While forecasts yesterday indicated that there might be a 50-50 chance of racing taking place today at the 44Cup Marstrand, in the event conditions off the popular Swedish tourist hotspot made this impossible.

Principal Race Officer Maria Torrijo explained why racing has been cancelled for the day: "The wind is already blowing 26 knots average and the gusts are 30+. The sea state right now is 3m. And the forecast says that the wind will increase at least 2/3 knots more. Even if the wind drops, the sea state will still be too much to race."

Experienced tactician on Aleph Racing, Michele Ivaldi agreed: “Conditions are pretty rough: The most important thing is the sea state. They went out at 09:00 and it was 2.5m and they were expecting it to build to 3m. And the wind was gusting into the 30s. Even if these boats can be sailed in almost all conditions, this is too much. We have sailed before in 26-28 knots but in calmer waters. For example if you sail in Lanzarote in an offshore wind you can do that.”

The PRO will inform competitors later, after studying the forecast, if the schedule will be changed for day three of the 44Cup Marstrand to recover the lost races.

After a lengthy break since early March, the 2023 44Cup resumes today in Marstrand, Sweden and three Irish sailors are competing.

As previously highlighted by Afloat, Donaghdee's Oisin McClelland and Dublin Bay's Cian Guilfoyle are on board Aleph Racing, and the bay's Simon Johnson is on Black Star Racing Team.

The 44Cup Marstrand will take place from 29 June to 2 July off West Sweden’s paradise island.

Wednesday's practice starts, and racing for the eight owner-driver one-design RC44 racers took place in perfect conditions, with sun and 12-14 knots. Conditions over the next four days look more varied with light south-westerlies tomorrow, brisk 20+ knot westerlies on Friday, into the high teens on Saturday and high teens to low 20s for Sunday’s concluding races.

British Olympic 49er gold medallist Dylan Fletcher has an exciting new job since he called tactics for Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing in Oman. He is now a reserve helmsman for the British America’s Cup challenger INEOS Britannia, but is continuing his duties with the Swedish 44Cup team. For Fletcher, this will not only be his first time racing in the world-famous yacht racing venue of Marstand but his first time racing in Sweden: “I have watched lots of match racing here. I don’t know too much about it, but I am quite open-minded. It seems to be like the UK with quite a variety of conditions.”

The Artemis Racing crew line-up remains the same as Oman, with fellow British Olympic gold medallist Iain Percy on mainsheet but now with multiple world champion Matt Cornwell standing in on bow. As to their form, Fletcher says: “We are working hard. The fleet is incredibly competitive, but that is what makes it enjoyable. We have been looking at a lot of the data, but there are no silver bullets in this fleet. It is all about chipping away. And all happens at a slightly different pace to what I am used to!”

While Artemis Racing usually performs well in its home venue, at present a nose ahead in terms of 44Cup recent form are Nico Poons’ Charisma and Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860. Ceeref won in the opening event of the season in Oman and is the current holder of the ‘golden wheels’, the 44Cup’s equivalent of the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey. Runner-up in Oman, Charisma was second in Oman but was the 2022 44Cup champion, and is the 44Cup Marstrand’s defending champion.

Of the 44Cup’s return to Europe, Igor Lah commented: “I am looking forwards to it. It looks promising. Hopefully, we will have nice wind, but everything is open. I prefer stronger winds.” His crew, led by tactician Adrian Stead, remains unchanged since Oman. “We will try to perform like we did in the last one. We have had quite a long break and it takes a while to get back in the groove.”

Meanwhile, never one to presume much at the start of a regatta, Dutchman Nico Poons said of the 44Cup’s Swedish stopover: “It is a gorgeous place. We have won here two or three times. I am feeling confident, but we shall see on Sunday.”

