their way through the fleet during the second lap but pip Ceeref at the finish line by a matter of just centimetres. The frustration on the faces of Ceeref’s crew was clear as the race committee confirmed the result.

Race 12 – SW 22-25knots – Slack tide

Between the two front runners nothing had changed in the order but winning for Ceeref had just got one point harder. On the other hand, as we had seen, a kite trawl could easily scrub off several points in one go so the pressure was still on the French.

Just behind, Charisma’s two good results had put them just three points behind Ceeref, with Aqua just five points adrift of third - things were tightening up. The final race was going to matter.

The breeze had also picked up and this time the fleet hunted as a pack as they pushed their way upwind. The top mark rounding was tight with the need to pull off a good hoist adding to the pressure. 

By the time they got to the leeward mark there was action aplenty with hard gybes, kite trawls and very difficult mark roundings. 

John Bassadone’s Peninsula was leading and Torbjon Tornqvist’s Artemis had found their mojo again. But the focus was on Aleph and Ceeref.

Ceeref were ahead but not by enough and even given their win as they scorched across the line, Aleph were hanging in with a 4th, enough to take overall victory by a single point.

Aqua scored a 5th, sufficient to take the third spot on the podium also by one point.

Practice or showcase, call it what you will, the 44Cup fleet simply call it another opportunity to line up against each other. And while starting off the Royal Yacht Squadron to canon fire is always special, so too is the opportunity to push your opponents hard as you work your way west along the famous Cowes Green. So, while the race from the Squadron to the starting area counted for no points, the short beat and long run provided a valuable opportunity for all to lock in numbers and techniques for the day. 

This was also a day that saw summer return. A 10knot breeze, flat seas and largely flat water made for a very different race course from 24 hours before. But with more south in the wind direction for the opening race the breeze was spilling over the Isle of Wight making life tricky at the top mark.

Then, as is always the case in the Solent, there was the tide to contend with. Today, racing took place on either side of high water ensuring that nothing could be taken for granted as the current direction switched from flood to ebb. 

So, while on the face of it the day looked straightforward, it was anything but, as the scoreboard confirmed. Three races, three different winners and by the end of the penultimate day, three teams on equal points all fighting for third. 

It’s commonly said in the fleet that this a class that anyone can win, and lose - today was that day.

John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing team were the first to enjoy success having read the conditions up the first leg perfectly. From there, they never looked back. “In this class when you get a little bit ahead things do become easier,” he said. “You can tack when you want to and choose your own route.” 

But, as is typical in this hotly contested fleet, you’re only as good as you’re last result and a shocker is always lurking around the corner. “The second and third races didn’t go so well,” he continued, “and I’d like to think that those two sevenths aren’t ours, but unfortunately they are.”His tactician Ed Baird was more blunt. “John was having a good day and I wrecked it for him!” 

The next race reinforced how fortunes can swing both ways in this fleet when you least expect as Artemis went from last in the first race to first in the next, but when the team least expected it.

“We broke our port runner block in the first race and were debating whether we should start the second race,” said Torbjorn Tornqvist. “We managed to make a repair but we couldn’t load it up fully which  costs us about 0.3knts of speed.”

 But having stretched out a good lead on the good tack they had distance in hand to deliver their second win of the series.

By the final race of the day the tide had switched to ebb delivering a new scenario to consider. Against all the evidence of the rest of the fleet scrapping for the left, Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy set their heart on the right hand side of the first beat. Untroubled by anyone else they scorched across the start line at the committee boat end, tacked, banged the corner and came out on top at the windward mark. From there, no one got close to challenging their lead.

Their strong performance had launched them into third place overall, sharing the position with team Aqua and Charisma. So what was their strategy from here?

“This a very strong fleet and it’s impossible to plan your path to the podium because everything can hang on the last race,” said tactician Evgeny Neugodnikov. “Our strategy will be to sail for ourselves. It’s great that we have two bullets. We now know that when we are winning we are quiet on the boat, it’s much better, we like it.”

