Four races were held on day three of the 44Cup Calero Marinas in perfect trade winds conditions – sun, waves and easterly winds at times gusting to 20 knots.

Discrete stars of the day were Igor Lah, tactician Adrian Stead and the crew on Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860. Despite never winning a race today, the 2017 and 2019 44Cup champions podiumed three times and scored no result lower than a fourth. Such consistency was rewarded with them going into the final day holding a massive 11 point lead over Vladimir Prosikhin's Team Nika.

As a testament to the intense, but surprisingly equal racing, after six races, all ten of the RC44 teams had podiumed. After today’s final race six had won races.

However, it wasn't plain sailing for the only Irish crew in the series. Last November's series winner Aleph, with Dublin Bay Grinder Cian Guilfoyle onboard, looking for redress in Race five to lie sixth.

The even-ness of the course, in the first race especially, resulted in neither side paying, so coming into the top mark the top nine boats were separated by just 30m. Not all could fit into this space resulting in several penalties. There was also drama: Nico Poons’ Charisma was leading into the mark, when their stand-in tactician, who was holding the runner as it was released during a tack, half fell overboard.

Surprisingly it was not an experienced team that came out best from the mark gridlock, but the newbies on La Pericolosa. However, Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing was close behind, split at the gate, took the lead on the next upwind, going on to take the win. “We didn’t have a very good start, but were fourth at the top mark,” explained tactician Michele Ivaldi. “We have made huge improvements with our downwind sailing - we noticed a few things yesterday which we corrected.”

The second race saw John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing lead around the top mark only to be overhauled by both Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy and Artemis Racing. Gybing early reaped dividends for Torbjörn Törnqvist’s team, which pulled into the lead and was never caught. It was hero to zero to hero, for the Swedes having won Friday’s final race and come last in today’s first race.

In the brisk conditions of race three, there was great joy when the 44Cup’s sole female owner Valeriya Kovalenko’s ARTTUBE, sailing just their third ever event in the class, won the pin, headed left, tacked and successfully crossed the fleet. Inevitably the big guns prevailed with Ceeref and Tavatuy rounding the top mark just ahead, however they were slow at the gate as ARTTUBE split right as Ceeref went left, to take the lead. Sadly for Kovalenko and her team, including her tactician, Igor Lisovenko, there was compression coming into the finish with Atom Tavatuy taking the win from Ceeref, as ARTTUBE finished a nose ahead of Team Nika.

“I feel very tired, but happy - I am pleased with the place of the pink RC!” admitted Kovalenko later. “This weather is very difficult for me with big waves and we have old sails and an old genniker.”

The breeze had dropped to 10-12 knots for the fourth and final race, with the fleet down to eight after the previous race when Team Aleph had been rammed by La Pericolosa coming the top mark. Having retired, Team Aleph ultimately received redress, scored fifth for the last two races.

For Team Nika, finally everything aligned on the race course in the final races, their tactician America’s Cup skipper Francesco Bruni bedded in. “We were coming to it - it was well deserved - finally we got in the groove!” said owner Vladimir Prosikhin. “The last race was - nothing special. We started with speed and did two tacks to the mark and had good speed upwind and good speed downwind. We weren’t even close to anyone.” They won by a very ‘un-44Cup’ 36 seconds from Peninsula Racing.

Sadly the rest of the day had not gone so well. “In the first race, I got a penalty at the start on Ceeref because we tacked on to port and lost all steerage!” Prosikhin continued. “But somehow we were climbing, climbing, climbing and finished fourth.”
As to his new tactician Prosikhin admits: “He has a strong personality and is very demanding. He started massaging the owner, but now he is similar to Terry Hutchinson! ‘No matter what you do you, you HAVE to sail 286°!”

Slowly rediscovering their form too is Peninsula Racing’s John Bassadone, also racing with an accomplished new tactician in double Olympic Finn gold medallist turned America’s Cup sailor Giles Scott. Peninsula Racing posted two seconds today, leaving them fourth overall.

“Today was brilliant, great fun,” said Bassadone. “It was exactly what we needed – four good races in decent wind and a bit of action, or too much action at times! We are fast and we feel competitive. When you are not competitive, it is extremely frustrating.” As to Scott, he added: “Giles is a clever guy, very calm. He is a fantastic sailor and super-good guy. His integration has been seamless.”