After finishing second to last in the 2022 44Cup, John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing is stepping up this season, finishing a point short of the podium in Oman. Back on board after his sabbatical with the Italian America’s Cup challenger is the Gibraltar team’s regular tactician Vasco Vascotto along with new Spanish recruits - female crew Julia Minana and big gun mainsheet trimmer, 470 gold medallist and America’s Cup winner, Jordi Calafat.

“It is a great race course and a great regatta,” said Bassadone. “I am happy to be here and I have the bit between my teeth and am hoping to have a good regatta. We have our new main trimmer, while Julia is our secret weapon. She is really good. We have made lots of improvements but then all the other boats have too. Everyone is improving. I hope this year we get ourselves back to where we believe we should be.”

Of Marstrand, Bassadone adds: “It is beautiful, especially on days like today. I love coming here. It is so unique. Since I have been to Marstrand I now come to Scandinavia on family holidays – Norway, Sweden, Iceland…”

Another of the few new faces on the dock here is American Bill Hardesty - stand-in tactician on Team Nika. Hardesty knows Marstrand well having sailed here many times in Match Cup Sweden, winning in 2011. This is only his second time racing the RC44, last time being here, on the same boat, eight years ago, then filling in between Terry Hutchinson and Dean Barker.

“The RC44 is great,” says Hardesty, who is a triple Match Racing, Etchells, Farr 40 and Melges 24 World Champion as well as US Sailing’s Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in 2011. “It has a lot of performance that most boats don’t have: They get up and go fast downwind and the systems are well thought-out. I really like them, though I am surprised there aren’t more of them racing.” While Hardesty is used to racing on Marstrand Fjord, where races this week are expected to finish at least on one day, he reckons he will be okay to the western, seaward side of the island. “We’ll figure it out. Sunday is look extra spicy and Friday could be good now too.”

Racing starts at 1200. 

Usually racing on the 44Cup between the high-performance owner-driver one designs is tight with ties or just single points separating the leaders. At the 44Cup Oman, the opening event of the 2023 season and hosted out of Muscat’s Al Mouj Marina by Oman Sail, perhaps due to the strong conditions of the first three days, the leaderboard was clearly defined going into the final day with Nico Poons’ Charisma seven points clear of Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, in turn eight ahead of John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing.

As Afloat reported previously, Cian Guilfoyle from Dublin Bay is joined by Northern Ireland Finn sailor Oisin McClelland on the Fench entry Aleph that moved up from fourth on the final day to take third on the podium.

Unlike the previous three days when conditions built to 20 knots with a vicious short sea, today racing took place in light 5-8 knots, more typical of the Omani venue. Fortunately, the wind held, enabling PRO Maria Torrijo to complete the full racing schedule.

In today’s opening race Peninsula Racing was the runaway winner. This compressed the leaderboard points but only slightly with Ceeref coming home second and Charisma fourth

Sadly for Nico Poons’ team, the second race was a disaster. As Charisma’s tactician Hamish Pepper explained: “We weren’t going particularly well and after a bad start, went the wrong way up the first beat and got a little bit stuck in the middle and didn’t recover. And we got a penalty on the downwind - we thought we were racing Team Aqua for the title and they thought they were racing us…”

As result Charisma finished eighth, while another second for Ceeref caused Igor Lah’s team to take the lead by one point going into the final race. Ceeref was also ahead on countback so Charisma would have be two places ahead of her rival to win overall in this last race.

By this time the wind was down to 5-6 knots, but still more than sailable for the nimble RC44s.

At the start fate was smiling on Ceeref as Charisma tied herself in knots, OCS and with a penalty against. Fortunately for Poons’ team there was a general recall and they made a better job of it when the second attempt got away successfully. However, a nose ahead, Ceeref maintained a loose cover at the top mark was where she needed to be – immediately ahead of Charisma. This position she held to the leeward gate where she rounded the port mark, allowing Charisma to split right. At this critical moment Ceeref received a penalty for failing to keep clear of Peninsula Racing: “That penalty was a little harsh, but we dealt with it and we got back into it,” said Stead, but his opposite number Pepper observed: “They got a penalty and it seemed not to affect them at all - they were right back with us at the next cross.”

