Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Record number of entries forecast at the RC 44 World Championship in Lanzarote

A record thirteen teams will compete in the RC 44 World Championships in Lanzarote, Canary Islands (October 11-16), including the new teams Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) and Peninsula Petroleum (ESP).

1 September 2010 – No less than thirteen teams will compete in the RC 44 World Championships Islas Canarias Puerto Calero Cup on October 11-16.

Two new teams will join the RC 44 Championship Tour on this occasion: Synergy Russian Sailing Team, from Russia, and Peninsula Petroleum from Spain. Both teams have been involved in top level international yacht racing for many years. Indeed, Synergy is already competing in the TP 52 Class as well as in the Louis Vuitton Trophy whilst Peninsula Petroleum has been competing in the GP 42 Series.

“Our involvement with the RC44 class gives Synergy Russian Sailing Team the possibility to continue its development in the new ultra-modern sailing classes”, says Maxim Logutenko, the team’s CEO. “We are absolutely sure that the RC44 class is an amazing prospect and that's why we have decided to concentrate our forces on this circuit. Besides Transpac 52 and ACC5 regattas, the RC 44 Championship Tour will be an integral part of Synergy's development and progress. It will give Russian sailors the opportunity to train and progress at an international level.

Synergy Russian Sailing Team was founded in 2004; its main goal is to create a group of professional Russian-speaking sailors able to compete on equal grounds with the world’s most experienced teams. The RC 44 crew will be entirely made of Russian sailors. The team’s CEO is Maxim Logutenko, who already competed as a guest on board BMW ORACLE Racing during the RC 44 Valencia Cup. Logutenko will steer the boat during the fleet regattas whilst Evgeniy Neugodnikov will take the helm during the match races. A recent winner of the Baltic Match Race in Helsinki, Neugodnikov, born in 1982, is one Russia’s new talents.

Team Peninsula Petroleum has been competing in the GP 42 Class over the past years. A dinghy sailor when he was a child, owner John Bassadone made his come back in yacht racing four years ago; his ambition is to keep improving as a driver and make steady progress in both match and fleet races. “I am super-excited to join this Class”, he said. “Because it has many features I really appreciate such as the one design and owner-driver concepts. The quality of the participants is also tremendous, and the Class is clearly progressing.

“We are very pleased to welcome these two new teams in the RC 44 Class, comments Russell Coutts, the founder of the RC 44 Class and co-designer of the boat alongside Andrej Justin. “The RC 44 World Championships Islas Canarias Puerto Calero Cup will be the toughest regatta in the circuit so far.

Bertrand Favre, the RC 44 Class manager, says that “the objective of the Class is to carry on growing in Europe, but also in the United States where we are doing a specific promotional effort and have already planned two races in December 2010 and February 2011. We are very pleased to see new teams joining the Class, and to note that the interest for our Class keeps growing.