Racing continues tomorrow at 1200 when similar trade wind conditions are forecast and up to three races scheduled. All to play for…

Follow the action from the final day live at www.44cup.org
44CUP CALERO MARINAS RESULTS
(after 7 races)

1. CEEREF powered by Hrastnik 1860 - 3 1 5 4 3 2 3 - 12
2. Team Nika - 2 6 7 6 4 4 1 (2) - 32
3. Team Aqua - 1 3 6 5 6 5 7 - 33
4. Peninsula Racing - 10 2 3 8 2 6 2 - 33
5. Artemis Racing - 6 5 1 10 1 7 4 - 34
6. Aleph Racing - 5 4 9 1 5 5RDG 5RDG - 34
7. Atom Tavatuy - 8 7 4 3 8 1 8 - 39
8. Charisma - 4 9 2 7 10 8 5 - 45
9. ArtTube - 7 8 10 9 9 3 6 - 52
10. La Pericolosa - 9 10 8 2 7 9 11DNS (4) - 60

Sadly no water passed beneath the keels of the ten-strong 44Cup fleet on the opening day of their first regatta of the 2022 season off Porto Calero, Lanzarote.

There was a small hope of the wind filling in early afternoon, but this was too little and of too short duration, explained 44Cup Principal Race Officer Maria Torrijo, who cancelled racing for the day at 1400 UTC. "Today, it was a very easy decision because there was no wind at all. We had a gust of up to five knots, but it was just for five minutes and then it dropped completely. It was like a mirror. So we decided to stop. We will try to race tomorrow."

For tomorrow, some forecasts are indicating that we could be in for more of the same, although others are saying 5-10 knots, which, if it transpires is more than adequate breeze in which the nimble RC44s can meaningfully race.

The good news will come at the weekend, predicts the PRO: "We are expecting the trade winds coming from Saturday when we will have very good conditions," says Torrijo.

In theory racing will start today at midday UTC.

With the 44Cup Calero Marinas Lanzarote starting this morning, the high-performance owner-driver one-design class returns to having a double digit-sized fleet for the first time since 2016.

As Afloat reported previously, recent additions include the first team with a female owner, in Moscow lawyer Valeriya Kovalenko’s ARTTUBE, and German Christian Schwoerer's La Pericolosa with a crew including two time 470 World Champions Nic Asher and Elliot Willis and Beijing gold medallist Will Ryan.

Dublin Bay's Cian Guilfoyle is the only Irish sailor among the crews and he is continuing his grinder role onboard the on-form French RC44 Aleph.

French entry Aleph with Dun Laoghaire's Cian Guilfoyle onboard Photo: Martinez Studio

The first time ARTTUBE sailed in their boat was 2021’s final event here when they finished an impressive fifth. This year they start with some interesting new graphics on their otherwise fuchsia RC44, drawn by Misha Most, a famous Moscow street artist.

Naturally, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua returns as holder of the 44Cup leader’s ‘golden wheels’ with the aim of staying on top. This is not the first time they have been in this position. “Every team learns from the last year - you reset, analyse what you did and didn’t do well and you try and develop your team,” explains Team Aqua tactician Cameron Appleton. This season they have a new crew in Dane Jonas Hviid-Nielsen. “You are always looking to see if there are ways to put a new burst of energy into the team, just to keep everyone on their toes. You have to find ways to develop,” continues Appleton.

While Team Aqua had a dip in form a few years ago, experiencing this in 2021 was Team Nika. The class’ only triple World Champions and overall series winner in 2015, ended the 2021 season last. This year they bounce back with Italian America’s Cup skipper Francesco Bruni on tactics and new addition Pierluigi de Felice. Bruni is the latest America’s Cup legend to sail on board following Coutts, Barker, Baird, Hutchinson, Slingsby…

“I am very happy – Cecco [Bruni] is easy going, we have good communication and I feel comfortable that I understand what he wants,” said owner Vladimir Prosikhin, but also acknowledging that the 44Cup is growing, winning will be even harder. “I believe the 44Cup has never been as strong as now. Every crew is very experienced and the boats are equal. It is a great pleasure to sail in such a strong fleet. There are no mistakes, the boats are very fast, but enjoyable and safe, because everyone knows what they are doing.”