Coming into the top mark, Charisma was indeed ahead of Ceeref, but with Peninsula Racing on her inside, was not ahead enough… Ultimately it was all settled on the run: Ceeref gybed early and recovered the extra metres bringing her home sixth to Charisma’s seventh.

“I feel really good!” said Igor Lah of his victory. “Today was like a new day. We knew that we could do it and we did it. We have to come back to Oman!”

While it could be argued that Charisma lost this regatta as much as Ceeref won it, Stead observed: “You have to bear in mind in this fleet it is so easy to come first or ninth – everyone is so good. No one gives you an inch. If you mess up the start and miss the first two shifts you are at the back and then there are gold medallists and AC sailors and everyone to get past.”

According to Stead this is the fourth year Ceeref has won the opening event of the season.

Winner of today’s second race, Team Nika had a slight zero to hero and back regatta. New British tactician Nic Asher assessed: “The guys sailed well - we were going fast. I just made a couple of mistakes today. I was kicking myself in the first race: We wanted to start at the boat, but it got crowded so I thought we’d start under the fleet, which was a mistake. Then I missed the layline into the gate which was pretty costly. After that we sailed well.”

As a relative newcomer to the RC44, Asher is still coming to terms with its light wind speed: “Often you don’t realise how light the wind is, because you are still powered up and heeled over. It can be only 4-5 knots.”

While there were distractions deeper in the fleet, Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing won the final race. Of his week the London-based Frenchman observed: “We were doing very well when it came to our speed and our tactical choices. We had a few hiccups with two MOBs, one OCS, three penalties and two penalty points and considering this, the result was actually very good. But a lot of action took place which was not very positive!”

Elsewhere in the fleet Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team had a better day with their new crew, finishing with a fourth, while the Oman Sail team found it easier today in the lighter conditions.

The next 44Cup event will be Marstrand, Sweden from 28 June-2 July 

44CUP OMAN OVERALL RANKING

(After 12 races)
1. Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 - 1 6 1 1 4 6 5 2 5 2 2 6 - 41
2.Charisma 2 3 5 3 1 2 4 1 3 4 8 7 - 43
3. Aleph Racing - 4 4 2 7 7 1 3 4 7 3 3 1 (2) 48
4. Peninsula Racing - 5 2 3 5 2 5 1 8 8 1 4 5 - 49
5. Team Nika - 6 7 10 2 3 3 8 6 1 6 1 3 (2) - 58
6. Artemis Racing - 3 5 7 4 6 7 2 3 4 5 5 8 - 59
7. Team Aqua - 8 1 4 9 5 4 6 7 2 7 7 2 (2) - 64
8. Black Star Sailing Team - 7 8 6 8 8 8 7 5 6 8 6 4 - 81
9. Oman Sail - 9 9 8 6 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 - 104

Day two of the 44Cup Oman had its fair share of up and downs for French Aleph, on which two Irish crew sailors are among the nine-strong crew.

Friday's racing started off sedate as forecast but finished with the wind gusting to 20 knots, providing further ‘yeehaa’ moments for the nine crews as they clung on, blasting off on the downwind legs into the building sea state.

As Afloat reported previously, Cian Guilfoyle from Dublin Bay is joined by Northern Ireland Finn sailor Oisin McClelland this week for the Arabian Peninsula competition.

Another Irish sailor, Simon Johnson, is racing on Black Star.

After six races and at the halfway stage of the 44Cup Oman, there is a new leader. Aleph stays four but had been on a points tie for second on day one and is now five points adrift of third overall. See table below.

For a second day, the forecast suggested moderate ENEerly winds, but unlike yesterday, these actually materialised. In the first race in 10-12 knots. Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing ducked the fleet on port to claim the right and the lead at the top mark, albeit with Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 inside her. By the leeward gate, Ceeref and Team Nika had overtaken, but they split, with Ceeref going left, a move from which they went on to claim, impressively, their third bullet in four races.

