Cagliari RC 44 Cup Final

Photo: Coypright Francesco Nonnoi, Yacht Club Cagliari. Led by Team Hiroshi – Città di Mlano, the RC 44 fleet is seen during the last race of the Cagliari RC 44 Cup.

[Team Aqua report on RC44 Regatta- By CAMERON APPLETON]
With two races to sail on the last day of the Cagliari RC 44 Cup, Team Aqua was fourth of the overall ranking, just one point behind the podium. Armando Giulietti’s Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano was sitting at an enviable position, seven points ahead of Banco Espirito Santo. However, the situation was more complicated behind the leader, with four teams separated by five points.

The first race took place in a light sea breeze. Team Hiroshi, BMW ORACLE Racing and Banco Espirito Santo went straight for the left of the course whilst Team Sea Dubai (third overall until then) opted for the right. Every point was crucial and all the leading teams were impatiently waiting for the first crossing to see who was right or wrong. Well, both options seemed to pay. Hiroshi rounded the windward mark in first, just ahead of Team Sea Dubai and BMW ORACLE Racing. The same scenario took place downwind, all the leading teams going to the right except Team Sea Dubai who went to the left.

The tension was seriously rising as they neared the leeward gate, which they rounded in the same position once again. The only change within the leading boats finally took place on the last downwind leg, when BMW ORACLE Racing overtook Team Sea Dubai; a point that was going to cost them the podium. Team Aqua, who was also looking for a place on the podium, finished seventh whilst Banco Espirito Santo – second overall till then – dropped down the ranking because of an eighth place in this race.

At this stage, Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano could not loose the event any more. Team Sea Dubai was only two points ahead of BMW ORACLE Racing and two more ahead of Banco Espirito Santo: all but a comfortable advantage against Russell Coutts and Ben Ainslie.

Well advised, Larry Ellison got a perfect start on the pin end of the line. Also well in the game, and more central on the course, Team Sea Dubai and Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano managed to reach the windward mark a few boat lengths ahead of Oracle. The hunt for the last remaining points was on, and fascinating, with Banco Espirito Santo sailing precisely and smoothly to try to catch up on the leaders. Was it the pressure, bad luck? Team Sea Dubai went from first to third, then sixth and finally seventh over the arrival line, to the despair of their crewmembers. On the other hand, the experienced Ben Ainslie managed to lead Patrick de Barros to the third spot, grabbing the last place available on the podium behind Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano and BMW ORACLE Racing.

Sixth of the last race, Team Aqua ends up fifth overall whilst Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref is seventh, ahead of Beecom, Cro-A-sail and Mascalzone Latino.

Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano increases its lead in the 2008 Championship Tour, ahead of Patrick de Barros and Igor Lah. Armando Giulietti will carry on sailing with the Championship Tour leader’s gold wheels in the next event, the Austria Cup (May 28 – June 1).

From Aqua’s cockpit:
Chris Bake: “We didn’t have the day we were expecting. We made a few mistakes, our communication was not optimal, and we were also a little bit unlucky. In this class, there is no room for such errors. On the positive side, our boat speed was good and the week was great.”

Fleet race, final results after eight races (no discard):

(Name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)
1) Team Hiroshi - Città di Milano, Armando Giulietti, 1, 2, 6, 4, 1, 3, 1, 1 – 19 points
2) BMW ORACLE Racing, Larry Ellison, 6, 1, 5, 2, 8, 6, 2, 2 – 32 points
3) Team Banco Espirito Santo, Patrick de Barros, 4, 5, 8, 3, 3, 1, 8, 3 - 35 points
4) Sea Dubai, Joki Hellmich, 3, 4, 1, 7, 5, 5, 3, 7 – 35 points
5) Team Aqua, Chris Bake, 9, 3, 7, 1, 2, 4, 7, 6 – 39 points
6) Ceeref, Igor Lah, 7, 6, 2, 6, 4, 9, 4, 4 – 42 points
7) Team Organika, Maciej Nawrocki, 5, 8, 3, 9, 7, 2, 6, 8 – 48 points
8) Beecom, Isao Mita, 2, 7, 9, 8, 6, 8, 5, 5 – 50 points
9) Cro-A-Sail, Miroslav Reljanovic, 8, 9, 4, 5, 10, DNF, 9, DNF – 67 points
10) Mascalzone Latino, Vincenzo Onorato, DNS, 10, 10, 10, 9, 7, 10, 9 – 76 points