Another team that has never quite found the form it had when it won the RC44 World Championship in 2012, is John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing, which finished 2021 in eighth. However, this could change in 2022 with British two time Olympic Finn gold medallist, Giles Scott now on tactics.

“The team is amazing. It is a great set of guys who are good fun to be around and work really hard on the water. Hopefully, we can string some results together,” said Scott. “I really enjoy racing in this class because it is so close. Looking at the results, boats are winning a regatta and then in the next they are in the back few, which demonstrates the evenness of the boats and the high standard that every team has.”

Another change in boat dynamics will also occur on Nico Poons’ Charisma, where standing in for regular tactician Hamish Pepper is Italian 44Cup veteran Vasco Vascotto. “This is one of the classes where we feel we have the best sport,” says Vascotto, who for many years called tactics for Bassadone. “In this class the boats are the same and when you make a mistake you are at the back of the fleet and if you do a good job you are in front.”

Igor Lah’s Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, the 2017 and 2019 44Cup winner, missed claiming the series title last year by a mere point. “Unfortunately sometimes you get it and sometimes you don’t,” said Lah. “This is such a competitive class that sometimes it comes down to luck and small things. We will try and do better this year.” For this season there have been no changes to the sailing team, once again led by Adrian Stead. “The fleet is growing, which shows how much people love sailing in this class.”

And this is not to ignore the remaining teams all also with potential to win. Notably Hugues Lepic's Aleph Racing, with Michele Ivaldi calling tactics, which in 2021 won the events in Cowes and Lanzarote at the end of the year, to finish third overall. Similarly good things can be expected of Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy on which Evgeny Neugodnikov calls tactics, which finished second here last year. Last but not least is Artemis Racing, skippered by Torbjorn Tornqvist and with Andy Horton calling tactics. The Swedish team twice finished on the podium at events last year.

Racing gets underway on Wednesday with a first warning signal at 1200 UTC.

44CUP CALERO MARINAS ENTRY LIST:

ALEPH RACING (FRA17)
Hugues Lepic (FRA) - Owner / Driver
Michele Ivaldi (ITA) - Tactician
Skip Baxter (NZL) - Main trimmer
Jon Gundersen (NZL) - Headsail Trimmer
Lara Poljsak (SLO) - Offside Trimmer
Jaro Furlani (ITA) - Pit
Cian Guilfoyle (IRL) - Grinder
Paco Lepoutre (FRA) - Floater
Greg Gendell (USA) - Bow

ARTEMIS RACING (SWE44)
Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE) - Owner / Driver
Andy Horton (USA) - Tactician
Iain Percy (GBR) - Main trimmer
Maciel Cichetti (ITA) - Headsail Trimmer
Emanuele Marino (ITA) - Offside Trimmer
Nils Akervall (SWE) - Pit
Kalle Torlen (SWE) - Grinder
Markus Tornqvist (SWE) Trimmer Assist - Floater
Piet Van Nieuwenhuijzen (NED) - Bow

ATOM TAVATUY (RUS21)
Pavel Kuznetsov (RUS) - Owner / Driver
Evgeny Neugodnikov (RUS) - Tactician
Aleksandr Ekimov (RUS) - Main trimmer
Anton Sergeev (RUS) - Headsail Trimmer
Denis Gribanov (RUS) - Offside Trimmer
Pietro Mantovani (ITA) - Pit
Egor Larionov (RUS) - Grinder
Evgeny Egorov (RUS) - Bow

ARTTUBE (RUS18)
Valeriya Kovalenko (RUS) - Owner / Driver
Igor Lisovenko (RUS) - Tactician
Vitaly Rozhkov (RUS) - Main trimmer
Victor Serezhkin (RUS) - Headsail Trimmer
Sergey Avdonin (RUS) - Offside Trimmer
Denis Rozhkov (RUS) - Pit
Francesco Rubagotti (ITA) - Grinder
Alexey Kulakov (RUS) - Bow

