Little America's Cup to be held in Falmouth

Venue establish for the next gathering of the C-cats

Team Invictus have announced the return of a premier sailing event that has not been seen in the UK since 1969 - the International C Class Catamaran Championship (ICCCC) to the sailing world, universally known as the Little America’s Cup.

This will come to Falmouth, 25 August to 1 September 2013, with teams expected to arrive for the preceeding week to practice. The Little America's Cup promises a very high profile for Falmouth; the event attracts an international audience who  will see what a beautiful area this part of Cornwall is. Team Invictus have teamed up with a  consortium from Restronguet Sailing Club, Mylor Yacht Club and Windsport International to host the event in the village of Mylor at the upper reaches of Carrick Roads and look  forward to creating a great event.

“We are very excited by this opportunity, and we are right at the front of the resurgence of this great event,” commented Invictus Challenge’s (your title) Norman Wijker “In 2010 there were 5 teams and 7 boats; already we have 10 teams and maybe up to 20 boats."

The winner of last year's championship, Fred Eaton said:  "We are looking forward to defending the International C Class Catamaran Championship at Falmouth. I have had the pleasure of racing in Falmouth before in International 14s and will enjoy returning. The town and the area are rich with inspirational history for a sailor and the people are very welcoming. I know that it will provide a great test for both the boats and crews at our next Championship."

Yesterday the Palermo, Sicily-based Challenge Italia announced their challenge, headed by Roberto Grippi, and including Luna Rossa America’s Cup sailors Pierluigi DeFelice and Francesco Bruni.

An undisclosed Swedish team will also announce their challenge on Swedish national day on 6 June and two French teams, one Swiss and one Australian team are also close to announcing challenges in addition to the US and Canadians.

“The planning starts now,” continues Wijker. “We want to make this a great event. We want cameras on the boats, GPS tracking and facilities to watch from the shores and on the water. We also do not want to forget, this is the end result of three years of hard toil for all of the teams, and so we also need to put on a good party”.

To improve their chances of winning the Little America’s Cup, Invictus Challenge is also announcing its latest recruit: Tom Phipps. Phipps is based in Mylor and he will start to learn the ropes on the current Invictus Challenge catamaran, helped by Gordon Kaiser, crew in the 2010 LAC. Phipp’s track record is impressive, including several national titles in both keelboats but his specialisty is racing catamarans.

To fund their challenge, Invictus Challenge has secured a number of new sponsors, including Atlantis Weathergear for clothing, ANSYS for structural and aerodynamic analysis and Advanced Composites Group for materials. The team is also in discussions with a few potential sponsors to cover both the build of 2 new boats, and for the event itself

The first of the new boats will be based on developments along current trends and will provide a low risk and competitive boat to compete against the current generation. The second boat will take a number of new ideas and bring these together into one boat, which the team expect will take the C Class to the next level.

As Team Leader, Norman Wijker says: “Forget the big America’s Cup.Small is beautiful; come and see for yourself”