RC 44 Championship Tour 2008 (after 2 events):

1) Team Hiroshi - Città di Milano, 40 points
2) Team Banco Espirito Santo, 75 points
3) Ceeref, 78 points
4) Sea Dubai, 81 points
5) Team Aqua, 84 points
6) Cro-A-Sail, 112 points
7) BMW ORACLE Racing, 120 points
8) Team Organika, 136 points
9) Beecom, 138 points
10) Mascalzone Latino, 164 points
11) Magia Alike, 184 points
11) Ekipa 44, 184 points
11) Jelik, 184 points
11) Jelik, 184 points

Chris Bake: "We made a few mistakes, our communication was not optimal, and we were also a little bit unlucky." - Team Aqua

Larry Ellison puts on a clinic at RC44 Regatta

Francesco Nonnoi - Yacht Club Cagliari

BMW ORACLE Racing wins match racing series at RC 44 Cagliari Cup.

BMW ORACLE Racing today won the match racing series of the RC 44 Cagliari Cup finishing the round robin with an 8-1 record. In their first-ever match racing regatta together, BMW ORACLE Racing team owner Larry Ellison was at the helm with team skipper Russell Coutts calling tactics.
“It’s been fantastic racing,” Ellison said. “We have a great team and beat some of the best match racers in the world. The entire team won the regatta. I am enormously proud of this team.”

The RC 44 Cagliari Cup began yesterday with a round robin for the highly-competitive 10-boat fleet. The two-day match racing series was sailed in strong, blustery Sardinia breezes, producing some incredibly close matches and exciting lead changes. BMW ORACLE Racing’s only loss of the nine-race round robin was a one-second delta at the finish.

Six other BMW ORACLE Racing crew members were competing on two other entries and those two teams finished second and third in the match racing. “Larry deserves the win; he sailed really well,” said BMW ORACLE Racing helmsman James Spithill who took second place honors helming Team Ceeref. Posting a 7-2 record for the series, Spithill had BMW ORACLE Racing crew members Michele Ivaldi and Joey Newton on board.

The BMW ORACLE Racing team opened today with a win in their first match of the day against French match racer Sebastien Col. Ellison and crew led Team Hiroshi around the course. In the second race of the day against Mascalzone Latino, BMW ORACLE Racing posted another win following a textbook start where Ellison got the advantage and led around the course.

Following a break in the action to allow the strong Sardinia breeze to moderate, it was the match of the day against double Olympic gold medalist and current Finn world champion Ben Ainslie, sailing with Patrick de Barros on Team ES Bankers Dubai. Ainslie, who has BMW ORACLE Racing crew Max Sirena, Noel Drennan and Daniel Fong on board, as well as sailing team coordinator Julien di Biase, led at the start. In a drag race upwind, BMW ORACLE Racing overtook at the bottom mark. Ellison extended the lead to finish 5-6 boat-lengths ahead of the de Barros crew who finished third overall with a 6-3 record.

The RC 44 circuit is part of the BMW ORACLE Racing team’s overall 2008 sailing program. Other team members sailing with Ellison and Coutts were Dirk de Ridder, Ross Halcrow and Brad Webb.
The fleet racing series of the regatta starts tomorrow and concludes on Sunday April 27.

Match Racing Final Standings:
(Name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)1) BMW ORACLE Racing, Larry Ellison, 8/1 - 8 points2) Team Ceeref, James Spithill, 7/2 - 7 points3) Team Banco Espirito Santo, Ben Ainslie, 6/3 - 6 points4) Team Aqua, Cameron Appleton 6/4 - 6 points5) Cro-A-Sail, Morten Henrikson, 5/4 - 5 points6) Team Hiroshi - Città di Milano, Sébastien Col 4/5 - 4 points (1 penalty)7) Sea Dubai, Markus Wieser 4/5 – 4 points8) Team Beecom, Jesper Radich 3/6 – 3 points9) Mascalzone Latino, Jes Gram Hansen 0/9 – 0 point9) Team Organika, Mateusz Kusznierewicz 0/9 – 0 point - http://bmworacleracing.com/

Cagliari RC44 Cup Day One

Gilles Martin-Raget

Ben Ainslie, Larry Ellison and James Spithill share the lead after day one of the Cagliari RC 44 Cup

[Source RC44] With four wins and one defeat, Team Banco Espirito Santo, BMW ORACLE Racing and Ceeref lead the match racing event of the Cagliari RC 44 Cup. With up to 25 knots of wind under a great sunshine, the day was simply superb!