CEEREF POWERED BY HRASTNIK 1860 (SLO1)
Igor Lah (SLO) - Owner / Driver
Adrian Stead (GBR) - Tactician
Dirk de Ridder (NED) - Main trimmer
Javi De La Plaza (ESP) - Headsail Trimmer
Tine Lah (SLO) - Offside Trimmer
Andreas Axelsson (SWE) - Pit
Jelle Janzen (NED) - Grinder
Matteo Auguardo (ITA) - Bow

CHARISMA (MON69)
Nico Poons (NED) - Owner / Driver
Vasco Vascotto (ITA) - Tactician
Chris Hosking (AUS) - Main trimmer
Ross Halcrow (NZL) - Headsail Trimmer
Dimitri Simmons (NED) - Offside Trimmer
Ryan Godfrey (AUS) - Pit
Robin Jacobs (NED) - Grinder
Ivan Peute (NED) - Bow

LA PERICOLOSA (GBR41)
Micheal Hund (ITA) - Driver
Nic Asher (GBR) - Tactician
Elliot Willis (GBR) - Main trimmer
Will Ryan (AUS) - Headsail Trimmer
Jas Farneti (ITA) - Offside Trimmer
Vittorio Zaoli (ITA) - Pit
Michi Muller (GER) - Grinder
Matteo Ramain (ITA) - Bow

PENINSULA RACING (GBR1)
John Bassadone (GBR) - Owner / Driver
Giles Scott (GBR) - Tactician
Robin Imaz (ESP) - Main trimmer
German Panei (ARG) - Headsail Trimmer
Mikel Pasabant (ESP) - Offside Trimmer
Matthew Barber (GBR) - Pit
Facundo Olezza (ARG) - Grinder
Gonzalo Morales (ESP) - Bow

TEAM AQUA (GBR2041)
Chris Bake (NZL) - Owner / Driver
Cameron Appleton (NZL) - Tactician
Andrew Estcourt (NZL) - Main trimmer
Christian Kamp (DEN) - Headsail Trimmer
Aaron Cooper (GBR) - Offside Trimmer
Jonas Hviid-Nielsen (DEN) - Pit
Ben Graham (GBR) - Grinder
Juan Marcos (ARG) - Bow

TEAM NIKA (RUS10)
Vladimir Prosikhin (RUS) - Owner / Driver
Francesco Bruni (ITA) - Tactician
Sean Clarkson (NZL) - Main trimmer
Pierluigi De Felice (ITA) - Headsail Trimmer
Mitja Margon (SLO) - Offside Trimmer
Nikolay Kornev (RUS) - Pit
Iztok Knafelc (SLO) - Grinder
Matt Cornwell (GBR) - Bow

For its 15th season, the 44Cup will see ten teams on the start line for the first event of 2022 in Lanzarote, hosted by Calero Marinas in Puerto Calero over the 9 - 13 February.

Alongside the long-term regulars within the fleet, the new additions have come about thanks to the 44Cup's own boat, which was made available last year for teams interested in joining the circuit.

As regular Afloat readers know, Dublin Bay's own Cian Guilfoyle was a crew member on board Aleph when the French yacht won at the 44Cup Calero Marinas Regatta last November.

Moscow-based lawyer Valeriya Kovelenko first tried the RC44 at the World Championship event in Scarlino 2021 and has committed her team ArtTube to the fleet by purchasing a boat for the 2022 season. Kovelenko is the circuit's first female owner-driver and is supported by her experienced crew led by tactician Igor Lisovenko.

Taking the guest helm of the 44Cup's class boat for event one in Puerto Calero will be Melges 32 World champion Christian Schwoerer and his team La Pericolosa. "After two worlds titles in the Melges 32 class we are looking for a new challenge", Schwoerer explains. "When the opportunity came up to join the 44Cup for one event, we did not have to think about it. We are extremely excited to jump on one of the coolest boats in the race sailing world and look forward to continuing to grow as a team".

From Lanzarote, it's on to a favourite venue for the fleet – Cascais, Portugal from 11 - 15 May. At the end of July will be the 44Cup Marstrand, where the locals and sailing fans on this famous Swedish summer holiday hotspot will be rooting for Artemis Racing and her Swedish owner-driver Torbjörn Törnqvist.

Among the enthusiastic group of owners, who remain staunchly committed to the one-design yacht there are a few changes in tactician for the 2022 season that will see fresh challenges for the fleet on well-known race courses.

