RC44 CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR - SLAM CUP

Santa Margherita (IT), 7 September 2007 – Big blue sky and warm sunshine – perfect weather for a beach party. Instead it meant challenging conditions for the RC44 fleet in the first round of match racing at the RC44 SLAM Cup. Following on from yesterday’s fleet racing, the professionals stepped up the to plate and met their rivals on the start line for five close races.

All bets were on for the showdown between three-time America’s Cup winner, Russell Coutts and Luna Rossa’s talented former helmsman James Spithill in flight three. The sharp Australian versus the legendary Kiwi did not disappoint spectators. It was a straight forward pre-start, but thanks to a bit of local knowledge from guest crew member, Corrado Isenburg, Team OMEGA smoothly won the match.

Spithill and Team Ceeref swiftly shifted gears for the next flight and were the only team of the day to beat fleet leaders Team AQUA, helmed by Cameron Appleton.

After the racing, Coutts was quick to admit that he was feeling “a bit out of practice”, but that this was about to change. Coutts indicated that he sees more match racing in the future for the RC44 Class as more America’s Cup sailors, possibly even teams, join the fleet. “We are even considering the possibility of splitting the fleet and match racing next year,” added Coutts.

Japanese Team Beecom were the only team to beat both Coutts and Spithill on the water today. While Team Cro-a sail with helmsman Jesper Radich, another sailor at the top of the World Match Racing Tour leader board, also expressed satisfaction with three out of five wins today.

This evening, the teams will enjoy cocktails at the Yacht Club Italiano in Portofino before returning to Santa Margherita- the perfect setting for tonight’s crew party at Delano Beach hosted by SLAM.

RC44 SLAM Cup
Overall Fleet Racing Results - Provisional Ranking – no discard

1) Team Aqua (1,1,1,2) 5 points
2) Team Ceeref (4,2,2,3) 11 points
3) Team Omega (3,4,4,1) 12 points
4) Team Beecom (6,3,3,4) 16 points
5) Team Lightbay (Magia), (2,5,5,5) 17 points
6) Team Cro-a-sail (5,6,7,6) 24 points

Match racing final results: (Name of team, wins, losses, points)

1) Team Aqua (4/1) 4 points
2) Team Omega (3/2) 3 points
3) Team Cro-A-Sail (3/2) 3 points
4) Team Beecom (3/2) 3 points
5) Team Ceeref (2/3) 2 points
6) Team Light Bay (0/5) 0 points

Russell Coutts’ Team Omega wins the 4th RC44 Championship Tour Event in Lugano

Photo credit: Team Lightbay - Russell Coutts' Team Omega ahead of Mascalzone Latino and Team Light Bay

A spectacular day on Lake Lugano saw Coutts' team win the first RC44 event in Switzerland.
Lugano (CH), 23 June 2007 – Pristine conditions in Lugano provided the perfect setting for Team Omega to win the first RC44 event in Switzerland. Team Omega’s helmsman, Ronnie Pieper, Vice President of the Swiss Sailing Federation, was delighted with the win.
In today’s racing, Team Lightbay celebrated another first, while Mascalzone Latino showed consistent improvement with two second place finishes and a win in the final race.
Despite Team Omega’s collision with Mascalzone Latino during the start of Race 6, the team was ready to race this morning, having swiftly installed their new ‘crash bow’ yesterday evening.
It seemed fitting that three-time America’s Cup winner, Russell Coutts win the RC44 Lugano Yacht Club Cup on the first day of the 32nd America’s Cup. Second place overall went to Mascalzone Latino, followed by Team Aqua in third and Lightbay in fourth.
The owners and their crews will now begin preparing for the challenging conditions of Lake Garda for the next event of the RC44 Championship Tour, from 12-15 July.

RC44: Team Aqua conquers the Oeiras Cup in great style

The Oeiras Cup ended up in style today, with one coastal race alongside the beautiful Portuguese coast followed by two fleet races. With two second and a third places, Team Aqua confirms its leadership over the class, conquering both the fleet race contest and the overall title.