Cagliari, April 23, 2008 – Whoever thinks that match racing should be competed on board slow boats should come to Cagliari and watch the ten RC 44’s match-racing in 25 knots of wind, surfing down the waves and yet crossing the arrival line merely separated by a handful of seconds.

This is indeed what happened throughout the day in Cagliari on day one of the RC 44 Cup. The ten boats – and their (mainly) pro skippers – offered an extraordinary show off the coast of Cagliari, sailing no less than 21 matches in the best possible conditions.

Leader of the event after day one, Larry Ellison and his crew onboard BMW ORACLE Racing impressed a lot of people by the quality of their performance in those difficult conditions. They started the day with a win against Cameron Appleton’s Team Aqua, crossing the arrival line eight seconds before their opponent after a very intense match. Even closer, the match between James Spithill’s Team Ceeref and Ben Ainslie, onboard Team Banco Espirito Santo and won by Spithill by 3 seconds! But the closest of all matches took place in the next flight, in a dual between Cro-A-Sail (Morten Henriksen) and BMW ORACLE Racing: one second between the two boats on the finish line and a joyfully celebration for the Croatians.

At the end of the day, three teams share the same number of points in the leader board of the match race event: Team Banco Espirito Santo, BMW ORACLE Racing and Ceeref. However, Larry Ellison’s team is the provisional leader thanks to victories against its direct opponents. A great achievement for the only non-professional helmsman involved today.

Five flights are yet to be sailed and the game remains open. Indeed, Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton) and Cro-A-Sail have both won three matches and are still well in the game.

They said:
Ben Ainslie, Team Banco Espirito Santo: “It was fairly hard for me to adapt to this boat, particularly during the pre-start. Luckily, the team helped me a lot. They are great, and this is definitely a day when the team counts for as much – if not more - as the helmsman. But what a day! It was awesome, and certainly one of the best sailing days I have had for a long time.

James Spithill, Team Ceeref: “This is simply the best level you can get in match racing, worldwide. You have match race world champions, America’s Cup skippers, world champions of several classes. It’s just very tough. The boats are great, and very fast. Thanks to their speed, there are always great passing opportunities. It’s very exciting.

Morten Henriksen, Cro-A-Sail: "The highlight of our day is obviously the victory against BMW ORACLE Racing. It was so close we didn't even know who had won. Other than that, we have been a bit lucky as we got two points against competitors who suffered gear failures. But we are happy to be well in the game."

Jes Gram Hansen, Mascalzone Latino: "It's the first time I sail back with Mascalzone Latino since the Cup, so I am really happy although our results weren't good today. For us, it's a new boat, a new team and It was very windy so we suffered. But we had a great time."

Russell Coutts, BMW ORACLE Racing: "This is the first time I was sailing with Larry, so we are very happy it went so well. I have to say: he did a great job. We didn't break anything, we never broached and we sailed well. It was just an awesome day!" - http://www.rc44.com/

Larry and Russell hit the water...

Gilles Martin-Raget

Gilles Martin-Raget

Gilles Martin-Raget

Gilles Martin-Raget

BMW ORACLE Racing competes in first regatta of the 2008 season.

BMW ORACLE Racing competes in the team’s first competition of the 2008 season starting tomorrow at the RC 44 Cagliari Cup in Italy. Skipper Russell Coutts and team owner Larry Ellison are sharing afterguard duties in their first regatta together.

“This is Larry’s first time sailing the RC 44s and he is really enjoying it,” said BMW ORACLE Racing skipper Russell Coutts. “On our first day of training yesterday, we saw 25 knots of fresh sea breeze off the Sardinia coast. We had a great time shaking down the boat and tuning up with some practice starts and drop set maneuvers. Larry is looking forward to helming this week in both the match racing against the pro skippers and in the fleet racing events against the other owner/drivers. It’s a competitive fleet here and promises to be great racing.” - More news at http://www.bmworacleracing.com/

Larry Ellison to race RC44's

Photo Jacques Vapillon

Cagliari RC 44 Cup: a gathering of the best amongst the best

[Source RC44] With recently crowned World Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz (Star) and Vincenzo Onorato (Farr 40), the second regatta of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2008 promises to be a fantastic sailing event. Indeed, Ben Ainslie, Russell Coutts, James Spithill, Sébastien Col, Larry Ellison, Cameron Appleton and many more will fight hard for the title on board ten strict one design RC 44’s in the superb venue of Cagliari.

