Second life
Or more accurately Act Two? Either way the new 44Cup takes a great boat that is already acknowledged as perfect for the task and fires in a whole heap of fresh energy...
Classes of raceboat tend to die prematurely once they reach a certain age. Ironically this seems to have less to do with the boat and more the marketing or having the correct driving force behind it. Witness Peter Morton miraculously breathing life back into the Quarter Ton class, a boat on which many sailors cut their teeth – and can now afford to own. Compare that with the premature demise of the much-loved Mumm/Farr 30.
Attempting to ensure it is one of the success stories is the newly rechristened 44Cup, formerly the RC44 Championship Tour. This year it starts its 13th season with staunchly faithful owners resolute in prolonging the life of their beloved circuit. Those involved are experienced, level-headed individuals who have been through many classes before finding their home with RC44s. They include Artemis Racing’s Torbjörn Törnqvist, a former Audi MedCup TP52 champion and the 44Cup’s reigning champion Nico Poons, who previously campaigned a Farr 40 and a Swan 45. Aleph Racing’s Hugues Lepic also came from Farr 40s, while Peninsula Petroleum’s John Bassadone went through a J/109
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and a GP42 before arriving at the 44Cup, where he has remained for nine years. Then there’s Vladimir Prosikhin, enticed into the circuit while having a cruising boat built, who in 2018 became RC44 World Champion for a third time. Others like Team Aqua’s Chris Bake and Team CEEREF’s Igor Lah have stayed with the class since its outset.
All recognise the value the 44Cup provides, enabling them to compete at the highest level with crew who are likely to be racing a Maxi 72 or TP52 the following week. The tacticians who guide them around the racetrack, coaching them en route, are all America’s Cup or 52 Super Series calibre, or have Olympic medals. 2019 will see regular 44Cup tacticians like Dean Barker, Ray Davies and Vasco Vascotto re-joining their America’s Cup teams, replaced by Tom Slingsby and Ed Baird. Thanks to the RC44 being a hi- tech, but (by today’s standards) a relatively low-cost one-design, the price of racing one is a fraction of the cost of a box rule boat. Relatively, the expense of buying a boat is negligible – a new one is around €450,000; a good second-hand example is €250,000 complete,
Above: the RC44 still gives owners excellent “bang for their buck” compared to many other grand prix classes.
Performance remains very current, the boat pointing high thanks to its narrow hull and trim tab to deliver excellent tactical
racing. It’s genuinely able to race in five knots, gets up on the plane at 15 knots and keeps pace downwind with true wind speed into the 20s. And at the end of the weekend it all still slots into one container
including a flat rack container and a 20ft workshop/storage container. Depreciation is slight as even old boats are competitive: Teams Nika and CEEREF for example have been racing since the class’s start, yet the former was 2018 World Champion; the latter won the 44Cups in 2016 and 2017.
Running costs are typically €450,000 to €700,000 a year as there are few opportunities for teams to outspend each other and there is no arms race. Sail inventory comprises a main, three jibs and two spinnakers, plus a one-design class gennaker. Sail buttons are limited to six per year, with an extra permitted for teams completing a whole season. Annual sail budget is around €120,000.
Beyond this are salaries for crew and shore crew and extras such as coaching. Among the eight crew, up to four can be World Sailing Group 3 pros. Few shore crew are required – if a boat is damaged, it is fixed by the 44Cup’s own boatbuilders. If things go badly wrong, structural integrity should remain intact as the two most vulnerable areas, the bow and stern, are removable.
Transport is especially cost-
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