Three race winners evened things up on the dock too.

“One of the great things in the 44 fleet is that each race winner gets a bottle of champagne,” said Artemis racing tactician Iain Percy. “So, during the course of an event everyone gets a swig. 

In a Nutshell

 Race 7 – 10kts SSW – Flood tide

To provide the fleet with deeper water to sail in the start area was moved further east towards Gilkicker Point. With the SSW breeze the course axis was across the tide and towards the Isle of Wight where the breeze was shiftier, all of which gave the tacticians plenty to work with. And while there were plenty of ladders on the race course there were also some snakes. From the start John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing was one of the few boats to take the right hand side of the first beat where the tide got under their bow and helped to sweep them up to the first mark. Conversely the bulk of the fleet that had gone left ended up over standing the first mark leaving Peninsula to round in the lead. 

After that, despite some private battles in the fleet, nothing challenged Bassadone’s early lead and his team went on to take the win. Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy took a well earned second with Ceeref delivering a third. 

Race 8 – 10-11kts SW – Slack tide

With more depth now available on the Hill Head Plateau, the racing was relocated to this more open and slightly breezier race area. 

The race kicked off with another even start as the fleet hit the line as one. With the tide now virtually slack and the breeze steady in strength, conditions were also even, at least that’s low it looked. In reality there were still shifts and puffs to play with and while this didn’t result in a festival of tacks up the beat, changing gear was critical. 

Here, it was Artemis that came out on top at the weather mark. Despite damaging their port running backstay blocks in the previous race preventing them from getting full rig tension, they managed to keep sufficient pace on the good tack to see them take the lead. 

With space to go where they wanted they developed their advantage into a win come the finish.

But as an example as to how quickly you can slip from the front to the back in this fleet, Peninsula Racing and Atom Tavatuy found themselves in 7th and 8th respectively. 

Race 9 – 10kts – Flood tide

Knowing which side of the course you want and executing a plan to get it is the perfect way to start any race as Atom Tavatuy demonstrated in the final race of the day.

While the wind had remained largely the same, the tide had now turned and was starting to head out to the west. It was early days but the hint of more favoured current along with the additional apparent wind that it promised was enough for Kuznetsov’s team to make this their plan. 

Ignoring the fact that the bulk of the fleet was fighting for the pin end and heading out to the left must have been hard but the team held its nerve and was rewarded with the lead come the windward mark. From here they could sail their own race, go where they wanted and extend their lead while the chasing pack fought things out among themselves. 

After two laps it was clear once again just how tight the scrap had been as the bulk of the fleet crossed the finish in a matter of seconds.

Since arriving in Cowes for the 44Cup all eight teams had been expecting conditions to build for the second day of racing and with 20-24knots to kick things off, that was precisely what was delivered. 

But as if easing the fleet into the day, the east going tide was kind to the fleet holding them back from the line at the start and keeping the sea state relatively flat. As the day progressed and the tide turned against the breeze, the fun dial was wound up. The wind speed built, the sea state increased and the downwind legs became full-on foam-ups.  

Since arriving in Cowes for the 44Cup all eight teams had been expecting conditions to build for the second day of racing and with 20-24knots to kick things off, that was precisely what was delivered.

But as if easing the fleet into the day, the east going tide was kind to the fleet holding them back from the line at the start and keeping the sea state relatively flat. As the day progressed and the tide turned against the breeze, the fun dial was wound up. The wind speed built, the sea state increased and the downwind legs became full-on foam-ups.  

 And while fortunes were won and lost in the space of a single manoeuvre, no one came back to the dock with anything other than a grin on their face.

“That was probably the most extreme conditions we’ve sailed in for a while,” said Team Ceeref’ tactician Adrian Stead. “It wasn’t so much the wind but the short steep Solent chop that made it hard to break free on the downwind legs.”

But when they did there was no mistaking it as bow waves and straight wakes provided the telltale signs of boats sitting pretty at 17-18knots. 

