RC44s return to Sweden

Racing gets underway tomorrow in Marstand

Next stop for the RC44 fleet is Marstrand, Sweden for the penultimate event of the 2012 RC44 Championship Tour. The five days of racing kicks off on 18 July.

The Championship is still wide open after Artemis Racing’s win on Lake Traunsee just seven weeks ago. Chris Bake’s Team Aqua, the defending Tour champions, stay at the top of the overall fleet racing leaderboard, three points ahead of Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis Racing. No one team has dominated this season with three separate teams, Katusha, Aqua and Artemis, each having won an event.

At the last event in Austria the home-team, Rene Mangold’s AEZ Sailing Team finished third, their best ever result since joining the RC44 Tour back in 2009.

“We had a really good regatta in Austria, but the forecast for Marstrand looks tricky," said Mangold. "We are expect very changeable and windy conditions. As I recall last year on the water it was difficult to detect a trend in the wind, so its difficult to have expectations for our results. If we focus on good starts and fast sailing and I’m sure the results will come. It will be an exciting weeks racing.”

Igor Lah’s Slovenian Team Ceeref is sitting in third overall, three points ahead of John Bassadone’s Peninsula Petroleum in sixth. The Gibraltar-based Peninsula Petroleum team will have a new tactician for Sweden, a man that knows the class better than most – class founder – Russell Coutts.

There is always one day of match racing at the start of each RC44 event, where either the pro-sailors or owners choose to take the helm. This season over half the owners are opting to pit their talent against some of the top match racers in the world. Russia’s Synergy Racing Team helmed by America’s Cup winner Ed Baird sits at the top of the match race leaderboard. Their closest rival, with a two match deficit, the young French team Aleph, led by French match racer Mathieu Richard. Igor Lah always at the helm of Team Ceeref is still within touching distance of the leaders in sixth.

Legendary Swedish sailor Pelle Petterson will be honoured by the RC44 class on Friday 20 July. The teams will race for the ‘Tribute to a Legend Trophy’, celebrating the Swedish America's Cup legend's 80th year.

It is the second year the class has been hosted in Marstrand, Sweden. Attracted by the reliable and regularly strong afternoon sea breeze with open sea to the west, the sailors should be greeted with some great sailing conditions along with a large audience watching from Marstrand Island.

RC44 Championship Tour results after three events

1 Team Aqua – 7
2 Artemis Racing – 10
3 RC44 Team Ceeref – 15
4 Katusha – 16
5 AEZ RC44 Team – 17
6 Peninsula Petroleum – 18
7 Aleph Sailing Team -22
8 Synergy Russian Sailing Team – 22
9 No Way Back – 24
10 Ironbound – 30
11 Team Nika – 31
12 Puerto Calero – 32
13 AFX Capital Racing – 37
14 RUS7 Sail Racing Team – 37
15 Aegir – 43

Overall Match Race results - after three events

1 Synergy Russian Sailing Team – 15
2 Aleph Sailing Team – 13
3 Team Aqua -12
4 Katusha – 11
5 Artemis Racing – 10
6 RC44 Team Ceeref – 10
7 No Way Back – 8
8 AEZ RC44 Sailing Team – 7
9 RUS7 Sail Racing Team – 7
10 Puerto Calero – 6
11 Peninsula Petroleum – 6
12 Team Nika – 6
13 AFX Capital Racing Team – 2
14 Ironbound – 1
15 Aegir – 0