Marstrand, Sweden marks the halfway stage of the RC44 Championships Tour and with three events completed Team Aqua (GBR) leads both the match and fleet racing rankings. They are the team to beat at the RC44 Sweden Cup this week.
The first day of the RC44 events is always match racing day, and the only day the pro’s are allowed to take the helm. But some of the owners have decided to take on the match racing challenge against the pros themselves.
Igor Lah enjoyed a good day at the helm of his Slovenian Team Ceeref, winning three out of the four matches sailed that included wins against two of the top teams, ORACLE Racing (USA) and Katusha (RUS) with Paul Cayard at the helm. Ceeref’s score-line was only blotted by a loss to Russia’s Team Nika after being called over the line early. Team Ceeref move up from fifth to third in the overall match race rankings after four events.
Sweden’s home team Artemis Racing, led by Torbjorn Tornqvist, was fresh from their debut last week in the AC45 World Series regatta in Portugal and were looking forward to some action on home waters. Little did they know the action would come from one of the same teams they had been battling with in Cascais last week.
Sweden’s home team Artemis Racing, led by Torbjorn Tornqvist, was fresh from their debut last week in the AC45 World Series regatta in Portugal and were looking forward to some action on home waters. Little did they know the action would come from one of the same teams they had been battling with in Cascais last week.
In the sixth flight of the day, ORACLE Racing (USA) was up against Artemis Racing. The American team were not having the best of days, with three loses from three races sailed, Russell Coutts sharing the helm with owner Larry Ellison was determined to get onto the scoreboard. In an action filled match, Coutts lead into the start-line early, only to be hooked by Artemis, a split tack start saw Artemis take the advantage. But Artemis with owner Tornqvist at the helm conceded two penalties in the close and aggressive racing and it was game over for them with ORACLE Racing picking up their first and only win of the day.
After an enjoyable day on the water Tornqvist explained how pleased he was to see the class make its first visit to his homeland.
“It’s very exciting that the (RC44) Class is here in Sweden, we’ve talked about it for a while and I’ve been in the class for two years now. It’s great that we could organise this regatta here in Marstrand, it’s a real mecca for Swedish sailing.”
The Spanish team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero were the stand out team of the day, winning four out of their five matches sailed with Jose Maria Ponce (ESP) at the helm. Owner Daniel Calero had been forced to miss the last event in Cagliari and was pleased to be back onboard, continuing the great form the team produced in Sardinia when they finished third overall. “We’re getting better and better at each event and look forward to continuing this. To have 16 boats out tomorrow will be a lot of fun!” Daniel Calero, owner Islas Canarias Puerto Calero.
Still topping the match racing leader-board though is the Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton combo on Team Aqua. With the pair sharing the helm today steering two races a piece, the team ended the day with just one loss to Peninsula Petroleum (GBR). They are now three points clear of second placed Katusha (RUS) who could only manage two wins from four matched sailed today.
Owner Chris Bake said after racing.
“It’s the first time I’ve helmed in a match race for a really long time. I think match racing is a really interesting component to the class, I really like it, it’s important to see how the boats respond in a match racing environment. Although it’s typically a lot closer quarters compared to the fleet racing, with 16 boats on the start line tomorrow that may not be so!”
Tomorrow see the start of four days of fleet racing and with sixteen boats on the start line it will be easy to rack up some big scores, with no discards allowed in the series.