On Peninsula Racing, British double Olympic gold medallist Giles Scott joins owner John Bassadone. Standing in for Hamish Pepper on Nico Poons' Charisma will be fiery Italian Vasco Vascotto, while on Vladimir Prosikhin's Team Nika Francesco Bruni will call tactics.

In mid-October, it is on to the Slovenian seaside town of Portoroz for the 2022 44Cup World Championship. The team to beat this season is Chris Bake's Team Aqua, having won the 2021 44Cup championship for the season, the 44Cup Marstrand, and successfully defended their RC44 World Champions title in Scarlino last October. However, it won't be easy with closest rivals Igor Lah's Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 and Hugues Lepic's Aleph Racing chasing hard.

The fifth and final event of the 2022 44Cup will see the fleet leave Europe for the first time since 2016 and head to the Middle East for a regatta in December. The full announcement of the final event will be made at the end of February.

44CUP 2022 EVENT SCHEDULE

9 - 13 February 2022 - 44Cup Calero Marinas, Lanzarote
11 - 15 May 2022 - 44Cup Cascais, Portugal
29 June - 3 July 2022 - 44Cup Marstrand, Sweden
12 - 16 October 2022 - 44Cup World Championship Portoroz, Slovenia
7 - 11 December 2022 - To be announced

Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Cian Guilfoyle was on the podium in Lanzarote yesterday after his winning role at the 44Cup Calero Marinas Regatta at the weekend.

Over four of the most difficult days of racing in 44Cup history, an impressive seven races were still held at Lanzarote frequently in 5-6 knots wind, conditions, frankly, in which most other yachts would have been unable to race. Nonetheless, it produced two worthy winners with Team Aleph winning the event and Team Aqua the season.

The schedule for the final day of racing, off the blackened lunar landscape of Lanzarote’s south coast, was brought forward by two hours to 1000 UTC. PRO María Torrijo had made this call in order to provide the best window of opportunity to race, given the forecast of a fourth day of light winds in this usually windy venue.

Ultimately just one race was successfully sailed and this produced a photo-finish between Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy and John Bassadone’s Peninsula Petroleum, with the Russian team taking the bullet by millimetres, from the Gibraltese on which double Olympic Finn gold medallist Giles Scott was calling tactics for the first time.

This was the Russian team’s third bullet in seven races sailed and was enough to leave them ending the regatta second. However, in typical 44Cup style, this was on a complex countback, tied on points with Igor Lah's Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 and Chris Bake’s Team Aqua. In turn, they were just one ahead of 44Cup newbies ARTTUBE, skippered by the 44Cup’s sole female helm, Valeriya Kovalenko, who finished fifth of nine in her second-ever 44Cup event.

Kuznetsov was beaming when he returned to Puerto Calero as this was Atom Tavatuy’s best result since joining the 44Cup full time in 2019. “It is our first podium in the 44Cup for me and also for Pavel,” said the team’s tactician Evgeny Neugodnikov. “It is a great result. Sometimes you have time to do it, like the final event, when the others are fighting for the season and you have a bit more space.” Atom Tavatuy finished the season fifth overall, but this year won the Melges 32 World League and were European Match Racing Champions.

Neugodnikov said that their new bowman, Evgeniy Egorov, had also made a big contribution. “He was very confident. We won all of our starts, apart from the first one. With a good start you have a better chance to come out on top. Also the team is working better and better and Pavel understands a lot more the boat.”

The finish in what would be the final race of the event, and of the season, was close in typical 44Cup style, thanks to the boats being so even and the teams so experienced. For example, at the start of this season Igor Lah's Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 won their home regatta in Portorož, Slovenia by five points but otherwise the winner has always been decided on countback or has won by just one point after 10-12 races sailed.

However here in Lanzarote, this was shattered by Hugues Lepic’s Team Aleph. The winners of August’s 44Cup Cowes were racing here with their usual crew, led by tactical maestro Michele Ivaldi, but with Italian Alessandro Rombelli standing in for Lepic on the helm. Incredibly the Rombelli-steered Team Aleph won this week’s 44Cup Calero Marina Lanzarote by a resounding 14 points after just seven races. 

