After three days of moderate, brisk and occasionally violent conditions off The Hague, finally the winds and waves on the North Sea abated today for the final three races of the 44Cup World Championship for the high performance owner-driver one designs.
To make the most of the conditions, the race team led by PRO Maria Torrijo started an hour early at 1100.
The day began with two points separating the top three: Igor Lah's Team Ceeref Vaider, Marcus Törnqvist's GeMera and Vladimir Prosikhin's defending World Champions on Team Nika.
In the first race, held in 12-14 knots from the southwest, Team Nika started by the pin, got her bow forwards and then led the group coming back from the left. A left shift temporarily helped those on the right but it eventually it was Team Nika and Nico Poons’ Charisma that rounded first to lead down the run, holding from there on. After a second tier start, Team Ceeref Vaider recovered to third. This moved Team Nika ahead of her by one point.
In the second race Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team started from the committee boat end of the line and went left, then led Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing around the top mark. Team Nika rounded the top mark third and the gybed early pulled herself up to second, which she held to the end with Black Star scoring her first bullet of the World Championship.
In this race Team Ceeref Vaider had again started poorly at the pin, but on this occasion the effect was worse and she was last at the top mark. But one of the most remarkable performances of this regatta was her recovery: 8th by the gate; 6th at the 2nd top mark rounding which she held until the finish. But this boosted Team Nika’s lead to four points with Aleph Racing now two points behind Team Ceeref Vaider.
In the final race there was no engagement between the front runners, with Team Ceeref Vaider crew now having to keep an eye on a charging Aleph Racing. Remarkably, any of the top five could still theoretically win the Championship however the field was cleared when Black Star Sailing Team, Wow! Sailing Team and Lanzarote Calero Sailing were all OCS.
In this, Aleph Racing started close to the boat end and then, hanging on starboard, was clear ahead by the time she reached the top mark ahead of Team Nika with Team Aqua third and Team Ceeref Vaider fourth. Team Ceeref Vaider overtook Team Nika at the top of second beat and held this down the run to finish third. But this was not enough to overcome Team Nika, which not only successfully defended her World Championship title, but secured it for a record fifth time, although Prosikhin and bowman Jeremy Lomas are the only crew to have sailed all five.
“I'm very happy,” commented Prosikhin, after Class President Chris Bake coaxed him into a winner’s swim in the harbour. “We started third today and somehow found energy and determination to do it right and have a very good last day. The team was great, very inspired. I'm so happy to be with this class. This is the best ever class - the pros confirm it.”
Tactician Nic Asher, who joined Team Nika at the end of 2022, has now seen Prosikhin through two World Championship wins. “I’m feeling relieved, more than anything. It has been a real grind,” said an exhausted Asher. “We made it hard for ourselves, with tough conditions, tough venue. We managed to pull it together today - the first two races we got right, we got off the start line well and we ended up with a nice cushion into the last one. It all came together.”
Of their narrow loss, Team Ceeref Vaider tactician Adrian Stead commented: “Going into today, there were probably about five different boats that could have won. A little bit came down to who got the best out of the first race and we didn't, which gave Nika the upper hand. We had a good recovery in the second race, but going into the last race, we were four points off Nika, which was a big ask to get back. We’re pleased to be runner-up again. I think in this whole regatta, we've probably overtaken the most boats from our top-mark positions. All credit to our team for never giving up.”
Lowest scoring boat today, and in fact of any team in a day throughout this event, was Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing which posted a 2-3-1. “We had a great last day, which is a good way to finish the event,” said tactician Michele Ivaldi. “It's the first World Championship podium for Team Aleph, so we're super happy. I think in the first race we were the only ones with a J1, which was a good call from Daggy (James Dagg), our trimmer, because the wind was decreasing.”
In addition to Daniel Calero’s Lanzarote Calero Sailing and WARP 5, among the developing teams the Turkish Wow! Sailing Team of Mehmet Taki and Murat Edin had their best day today posting a 6-8-9. “It was a fun week - much better than I expected,” commented Edin. “I was expecting more rain, but it turned out quite nice.I definitely think we’ve made progress, especially towards the end; figuring out how to handle the boat in much harder conditions.”
Team Charisma’s Nico Poons hosted the 44Cup’s first visit to The Netherlands this week and was pleased with the event, held out of Jachtclub Scheveningen. “The feedback has been very good. The event has been quite a success. Weather-wise we've had everything. Sailing-wise, it's a good venue. And they know how to organise racing here.”
The 2025 44Cup concludes in Calero Marinas’ Marina Jandia in Fuerteventura over 19-23 November.
2025 44CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
1 Team Nika (10) Vladimir Prosikhin 7 5 1 4 3 4 9 1 1 2 4 41
2 Team Ceeref Vaider (11) Igor Lah 2 6 2 6 5 5 1 5 4 6 3 45
3 Aleph Racing (17) Hugues Lepic 4 4 3 10 8 6 2 4 2 3 1 47
4 GeMera (30) Markus Tornqvist 6 1 5 1 6 2 6 6 9 4 6 52
5 Artemis Racing (26) Torbjorn Tornqvist 3 3 6 7 1 1 8 8 5 7 5 54
6 Black Star Sailing Team (27) Christian Zuerrer 5 8 7 3 4 7 3 2 8 1 8 56
7 Team Aqua (28) Chris Bake 1 7 8 5 7 8 4 7 7 5 2 61
8 Team Charisma (15) Nico Poons 13 2 4 2 2 3 7 3 3 9 7 7 62
9 Peninsula Racing (29) John Bassadone 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 66
10 Wow! Sailing Team (25) Mehmet Taki & Murat Edin 8 10 9 9 9 9 10 11 6 8 9 1 99
11 Lanzarote Calero Sailing (22) Daniel Calero 9 9 10 8 10 10 5 9 10 10 10 100
12 Warp 5 (20) Jan Scholtes 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 11 11 11 119
