Dublin Bay sailor Cian Guilfoyle has completed a remarkable world championship double after helping Aleph Racing win the 44Cup World Championship at Cowes, adding the RC44 title to his TP52 World Championship victory earlier this season.
Guilfoyle confirmed to Afloat after Sunday’s final races that he was aboard the Pietro Loro Piana-steered Aleph Racing as the French team secured its first 44Cup World Championship title after 15 years of competing for the crown.
“Very happy to get the win in the 44 and TP52 World Championships in the same season!” Guilfoyle told Afloat.
The Dublin sailor was also part of Takashi Okura’s Sled crew when it won the Rolex TP52 World Championship in Porto Cervo in June, alongside fellow Irish sailor Simon Johnson, as reported by Afloat.
Guilfoyle also confirmed that fellow Irish sailor Oisín McClelland, who has previously raced extensively with him aboard Aleph, was not part of the Cowes crew this year.
Double Delight — Cian Guilfoyle (second from right) celebrates aboard Aleph after the team secured its first 44Cup World Championship title at Cowes. Photo: Nico Martinez/44Cup
Aleph and Aqua Take World Title Fight to Final Race
Aleph’s first world title came after a close final-day battle with Chris Bake’s Team Aqua, with just one point separating the two boats going into Sunday’s racing.
It completed a strong week for Aleph, which had taken the championship lead on the opening day before extending its advantage during Friday’s difficult one-race programme.
The final-day contest initially remained finely balanced. In Sunday’s first race, Aleph and Aqua were again locked together before Aleph slipped ahead on the final run to finish just three seconds in front of its championship rival.
The drama increased in the second race when Aleph dropped to the back of the fleet after gybing early on the first run. Aqua appeared to have gained the upper hand, rounding the second windward mark third while Aleph was seventh.
But another late recovery transformed the championship position. Compression on the final run brought Aleph back into contention and, after Aqua became caught in lighter breeze, Loro Piana’s team crossed fourth, with Aqua fifth just two seconds behind.
Match-Race Tactics Settle Championship
Aleph therefore went into the last race with a two-point advantage and changed tactics accordingly.
The team engaged Aqua before the start, established a position ahead and to leeward, and then covered its championship rival around the course.
The overall race result became secondary: Aleph finished eighth and Aqua ninth, enough to give Loro Piana and his crew the world championship by 35 points to 39.
“I have to say it was only when Chris [Bake] threw me in the water that I realised what we’d done,” Loro Piana said, referring to the 44Cup tradition for winning crews.
“This week the boys have sailed so well that they made me look good. And the boat is going so well. The RC44, for me, is the best sailing I've ever done. Due to the level you never know up until the last race who's going to win. That makes this so enjoyable.”
Third World Crown for Ivaldi
The victory was a third 44Cup World Championship title for Aleph’s Italian tactician Michele Ivaldi.
“In the first race both of us sailed our own race,” Ivaldi said. “And then in the second there was some tacking on each other. We were always behind, and we missed a couple of shifts but kept pushing, pushing, pushing and we managed to climb back.”
Of the deciding race, he added: “We wanted to put some pressure on Aqua so we went for a bit of a match race and got a good start just to lee of them. Then as soon as they tacked, we managed to do the first cross ahead of them.”
Team Aqua owner Chris Bake acknowledged that Aleph’s late gains in the opening two races had proved costly.
“The first two races we just couldn't get a break on the downwinds,” he said. “At times we were three or four places ahead of them and then on both downwinds they got us.”
Team Nika Makes Late Charge
Behind the two championship leaders, defending world champion Team Nika produced the strongest final day, with Vladimir Prosikhin’s crew scoring 1-3-1.
The late charge lifted Team Nika to fourth overall, one point behind Markus Törnqvist’s GeMera Racing, which secured the final podium place.
Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team finished fifth, three points behind GeMera, with Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing another two points back.
Sunday’s three races were sailed in the North Channel in a building and shifting southerly breeze of 10-20 knots, with the Solent tide again playing a significant tactical role.
Guilfoyle Builds on Long Aleph Association
For Guilfoyle, the world title adds to a lengthy association with Aleph Racing and the RC44 circuit.
He and McClelland were aboard Aleph when the team won the final round of the 2023 44Cup in Lanzarote, while the two Irish sailors were again prominent when Aleph led the 44Cup Marina Jandía in 2025.
The Cowes success now gives Guilfoyle two world championship titles in two of grand prix sailing’s leading professional keelboat classes in the space of just over three months.
44Cup World Championship Cowes — Top Three:
- Aleph Racing — 35 points
- Team Aqua — 39 points
- GeMera Racing