“It is never easy, but we had the perfect week,” said Rombelli. “The weather was not very good, but we managed to have some nice races. We were in the right spot most of the time which helped. We had fun this week and were happy with the results we achieved.

“The RC44 is cool, because even today when there was just 6-7 knots of wind, we were able to have a race.”

Within the bigger picture of the 2021 44Cup season’s title, the competition was as close as usual. Going into this event, Chris Bake’s World Championship winning team on Team Aqua were leading by two points from Ceeref. A highly uncharacteristic last place in today’s only race dropped Team Aqua back to fourth, with Ceeref in third, but tied on points. Effectively separated now by just one point, meant some match racing between the two teams was certain going into the final race. Sadly, with the wind down to 3-4 knots and after a long wait, Mother Nature deprived history of this occurring, handing the 2021 44Cup title to Team Aqua.

“It is the first time in a while we have win the series and the first time we have won that and the Worlds in same year,” said a jubilant Bake. “It is about joining all the dots and that worked well. I don’t think it was anything specific, just more of the same, better. Consistency too has a lot to do with it.”

Team Aqua was the stand-out team in the 44Cup’s early years, winning its fleet racing championship for four consecutive years over 2011-14. Recently the team has enjoyed more success as RC44 World Champions, this year successfully defending their title from 2019. Bake’s team ‘doing the double’ this season is a first for them but was previously achieved by Ceeref in 2016, a year after Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika was the first team to manage this.

The 44Cup resumes in 2022 with five events scheduled. Looking forward to the new season Chris Bake concluded: “It is really good. We have some renewed interest with two new owners and another in the wings - that is really good for the class.”

44CUP CALERO MARINAS Regatta 

(After seven races )

1. France ALEPH RACING 1 2 4 4 1 2 4 - 18
2. .Russia ATOM TAVATUY 9 1 7 1 8 5 -1 - 32
3. Slovenia CEEREF powered by HRASTNIK 1860 4 8 1 2 7 3 7 - 32
4. United Kingdom TEAM AQUA 2 3 2 6 3 7 9 - 32
5.Russia ARTTUBE 3 5 3 9 4 6 3 - 33
6.United Kingdom PENINSULA RACING 5 6 6 8 2 8 2 - 37
7.Monaco CHARISMA 8 9 5 3 9 1 6 - 41
8.Sweden ARTEMIS RACING 6 4 9 7 5 4 8 - 43
9.Russia TEAM NIKA 7 7 8 5 6 9 5 - 47

Cian Guilfoyle of Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the French entry Aleph has a nine-point lead going into the final day of the 2021 44Cup at Puerto Calero, Lanzarote today.

This week a shallow depression centred due west of Gibraltar has effectively shut down the famous trades, which typically provide 20+ knot winds at this time of year in the Canary Islands, making it world-renowned as a water sports mecca. With a light-to-no wind forecast for the penultimate day of the 44Cup Calero Marinas Lanzarote, the weather gods did tentatively oblige and after more than an hour’s wait ashore, a race did get going but was abandoned when the wind dropped away.

While the forecast didn’t look hopeful, the nine RC44 teams were patient and the race committee persevered and eventually were rewarded with one successful race when the wind filled in to 6-7 knots. In this it was the immaculate Team Aleph that led around the top mark. But Nico Poons’ Charisma took the lead on the first downwind and then defended well to gain the Dutchman’s team its first bullet of the regatta.

“It felt good,” said Nico Poons once returned to Puerto Calero. “We had some bad ones, so we needed that.” 

Of the fortuitous first run, Charisma’s tactician [standing in for Hamish Pepper], Laser gold medallist, triple Moth World Champion turned America’s Cup sailor Paul Goodison explained: “It was a bit like the first day. There was a little bit of current running [from right to left across the course]. I didn’t want to be the last one to gybe, so I thought we would lead the gybe and as it was it was quite right shifted when we went and we had another leftie back at the end so we managed to gybe and cross them [Team Aleph]. Then we managed to get a few shifts right up the next beat and were able to extend a little bit.”