Even more impressive were some of the punchy moves around marks, particularly at the bottom of the course where pulling off the perfect gybe/drop rounding was as much a challenge to the rest of the fleet to do likewise, as it was a race winning move.

“There’s a lot going on in those manoeuvres and it doesn’t take much to trip up, said Team Aqua’s Cameron Appleton. 

It’s clear that the level of competition is really high in this fleet, but so is the mutual respect from team to team. Aleph Racing may have ended the day on top once again, but their tactician Michele Ivaldi was full of praise for the team that had pushed them hard.

“Ceeref are the boat of the day in my mind,” he said. “They sailed consistently well and delivered every time under pressure to finish the day with three second places. We were trying to keep them behind us, but it was hard.”

But it wasn’t all about the pressure on the water. Chris Bake’s shore crew had spent the night unstepping the mast and repairing a damaged mast track. With the work finished by 5am the next task on the job list was to get back into the mix and make the effort worth it. 

“It was full on, a bit wet and our starts weren’t as good as we wanted but we managed to hang on in there to finish the day in third overall,” said Bake. “So in that sense we’re pretty happy. The stronger breeze meant that we had to change gear and look at different angles downwind and generally keep the boat on its feet but it was fun, classic Solent conditions.”

While Bake’s team’s job list had reduced, Team Nika’s had increased after a close port and starboard incident went wrong leaving Nika with a torn mainsail after tacking too late underneath Aleph who saw their wind instruments stripped from the top of the mast during the clash of the rigs.

Day three sees a return to lighter conditions but with the intensity remaining high.

In a nutshell

Race 4

In another even start across the fleet it was Artemis that got its nose out in front sufficiently to develop a lead by the top mark. While racing was close around the two lap course, Torbjorn Tornqvist and his crew managed to develop their slim lead into something more comfortable, until that is the final few boat lengths to the finish.

A crucial final gybe into the line saw second placed Team Ceeref pull off the perfect manoeuvre and while Artemis’ gybe was untidy rather than ungainly, the marginal slip up was enough for Igor Lah’s Ceeref to close the gap to less than a boat length as they crossed the line. A close call, but Artemis’ win suggested that the team were back on form.

 

Race 5

All for one and one for all, having exercised four clean starts in a row in race 5 the fleet were OCS en masse, forcing a general recall. 

In the second start Artemis demonstrated that the difference between success and back of the fleet can often be measured in centimetres on the line. After jumping the gun Tornqvist’s crew were faced with playing catch up after clearing their infringement.  

This time it was Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy that dominated the race by developing a small initial advantage into a solid winning margin.

Move of the day was Ceeref’s perfectly executed final gybe at 17 knots that allowed them to slip to leeward and steal second from Aleph in the closing metres of the race.   

Race 6 

The tide had now turned to the east and the sea state had built, a lively race was in store. The second key move of the day came from Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing who set up a slingshot start at the less popular committee boat end of the line. Shooting over the line on time and at speed as the rest of the fleet back peddled to avoid jumping the gun gave the French boat the advantage that they had planned for.

By the top mark Aleph had built their lead and never looked back to take the final race of the day. A win that also kept them at the top of the leaderboard.

What the opening day of the 44Cup in Cowes lacked in sunshine it more than made up for with close racing.

The morning had started with just 8-10 knots of breeze and flat seas but, as the day played out a series of subtle changes took place that kept everyone from trimmers to tacticians on their toes.

The two most notable factors involved the breeze building to a peak of around 15 knots and the tide turning in the middle of the day. Both helped to deliver some very close racing and revealed one team in particular that was clearly in the groove.

Yet, before a single point had been placed on the board, the evidence as to just how closely fought the 44 fleet is came as the first start gun was fired. Ten seconds before the gun went the bows went down as the fleet put its collective foot to the floor. The entire eight boat fleet was now at full pace and crossing the line as one. No one was over, no one buried out the back, but everyone clearly eager to get their nose out in front. 

And as the opening upwind leg played out it looked more like the opening seconds of an arm wrestling match as tiny gains and losses came and went.