Oeiras (POR), 3 June 2007 – The six RC 44’s teams involved in the Oeiras Cup started the day with a challenging coastal race across the Tagus River. Team Omega and Cro-A-Sail, the principal contenders to Team Aqua’s domination, made an unexpected gift to their opponent by crossing the line a couple of seconds before the start gun. However, this proved later on not to be a real issue.
Indeed, the course was taking the competitors in a tricky area alongside the Tower of Belem (where Vasco de Gama set sails on its way to India in 1498) and the famous Lisbon bridge; an area with windless patches followed by unpredictable 20 knots gusts…
As a consequence, Team Aqua - leader at the first mark - suddenly found itself at the back of the fleet, before fighting its way back to the top. Going from zero to hero, the Japanese team Beecom benefited from a gust to overtake the whole fleet and take the provisory lead.
The game of cat and mouse lasted approximately fourty minutes. The first boats to reach the stronger offshore wind were naturally the first to fly away. Team Aqua was the one, followed by Beecom and Team Light Bay. As for Team Omega, V1 Racing and Cro-A-Sail, they lost all their hopes at this stage, seeing their opponents fly away whilst stuck in the heart of the town…
A few minutes before the end of the race, Beecom managed to overtake Team Aqua. Team Light Bay finished third, followed by Team Omega, Team V1 Racing and Cro-A-Sail.
The Race Committee then organised two more fleet races, allowing the competitors to conclude the event after a total of nine races.
Team Omega took its revenge by winning both. Race eight saw a nice dual between the two leaders, Omega finishing slightly ahead of Team Aqua. Further back, Beecom got once again stuck in a rounding mark and had to abandon the race; kind of a Japanese speciality this week…
Finally, the last race of the Oeiras Cup 2007 saw another victory of Coutts’s team ahead of Team Aqua and Beecom. Very short and intense, the race saw a crewmember onboard Cro-A-Sail fall over boar, luckily with no further damage.
Today’s races were a great conclusion to the Oeiras Cup. All together, the six teams involved sailed a whole round robin, eight fleet races and one coastal race. A great achievement. Winner of the Portoroz Cup and second of the Croatia Boat Show Cup earlier this season, Team Aqua increases its lead in the RC 44 Championship Tour, ahead of Cro-A-Sail, Team Omega and Beecom.
The next regatta on the calendar is the Lugano Yacht Club Cup, in Switzerland, between June 20-23

To see the RC44 Image set click here

RC 44: The Oeiras Cup promises to be intense

Six RC 44’s will compete for the Oeiras Cup, the third stage of the RC 44 Championship Tour. Current joint leaders after two regattas, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua and Miroslav Reljanovic’s Cro-A-Sail are the logical favourites of the event.

Oeiras (POR), 29 May 2007 – The third stage of the RC 44 Championship Tour – the Oeiras Cup - will be held in Portugal between May 31 and June 1. Oeiras is a little town located half way between Lisbon and Cascais, and a great sailing venue. Six teams will compete for the trophy, as well as for some more points on the RC 44 Championship Tour.

Current joint leaders of the annual contest after two regattas, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua (UAE) and Miroslav Reljanovic’s Cro-A-Sail (CRO) are the logical favourites of the event. However, Team Omega, with Russell Coutts (at the helm for the match races) and Nicholas Verwilghen (steering during the fleet regattas) will do their best to get back to the top. Also competing for victory, Isao Mita’s Beecom (JPN) and the Italian team Magia Alikè will certainly seriously challenge the current leaders of the championship.

One new team joins the fleet for the first time in Oeiras: Team V1 Racing (UAE), sailing onboard the first RC 44 built by V1 in Dubai. Rasmus Kostner is expected on board, possibly with some more America’s Cup sailors. The RC 44 is an owner-driver class, but professional sailors are involved in all the teams, making the RC 44 Championship Tour a high standard sailing event. Indeed, Cameron Appleton, Tomislav Basic, Russell Coutts, Morten Henrikson and many more top professional sailors guarantee the highest possible level of competition.

As usually, the competition will start and finish with fleet races, whilst match-races will be held on Friday and Saturday.

According to the sailors already in Lisbon, the course is located in a splendid area. The sailing conditions are perfect, with a fairly strong breeze and a little chop. The show promises to be great.