“I think the class provides a winning formula. On a relative basis it’s affordable for the level of sailing you are doing, the racing format is highly enjoyable, the members of the class make it a lot of fun. It’s a good class with great people and it’s very competitive so it’s very challenging for anyone coming into the fleet.”
The team behind the event’s success was also keen to ensure it was spectator and media friendly, so as well as prime sailing conditions to allow three to four races per day over a four-day regatta, the location of the events on the tour are chosen to allow courses to be set close to the shore, and with good spectator vantage points in mind to ensure shore-side supporters and media TV crews don’t miss out on the action.
The 2018 Tour, which concluded in mid November, went right down to the wire with just one point separating the top two boats – Team Nika (RUS) Team Ceeref (SLO) – going into the final event in Cascais. The overall winner was Team Nika. It was also an historic year for the RC44 world championship with Team Nika (Vladimir Prosikhin at the helm and Dean Barker on tactics), the first team ever to claim a hat trick of RC44 World Championship titles.
THE BOAT
The RC44 – co-designed by Russell Coutts, five-time
America’s Cup winner, and
Andrej Justin, naval architect – is a light displacement, high performance one-design racing yacht, which means they are identical in terms of construction, shape of hull, appendages and weight/weight distribution.
As well as ensuring the boats are evenly matched for fair
racing, the class is
passionate about the pro-am status it was originally designed around, with it rules that state there must be a 50-50 split between amateurs and professionals in each team of eight, and the owner of the boat must be on the helm.
Built entirely of carbonfibre, and with a powerful sail plan, the RC44 is fast all round in all conditions. Not surprisingly she flies downwind, while upwind she is responsive to allow crews to enjoy close- quarter, hiking out, dinghy-style tacking duels for added excitement.
60 | WINTER 2019 | ONBOARD
Russell Coutts talking about the ideas behind the design said: “We wanted to include a degree of complexity so an owner can experience what a top-end race boat is like to sail. I wanted to create a boat that would be exciting to sail downwind and powerful in light winds.
“I also wanted a boat that could be sailed short-handed with a deck layout incorporating many non-standard adjustments. The trim tab on the keel is an example of that, to reduce keel area yet still achieve good upwind performance and manoeuverability. It adds to the boat’s complexity but the racing enthusiast will enjoy trialing the different tab angles and the resulting performance benefits.”
THE EVENTS
The venues for the Tour are chosen for their ideal sailing conditions and this year, for the first time ever, the event will kick off the 2019 season with the RC44 Montenegro Cup, hosted on the beautiful Bay of Kotor by Porto Montenegro Yacht Club.
The Racing Tour will then continue on to four of the best picturesque and challenging sailing destinations in Europe for one-design racing, including the picturesque town of Roving in Croatia for event two in May, and the Swedish sailing Mecca of Marstrand Island for event three in July.
RUNNERS AND RIDERS
With some fantastic race venues lined up for the 2019 season and a host of former world champions and RC44 Tour winners already signed up, the 12th edition of the RC44 Championship Tour looks set to beat all expectations.
The organisers of the event say they are expecting all eight current long-term teams to compete as well.
TEAMS CONFIRMED FOR 2019
Artemis Racing Torbjorn Tornqvist
Aleph Racing Hugues Lepic
Charisma Nico Poons
Bronenosec Sailing Team Vladimir Liubomirov / Kirill Frolov
Peninsula Petroleum John Bassadone
Team CEEREF Igor Lah (reigning RC44 Championship Tour champions)
Team Aqua Chris Bake
Team Nika Vladimir Prosikhin
All images ©
Martinezstudio.es/RC44 Championship Tour
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