Two attempts to get the next race underway were both general recalled. The third attempt got away successfully under the U flag. Despite this Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika and Igor Lah’s Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 were both over early and with the prospect of another attempt to hold the race looking unlikely, both returned to port, leaving seven RC44s on the race course. In this two time Olympic Finn gold medallist Giles Scott called the shifts to perfection on board John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing pulling out a commanding lead at the top mark. Sadly approaching the leeward gate the wind dropped, the race was abandoned and everyone returned to Puerto Calero. This was good news for Prosikhin and Lah’s teams as the U flag start permits them to rejoin this race when the next attempt to hold it is made tomorrow.

A second place in Saturday’s only race for Team Aleph, on which experienced keelboat owner-driver Alessandro Rombelli is standing in on the helm for Hugues Lepic, has left the French team holding an impressive nine point lead going into the final day.

Conditions off Lanzarote’s moonscape south coast took on a different character for day two of racing in the 44Cup Calero Marinas Lanzarote on Friday (19 November) with much improved sailing conditions — albeit with the 8-12 knot wind blowing either along or off the shore.

To make up the schedule, four races were planned at the beginning of the day and four races were delivered. This was made hard as the wind veered through 90 degrees over the course of the afternoon, and that four races could be held was at least in part thanks to the 44Cup’s recently adopted use of MarkSetBots.

These remote-controlled robot sailing marks can — when required, as they were repeatedly today – speed across the seas to realign the course and keep it fair. (Afloat.ie has more on the MarkSetBot HERE.)

For most, the day was one of mixed fortunes, none more so than Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy on which Evgeny Neugodnikov calls tactics. In the day’s first race the Russian team nailed the right, Lanzarote side of the first beat, which proved a winning move.

The Russian team went on also to claim the third race, but punctuated their otherwise excellent day with seventh and eighth placed finishes.

“It was a tough day,” Neugodnikov said. “We had a great start to the day. In the first race, we expected the right shift and there was more pressure also. It started at 205 degrees, and shifted to 225.

The 44Cup fleet racing against the stark backdrop of Lanzarote | Credit: Martinez Studio/44Cup

“I am not happy with our fourth race because we were fifth or sixth but we made a mistake and missed the layline which left us last at the top mark and at the bottom gate. But our two wins — it is much better than not having two wins!

“In the first we were fighting with Aqua and the second time we were fighting with Ceeref at the top mark… and we won. So, it is not bad, but it should be much better.”

This was similarly the case for Igor Lah’s CEEREF powered by Hrastnik 1860 which, after a long fight with Chris Bake’s Team Aqua, came home first in the day’s second race. On a roll, the Slovenian team followed this with a second in the third race only to bookend these with an eighth and a seventh.

“It was a mixed day,” Lah said. “We missed one shift in the last race. We are trying to climb up. We were surprised to see we are still third. Lanzarote is brilliant — it is warm with nice conditions. We expected more wind, but we will play with what we have got."

44Cup newbie and sole female helm, Valeriya Kovalenko on ARTTUBE — sailing only her second event in the 44Cup — continues to punch above her weight with her crew, many of whom once competed aboard RUS7.

Incredibly, at this halfway stage of the 44Cup Calero Marinas Lanzarote, ARTUBE lies mid-leaderboard, in fifth place overall, ahead of several very much more experienced teams.

But for a second day, the stand-out performance was that of Team Aleph, on which highly experienced Italian owner-driver Alessandro Rombelli is standing in for Hugues Lepic — and whose crew features Dun Laoghaire’s Cian Guilfoyle.

Scoring a 2-4-4 in the day’s first three races, they were already top scorer of the day, but they then sealed the deal with a bullet in the final race.

“He has been driving very well and also the guys have been trimming the sails — all the crew work was flawless,” Team Aleph tactician Michele Ivaldi said. On the day’s racing, he added: “We managed to always start in a good position where we could play the first shift and if you are in phase everything gets easier.”

Team Aleph now holds a useful four-point lead over Team Aqua going into this weekend. Chris Bake’s World Champions in turn are six in front of CEEREF — a key situation as Igor Lah’s team represents their main threat for the overall 44Cup title for 2021.

But as Lah puts it, in this fleet “anything can happen. Everything is so close that if you make one mistake then you are behind. But that works in both directions!”

Racing continues this afternoon, with last night’s suggesting the wind will be lighter and once again onshore like Thursday. Follow the live race tracker at www.44cup.org.