On board Artemis Racing, new tactician, 49er gold medallist and Moth World Champion Dylan Fletcher admitted: “At times, I didn’t make all the right decisions and got a bit annoyed with myself, getting caught out of phase and being bouncing around like a pinball. Hopefully I’ll iron out these schoolboy errors.”

He added: “It is a fantastic fleet - the RC44 is great, and everyone is really nice. The thing that really stands out is just how good it is in light winds and how much fun it is, too when it is big breeze and windy. It is a jack of all trades: Close racing and intense.”

Aleph - two penalties racing at the 4Cup Oman Photo: Nico Martinez

There were several incidents too: Peninsula Racing was OCS and, as she started bearing away to restart, her transom swung into Aleph Racing’s port topside. However, as windward boat, Aleph had failed to keep clear and so she received a penalty. She also received a penalty point for 'hard contact' plus an extra one as there was damage. For Aleph, things went from bad to worse when, just before the finish, she was penalised again when her spinnaker touched Charisma. Chris Bake’s Team Aqua was also in trouble when coming in on port to the starboard layline she was involved in a port-starboard incident with Oman Sail and subsequently collided with them while failing to keep clear. For this she had to complete two sets of turns and received two penalty points.

With the breeze up to 15 knots, the second race saw John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing punch out furthest to the left and lead into the top mark. By the leeward gate Peninsula Racing was still ahead, but rounded the port gate while Nico Poons’ Charisma took the favoured starboard mark. Charisma went on to finally get their first bullet of the regatta.

The last race, in which the wind was gusting to 20 knots, saw a change of fortune for Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing. While Charisma again looked strong initially, the French team found a nice lift at the top of the first upwind enabling them to reach the top mark, comfortably ahead of Team Aqua. This she increased down the run and from there was unassailable, finishing ahead of Charisma and Team Nika.

“It was a nice birthday present for Hugues,” said Aleph’s Michele Ivaldi. “Finally we put all the pieces together: We had a good start and we went almost all of the way left. I was happy to stay on one tack. When you have a small lead at the top mark you can just stretch. It was good fun on the downwinds.” Aleph Racing was on her J2 jib while just two boats Team Nika and Artemis Racing had gambled on the wind increasing and hoisted J3s.

A solid 3-1-2 has caused Charisma to take the lead overall from CEEREF now three points astern, with Peninsula Racing another three behind.

“We made many mistakes, but the results were fine,” commented Nico Poons. “We had good speed and we made mistakes and did things wrong, but we did that less than everyone else. Doing the small things less badly!”

Kiwi tactician Hamish Pepper added: “It was a good day results-wise. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things. It is our first couple of days of breezy sailing.” Traditionally Charisma has always been strong when the wind is up: “Nico likes the breeze and the guys sail the boat really well in a breeze. Typically our boat handling is pretty good and it gives me good opportunities to put the boat in the right place. The 44 is such great racing, so close and it was our day today.”

Second best scorer today was Team Nika with 2-3-3 - surprising given they pulled out of racing yesterday when they almost broke their mast at deck level. “I have no idea how it didn’t come down,” admitted the team’s tactician Nic Asher. Overnight the bottom section of the two piece carbon fibre spar was replaced with a spare. “We put the rig back in at 0700 this morning, put our numbers in and went out early to check it. Then we just tried to go racing and see where we were at.”And clearly where they were at was somewhere good.

Saturday's conditions are forecast to be similar to today. Racing will again start at 1200 local time.