Cagliari, April 22, 2008 – Just one day to go until the start ofthe second event of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2008! The tension is rising on the pontoons of Cagliari. Indeed, this regatta - organised by Yacht Club Cagliari with the support of the City of Cagliari - assembles some of the world’s best sailors on board ten strict one design RC 44’s.

Two of the competitors, Mateusz Kusznierewicz (Team Organika) and Vincenzo Onorato (Mascalzone Latino) have won prestigious world champion titles last week, in the highly competitive Star and Farr 40 Classes. Two fantastic achievements and an extra motivation for the other teams to beat them!

Team Hiroshi - Città di Milano (Armando Giulietti and Sébastien Col), the current leader of the Championship Tour and winner of the first season regatta in Dubai, will lead the charge. Also in Cagliari with great ambition, Chris Bake and Cameron Appleton - winners of last year’s Championship Tour - will be keen to climb on the podium after their fourth place in Dubai last month.

Triple Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie will discover the RC 44 yachts on board Patrick de Barros’s Team Banco Espirito Santo. So will Larry Ellison, helming both the fleet and the match race and sailing for the first time with Russell Coutts on a BMW ORACLE Racing branded RC 44.

The Cagliari Cup will start on Wednesday April 23 with the match racing event. Unbeaten in match racing since two regattas, Team Ceeref (Igor Lah / James Spithill) is the logical favourite of this event. After a full round robin, hopefully completed in two days, the team owners will take the helm for three days of fleet racing; a contest that is probably more open than the match. A long distance race - the DHL Trophy - will allow the fleet to discover the beauties of Cagliari's surroundings. The winner of this race will be awarded with the DHL Trophy, whilst the points of the regatta will be incorporated in the fleet race ranking.

Other teams will look for precious points on the Championship Tour, such as Miroslav Reljanovic’s Cro-A-Sail, dominator of the first RC 44 season in 2006, DIMC’s Team Sea Dubai with Marcus Wieser at the helm, or Isao Mita’s Team Beecom (JAP). - www.rc44.com

Dubai RC44 Cup 2008 Video

a 15 point margin...

©Thierry Martinez

Team Aqua is definitely back in good form. Sailing consistently at the front of the fleet, it finishes fourth of the Dubai RC 44 Cup thanks to a 4th, a 3rd and a 2nd place in the concluding DHL Trophy.

“You could have left us something!” Chris Bake was clearly impressed by Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano’s performance, and he was the first sailor to congratulate Armando Giulietti and Sébastien Col for their achievement after today’s last race in Dubai. Indeed, a clear winner – with a 15 points margin over Ceeref (Igor Lah / James Spithill), the Italian team left only crumbles to the other teams…

Three fleet races were sailed today. The wind had shifted to the left compared to the previous days, and the chop made it a significantly different race course than experienced during the previous days. Back in good form, and sailing consistently, Team Aqua showed that it was back on good form and that the other teams should count on them for the rest of the season.

Taking good starts, sailing fast and at the right place, the team from the UAE bettered its results throughout the day, with a 4th, a 3rd and a nice second spot in the ultimate race. The event should have carried on… Full Report

RC44 Humbling Experience

Photo Jacques Vapillon
After a difficult start in the Dubai RC 44 Cup, Team Aqua was back on form today, with two third places and a victory.

After three difficult days, Team Aqua proved its value today, sailing for most of the time in the first half of the fleet and winning race 7. The smile on Chris Bake’s face said it all: confidence is back. The conditions were light (6-10 knots of wind) and fairly unstable, with 30 degrees shifts and unpredictable puffs of wind. Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano extended its lead thanks to two 3rd, one 2nd and a 1st place, sailing very well and consistently.

The first race of the day saw the come-back of team Cro-A-Sail, finally winning a race after a long period of average results. The Croatian team was the first leader of the RC 44 Class back in 2006 and before Team Aqua’s arrival on the circuit. The second race was also a very close one, Team Ceeref winning by a couple of boat lengths ahead of Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano and Team Aqua.