As a result, when the gaggle reached the first windward mark the approach to the rounding was tight before the east going tide helped to stretch the fleet. Yet, as the day played out even this was to change as the tide turned and compressed the fleet with each windward mark rounding.

Scoring the first win of the event was Team Aqua, but owner Chris Bake was taking nothing for granted.

“Coming back to the UK and sailing in the Solent was always going to be special for us, but to start off strong with a win in the first race was especially satisfying,” he said. “We had a few issues today with our mast track and it didn’t feel as if we ever started that well but we managed to hang in there. So, to finish the day in second overall is a good place to be.”

An even better place to be was aboard Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing that finished the day leading overall having been on the podium for all three races.

“We liked the flat water and 12-15knots of breeze,” said tactician Michele Ivaldi, “Three, two, one is always a good way to start a regatta, but while we came away with a good scoreline it wasn’t that easy. On the first round of the last race halfway down the downwind leg we were 300m ahead and by the bottom gate we were just one length in front of the second boat. That’s the spirit of this class, this is what happens every regatta, we find we’re fighting for every centimetre.” 

Team CEEREF’s tactician Adrian Stead knows this feeling well and having ended the day in third overall was clear on what their goal should be. “For me the key to these events is being in the top three every day,” he said. “If you can do that for four days, you’ll be in pretty good shape.”

Hitting the line on time, at full speed and with your own clean path ahead is just the first essential element. From then on in the 44s it gets even tougher. 

Sunshine, a solid sea breeze and a start from the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes was the perfect way to open the third event in the 44Cup calendar as the fleet took to the Solent.

Hot foot from the class’ previous event in Marstrand, Sweden eight teams will compete in the UK event that runs from 11-15 August.  And while today was officially listed as a practice day, you’d barely know it from the level of racing. This is a collection of highly experienced crews that only know one gear, winning, leaving few surprised that the showcase start and first beat to the west along Cowes’ famous Green turned into a competitive affair. 

With the strong ebb tide sweeping them west the fleet arrived at the first mark, Gurnard in a matter of minutes which was always going to make for some close calls. But the fact that this mark was to be rounded to starboard, the opposite direction to normal in order to set up the fleet for the downwind delivery leg to the race area for the day, simply added to the pressure.

The race course proper was set off Lee on the Solent and provided a wide open race area to the southwest for the three practice races that followed. While the sea breeze was well established and consistent at 15knots, so too was the strong ebb tide that made judging time on distances at the start crucial. Throughout the afternoon several teams found themselves over the line at the start, albeit by the odd second or two. But during the course of the coming days this could well turn out to be one of several key factors that define success in this notoriously closely fought fleet.

“The tide adds another dimension that we don’t normally have,” said Artemis Racing’s Torbjörn Törnqvist. “It’s interesting because the boats in this fleet are so evenly matched. We all spend a great deal of time watching each other and learning, analysing and improving so the tide really adds something to the racing.”

Penninsula Racing’s tactician Ed Baird was also clear on just how close the racing is likely to be this week.

“Typically, everybody does win at some point and it’s putting together a good consistent series that is the challenge,” he said. “The last time the fleet raced here was in 2016 but that time we were based out of Portsmouth and raced outside the Solent to the east where the tide didn’t have such a big influence. This year the tide will be a slightly bigger issue than it was back then because there are differences across the course area and we have a deep water channel on either side.“

Aside from the local conditions the other big difference is that given the experiences of the last year, everyone’s super excited to be back out on the race course once again. But one thing hasn’t changed and that’s that to win everyone on the team has to be perfect, it’s that level of competition. As we know to our costs from the last event in Marstrand, it’s easy to go from first to last in one leg because you have duck one boat.”

So, while it might have been practice day today where no points were placed on the board, everyone sailed as if there would be. The result? A perfect taster for what’s in store for the rest of the week. 