44CUP OMAN OVERALL RANKING

(After six races)

1. Charisma - 2 3 5 3 1 2 - 16
2. Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 - 1 6 1 1 4 6 - 19
3. Peninsula Racing - 5 2 3 5 2 5 - 22
4. Aleph Racing - 4 4 2 7 7 1 (2) - 27
5. Team Nika - 6 7 10 2 3 3 - 31
6. Artemis Racing - 3 5 7 4 6 7 - 32
7. Team Aqua - 8 1 4 9 5 4 (2) - 33
8. Black Star Sailing Team - 7 8 6 8 8 8 - 45
9. Oman Sail - 9 9 8 6 9 9 - 50

There was a baptism of fire for Oisin McClelland from Donaghdee when he debuted at the 2023 44Cup that set sail in blustery conditions in the opening races of the 44Cup Oman Cup on Thursday.

As Afloat reported earlier, the Northern Ireland Finn sailor has joined Aleph regular Cian Guilfoyle from Dublin Bay on the French entry that is currently lying fourth in the nine-boat fleet.

McClelland is Aleph's Offside Trimmer on the nine-man crew, and Guilfyole is in his usual role as Grinder under Owner/Driver Hugues Lepic. 

Aleph Racing has really found her drive over the past two seasons. After nine years with the fleet, she finally won her first regatta in Rovinj in 2019 and followed it up in 2021 with a win in Cowes in the UK and in Lanzarote, finishing the season on the podium in third overall. 

Ireland's Simon Johnson is lying seventh on Black Star Sailing.

Hosted by Oman Sail from its base in Muscat’s Al Mouj marina, the fleet met in 20+ knot winds for the first day of racing. This made for spectacular downwind legs, the RC44s frequently speeding down waves then submarining, occasionally broaching, all the while providing a thorough workout for the owner-drivers and their crews.

The 17-22 knots starkly contrasted the conclusion of the 2022 44Cup here in December, held in four days of ultra-light conditions, in which most other keelboat classes would not have been able to race. While 17-22 knots is nothing exceptional for the high-performance, owner-driver one designs, today the onshore easterly wind had been blowing for some time, kicking up an evil short chop with frequent breaking waves.

Aleph racing has two Irish crew Cian Guilfoyle from Dublin Bay (grinding) and Oisin McClelland from Donaghdee (trimmer wearing yellow gloves) on her crew for the 44Cup Oman Cup Photo: Nico Martinez

“What a great season opener – fantastic sailing,” declared Adrian Stead, tactician on Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860. “Three cracking races - it was the first time we have sailed in such breeze since Marstrand last July. I think it was a question of who remembered ‘how to do it right’, the quickest.”

However, a bigger issue was that no forecasts suggested there would be any more than 15 knots. As Stead observed: “We all left the dock with genoas and J2s – but no J3s. But it was okay - we knew there was going to be a seaway because the breeze had been blowing from the east overnight.”

Considering the boats were overpowered, there were relatively few incidents, but it was still a high-scoring day.

After losing the 2022 season at the final event here, Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 today came out top, winning the first and third races.

In the first, Team Nika led around the top mark but was rolled by Ceeref on the run, compounded when Team Nika severely broached. With good tactics and meticulous handling, the Slovenian team hung on to get the first bullet of the 2023 season ahead of Nico Poons’ 2022 champions on Charisma and Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing.

In the second race Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing trailed Charisma into the top mark. The French and Dutch teams remained close for the next lap, despite splitting at the leeward gate with Charisma going left. At the top mark, the two rounded overlapped. As Aleph Racing came upright, one of her crewmen was flicked into the water, dragging another with him. Aleph expertly spun into the wind to collect her swimmers. Meanwhile, in tandem, Charisma was carrying out a penalty turn for failing to keep clear. This handed John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing the lead only for them to lose it after gybing prematurely handing the win to Team Aqua, with Peninsula Racing second and Charisma third, her second podium of the day.

For race three, the course was overshadowed by a giant cumulonimbus cloud over the mainland, its mushroom top extending over the race track. This caused the wind to build to 22 knots, and the sea state still lumpy. However, the outcome was simpler, with Ceeref winning the left side, leading at the top mark and then hanging on for the remainder of the race. With two bullets, but a deep result in between, Ceeref leads by just two points from the three-way tied Peninsula Racing, Aleph Racing and Charisma. 