Race three was Team Aqua’s race! After a good start, Chris bake and the boys fought hard to maintain their position and win ahead of Team Sea Dubai and Hiroshi, always pushing till the arrival line. Hiroshi – Città di Milano got the last bullet of the day, ahead of Ceeref and Team Aqua, building up a 7 points lead over second placed Team ES Bankers Dubai.

With only two more races to go – including the coastal DHL Trophy – Hiroshi is in a good position to win the event. The game is more open behind, with only twelve points separating Team ES bankers and sixth placed Team Aqua. No doubt the last two races of the Dubai RC 44 Cup will be intense!
From Aqua's cockpit:

Chris Bake: “It is definitely harder than last year. The level has increased and the fleet has become tighter. On top of this, some teams have new sails and they are definitely faster than us in those conditions. But we are back on form and I am happy about this.”

Kevin Kelble: “It is good to get humbled. It reminds us how good the other teams are: you just need to sail perfectly to win races. Yep, I really think that somehow it is a good thing for us: it just shows how hard we have to work.” - Team Aqua

Team Hiroshi leads RC44 Fleet Racing

SEA DUBAI Powering upwind Photo Jacques Vapillon

Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano leads after an exceptional first fleet-racing day
Fairly strong winds and big waves: the conditions could not have been better for the first day of the fleet racing event of the Dubai RC 44 Cup. Already a brilliant second of the match racing event, Armando Giulietti’s Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano leads the fleet race after four regattas.

Dubai, March 5, 2008 – With two bullets, a second and a fourth place, Armando Giulietti, the owner of Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano, can be satisfied: he did even better than his brilliant pro skipper Sébastien Col earlier in the week during the match-race event!Held in 15-18 knots of wind, under a blazing sunshine and on big waves, the first day of the fleet-racing event will stay in the short RC 44 Class history as the funniest and best racing day to date.

Even before the start of the first race, as the teams were warming up under jib & main sail, speeds of up to 20 knots were reached whilst surfing the swell. Those conditions didn’t in any way prompt the teams to start on the back foot. On the contrary, they were hot on the line, aggressive and pushing hard.

Team Sea Dubai even pushed so hard that it closed the door on Team Aqua, who had no other option but to crash badly on the Committee boat, unfortunately pursuing its series of bad luck in this event. Luckily, thanks to the bow crash box, Team Aqua’s crewmembers could repair the damage quickly and join the fleet back for the third race. Full report

Dubai RC 44 Cup

Photo Thierry Martinez
Report from Team Aqua:

Well, today wasn't the best of days for us. Aqua ended the day at 2-3. We had some contact with Sea Dubai in our last match and were penalized a point for the incident. So we are sitting in fifth with one point. The good news is that the fleet is very even and there is a four way tie for first, all at 3-2. Not one boat is out of reach.

The racing was extremely tight and everyone is showing good pace in the light breeze. The emphasis is now on the starts. We finished the first round robin today and tomorrow we will complete the second. Conditions were light, with the breeze staying in the 5-8kt range all day. We are ready to go for tomorrow. All the guys are eager to get another shot at the competition. The Team is looking forward to it. Will let you know how it goes... - Matt Cassidy Team Aqua

"Luigi"

PROFESSIONAL RACE-MANAGEMENT
The RC 44 Class, who already innovated by imposing direct umpiring, moves its standards up by adding a professional race management to its organization. Peter “Luigi” Regio, the famous race manager, will from now on manage all the RC 44 regattas. Chief Race Officer - amongst others – for the America’s Cup and the TP 52 class, Peter Regio is certainly one of the most experienced specialists in his field. -RC44 Newsletter

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Report from Dubai RC44

Report from Matt Cassidy bowman for Team Aqua racing RC44 in Dubai:
Yesterday was the practice races and racing starts today. It went well for us, all systems worked and boat speed was good. Some of the skippers are Appleton, Spithill, Col, Barker, Coutts, and Davies. Dubai has been hot with good breeze. Unfortunately, the forecast for the racing is light air. We may have already seen the best of the breeze. We'll see. Check out the the RC44 website (rc44.com) and Team Aqua's website (teamaqua.org) for the latest. Got to run! - Matt