It is rare even between the ultra-close RC44s for an event to go to the wire in such an extreme way as it did today at the conclusion of the 44Cup Marstrand. Going into the tenth and final race of the series, held off the Swedish island of Marstrand, five of the eight strong fleet was still capable of winning the event. At this point Dutchman Nico Poons’ Charisma was leading by a useful, but by no means unassailable, three points over Igor Lah’s Team CEEREF.

 Up the first beat of the final race Chris Bake’s Team Aqua had made great gains on the right side of the course to lead comfortably around the top mark and extended from there. 

Team Aqua had started this race in third place overall, five points behind Charisma and tied with Marstrand event hosts Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing. Thus after crossing the finish line there was intense scrutiny of the arrival order behind. If Charisma finished fifth then the 44Cup Marstrand would be hers, but if Poons’ team was sixth she would tie with Team Aqua, causing Bake’s team to win on countback. Despite a tremendous battle between the leaders, Charisma got stuck in traffic coming into the top mark leaving her in last position, and by the finish had only managed to fight back to sixth. Victory was Team Aqua’s. 

Still at the close of play just six points separated the top five RC44s. 

This year’s 44Cup Marstrand was the ninth occasion the series for the high performance owner-driver one designs has visited Sweden. Of these Team Aqua has previously won on four occasions and is the defending champion here having won in pre-pandemic 2019. Their win, while Team CEEREF finished fourth, means that Team Aqua also takes over the lead in the 2021 44Cup and gets to fit the leader’s ‘golden wheels’ to their yacht. 

Artemis Racing claimed third overall, the third occasion the Swedish former America’s Cup challengers have finished on the podium at their event. In what proved to be a high scoring day with racing held in a light 6-8 knot southerly, with considerable current pushing the nimble racing yachts around the course, Törnqvist’s team was joint ‘top scoring’ yacht of the day with Team CEEREF, both scoring nine points.

In a classic 44Cup change of fortune, today it was the turn of Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing to take a tumble. At the beginning of the day the French team had been tied on points at the top of the leaderboard. Ultimately they finished fifth. 

Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy achieved the third best score today but this wasn’t enough to redeem them from Saturday’s unfortunate results and they ended up sixth overall. The 44Cup’s other Russian team, Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika had enjoyed promising moments throughout the week but otherwise lacked consistency to finish with a result they will put down to experience. Demonstrating that any team is capable of winning at present on the 44Cup, John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing won today’s first race, but this was not enough to prise them up from the bottom of the leaderboard. 

The 44Cup now moves on to Cowes over 11-15th August. 

 

Just when the pecking order seemed to be firming up at the 44Cup Marstrand, so today’s final race off the picture postcard Swedish island, turned the leaderboard on its head, yet again. Looking reasonably comfortable in the two top spots overall going into the day’s final race, in this Hugues Lepic’s Team Aleph and Nico Poons’ Charisma came home last and second last respectively. As a result there is now a tie at the top, the top four boats are separated by two points and the top seven by just nine with potentially 24 points on the board tomorrow. 

In May at the first 44Cup event in Portorož, Chris Bake had one day when his Team Aqua put no foot wrong, scoring three bullets in three races. Today their performance came close with a 2-1-1. While Team Aleph had been slowly growing her lead through solid, consistent sailing, disaster struck in today’s final race when she was shoveled over the start line. Having to restart dropped her to last place and despite some promising moments when it appeared she might have recovered, ultimately she was unable to. This last race today concluded in dramatic style with the finish line set at the entrance to Marstrand Harbour for the benefit of spectators and sailing fans. While Team Aqua crossed comfortable first, the French team was left to bring up the rear. 

As a result Team Aleph is NOW tied on points with Team Aqua, Bake’s team ahead on countback, which considering they started the day sixth overall, is perhaps one of the most meteoric rises we have seen in 44Cup racing. 

Bake, the ‘Master of Marstrand’ having won here the most, narrowly lost the first race to Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika, the two boats showing a welcome return to form after both endured terrible results yesterday. A similarly good day as Team Aqua appeared on the cards for Team Nika until she picked up a penalty as she was trying to nose into the lead going into at the top mark. 