The final event of the 2021 44Cup sets sail today out of Puerto Calero, Lanzarote with technically any of the five top teams still able to win the overall prize and any of the top seven capable of landing themselves a spot on the podium following the four events so far this season. As Afloat previously reported, at least one Irish sailor is among the competing crews with Cian Guilfoyle of Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the French entry Aleph.

Due to the involvement of the Calero family, both as past competitors and hosts of the 44Cup, thanks to their portfolio of marina complexes spanning the Canary Islands, Lanzarote has been one of the most visited venues in the history of the high performance, owner-driver one design circuit.

The Canary Islands may have been in the news recently due to the volcanic eruptions on La Palma, but the beautiful islands are quickly getting back to normal, with tourism having recovered. It has also seen the return of popular sailing events, in addition to the 44Cup, such as the Mini Transat EuroChef that departed from La Palma in October, the Global 5.80 Transat which left Lanzarote today and the RORC Transatlantic Race taking place in January.

This will be the eighth time the 44Cup has visited and of the nine teams embarking on this last event of the season, five have previously won here. Chris Bake's Team Aqua is the only team to have come out on top twice here, when they beat Igor Lah and Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 into second at the very dawn of the circuit in 2009 and then won in 2012 from Hughes Lepic's Aleph Racing.

Lanzarote has been one of the most visited venues in the history of the 44Cup

Torbjörn Törnqvist´s Artemis Racing won here in 2011, while the 2021 season´s leader Team Aqua was victorious during the opening event of 2012 from Hugues Lepic´s Aleph Racing. When the 44s last wintered here over 2017-18 it was Peninsula Racing that claimed the final event of 2017 while Nico Poons´ Charisma won the 2018 debut here.

Both Charisma and Peninsula Racing return here this week, by coincidence both with British Olympic champions standing in for their regular tacticians.

Standing in for Hamish Pepper on board Charisma, Paul Goodison won gold in the Laser in Beijing in 2008, was Moth World Champion for three consecutive years over 2016-18 and has since become an America´s Cup regular, most recently with American Magic in Auckland.

Goodison has much experience in the RC44, with David Murphy´s Ironbound and then Artemis Racing Youth. “But,” he admits. “That was quite a while ago. The RC44s are cool boats. It is amazing how light and nimble they are and how they get up and go so early. It is super fun to be sailing these boats again.”

A decade ago, Goodison was tactician on Ironbound when they came close to winning the Worlds here. “We had a really good regatta – we were leading into the last day, but we had a bit of a disaster. It is a really interesting place to sail, really tricky. It is going to be fun.”

A sailor with more recent Olympic success is the towering Giles Scott, who this year secured the gold medal in the Finn class in Tokyo to accompany his gold from Rio. He too has been forging a career in the America´s Cup but alongside Finn legend Ben Ainslie in the last two America´s Cups and now again as part of INEOS Britannia.

Scott is on board Peninsula Racing this week but comes with less RC44 experience than Goodison, having raced only once previously as tactician on board Charisma. “I got a call from John [Bassadone] and jumped at it,” admits Scott. “The boats are so cool - they are nice and sporty and the racing is super close. I am looking forward to it. It is my first time to Lanzarote. It is a beautiful spot.”

So far Scott has only done two days of training with Peninsula Racing but appreciates the depth of experience both within the Gibraltar-based team and their owner-driver.

Who will win here in Lanzarote is anyone´s guess. To date this season all four 44Cup events have been won by different teams with the World Champions, Chris Bake´s Team Aqua currently holding a slender two point lead from Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 with Charisma a further point astern.

Artemis Racing was on the ascent when the Swedish team finished third at last month´s Worlds in Scarlino, Italy. “We are coming here on a high note and if we sail the way we did [in Scarlino] and learn from our mistakes we can aim very high,” said Torbjörn Törnqvist. “We have everything to make us go all the way. The class today, where you have four or five boats at such a high level - I can’t see any other class offering this quality of sailing.”

Following practice racing yesterday, racing starts in earnest at midday GMT. The forecast is for light to moderate conditions of around 8-12 knots for the next four days, the wind direction dictated by the position of a shallow depression lying over the Canaries.