It was also an up and down day for Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy. Like Aleph Racing, the Russian team, on which Evgeny Neugodnikov calls tactics, had maintained supreme consistency through this regatta – until today when they suffered two uncharacteristic last place finishes. They almost managed to flip this on its head in the final race when they just managed to keep the lead going around the top mark, but subsequently got outpaced by an invincible-looking Team Aqua. 

In an example of the high performance RC44 one design class’ typically ultra-close racing, so yesterday’s winners dropped to the bottom of the pile at the 44Cup Marstrand today as those managing to remain the most consistent rose gradually to the top. 

For competitors and race management alike it was a difficult day with an overcast sky, 15 knots of northeasterly offshore wind that dropped to below 10 as the afternoon wore on. This was combined with a tricky current, mostly sweeping right to left across the course, often favouring the right side. This was different from yesterday in the bigger conditions when any favourable current seemed more random. 

On board Dutchman Nico Poons’ Charisma, winner of the 44Cup Marstrand in 2018, tactician Hamish Pepper called the right side correctly once the first race got away successfully under a U flag. Charisma started at the committee boat end and tacked. Gaining maximum benefit to the right Poons’ team rounded the first mark and from there never looked back. 

Poons was happy with this outcome but was prouder of how his team had subsequently fought back in today’s third race to finish in third place overall after they had been forced to make a penalty turn at the start of the first run when they had at one point been last. “We thought we had given enough room, but it was a big palava - it could have been a Greek saga! It happens. There’s two days to go. The ball can roll anywhere.” 

Race two was also won out of the start but on this occasion from the pin, with Igor Lah’s overall 44Cup leaders on Team CEEREF taking this option on their own. Tactician Adrian Stead explained: “There was a little pin bias. We were happy to make it look like we were coming down with the pack, but we decided we wanted to take all of it which we did in the end.” 

This strong start allowed the Slovenian team to nose into the lead as the eight boats seemed to play the shifts in unison going up the first beat. The run was tricky but Team CEEREF kept out of trouble to take the bullet. “It wasn’t clear which side you had to defend,” continued Stead “On the second beat Charisma did a good play through from the right. In the first race we should have consolidated where we were but we are pleased with how we’re going.” 

The third and final race of the day saw Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing perform a similar start at the pin with Team CEEREF on their hip. While there was greater separation across the race track in this, the French team managed to lead round the top mark. Italian tactician Michele Ivaldi, a two time winner here in Marstrand, explained: “We took the pin and then it was a game of patience - we went all the way to the layline and we were a tiny bit lucky to just enter the offset overlapped with all the boats to leeward of us and we just managed to clear one length in front of everyone. On average the left had a bit more pressure in a left direction but a couple of times the right paid big time. It was an open course. We saw gains on both sides.” 

Despite some significant shifts they hung on to first all the way to the finish. ”The boys did a very good job. We were most of the day going the correct side of the course. It was one of those days where all the pieces came together,” continued Ivaldi.  

Both Aleph Racing and Charisma scored a 1, 2 and 3 today but Aleph Racing enjoyed a better opening day and now leads the 44Cup Marstrand by three points, the first time the French team has been out in front since Rovinj in 2019. But owner Hugues Lepic acknowledged that in a fleet as close as that on the 44Cup and with six races still to sail, means little: “In the RC44s what happens at the end of day two is completely irrelevant. It is what happens by the end of day four that matters. But it is a good feeling, especially here because it is a very diverse place in terms of the weather.” 

More generally of his team Lepic added: “We have been with this crew for three years and that makes a huge difference - everyone knows each other and it has been quite stable. Michele and I know each other well. We have also found some good modes with the boat that we didn’t have in the previous years. We seem to do well is when the water is flat and there is enough wind for the boat to have speed.” 

Both Torbjörn Törnqvist's Artemis Racing and Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy are sailing strong regattas, currently holding fourth and fifth respectively, with the Russian team once again having scored no finish deeper than a fifth.

To date in four races there have been four different winners. It would be no surprise to anyone if the remaining four teams also won races over the next two days.