“It is nice to be here,” said Igor Lah. “Today, we finally got some nice breeze. We have been waiting for this for almost a year. The waves were quite short and I don’t remember when we got as wet as today! But it was warm, so okay.”

Today was the first time RC44s have raced with women on board each boat. On Ceeref was Slovenian two-time Olympic 470 sailor Tina Mrak. “Tina did a fantastic job today. She is a key part of the team,” said Stead. “She is always looking at the breeze and helping trim, to keep our mainsheet trimmer hiking out. It’s great for the other amateurs on board as she pushes them. I am really pleased with her addition to the team.”

Getting off to a good start today was John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing, which is tied in second. The Gibraltar-based team hasn’t managed a podium finish at an event since 2017. In his own unique way, tactician Vasco Vascotto explained: “We decided not to take the J3 because we thought it was going to be lighter. So now we are wet and a little upset because we could have had the correct sails on board. Apart from that we did a good job. And, the most important thing was that we feel that we learned.”

Racing continues tomorrow with the forecast suggesting similarly brisk conditions to today. 

44CUP OMAN OVERALL RANKING (after three races)

1. Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 - 1 6 1 - 8
2. Peninsula Racing - 5 2 3 - 10
3. Charisma - 2 3 5 - 10
4. Aleph Racing - 4 4 2 - 10
5. Team Aqua - 8 1 4 - 13
6. Artemis Racing - 3 5 7 - 15
7. Black Star Sailing Team - 7 8 6 - 21
8. Team Nika - 6 7 10DNS - 23
9. Oman Sail - 9 9 8 - 26

The 2023 season of the 44Cup has been unveiled, with five events scheduled for the 16th season of racing between the high-performance owner-driver one-design monohulls.

The fleet size will kick off with nine entries for the first event and, over the course of the season, is expected to grow to more than ten, with two new RC44s currently in build at Pauger Carbon Composites in Hungary. This follows the launch last season of another brand new RC44 for Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team from Switzerland.

New to the circuit for 2023 will be the 44 Cup Alcaidesa Marina in Spain. This will be held out of Puerto Alcaidesa Marina in La Línea de la Concepción, right next to the border with Gibraltar where it will be hosted by John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing team. If the events Bassadone has generously supported in the past out of nearby Sotogrande had Gibraltar in the background, this time the famous 426m tall Rock, that marks the entrance to the Mediterranean will be towering over the fleet as it races on the neighbouring Bay of Gibraltar.

The Rock of Gibraltar will be a new backdrop for the 44Cup fleet in 2023

“I am honoured to welcome the 44 Cup to our home waters – the Bay of Gibraltar,” says Bassadone. “Having grown up here, I am proud to be able to showcase everything we have to offer from the hospitality to the sailing experience. The Gibraltarian and Andalucian way of life is uniquely ours. It knows no bounds and there are so many exciting things to experience. From prehistoric caves to world famous golf courses and everything in-between, you will be left wanting for nothing.

“I am certain this leg of the Championship will produce some very exciting races and nail biting sailing. The backdrop of the Rock of Gibraltar and the Atlas Mountains in North Africa are known as the Pillars of Hercules and what a fitting setting for the 44 Cup Championship.”

The 2023 season kicks off where it concluded in 2022, in Muscat, Oman. Here the 44Cup Oman will be held out of the Al Mouj Marina on the outskirts of the Omani capital Muscat over 1-5 March. The event is hosted by Oman Sail, the well-known organisation set up in 2008 with the blessing of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to rekindle Oman’s maritime heritage, promote the Sultanate of Oman around the world through sailing and provide long-term learning opportunities for Omani youth. Hence Oman Sail will also field a team in the event.

The 44Cup is no stranger to the Arabian Peninsula, having concluded its 2008 and 2009 seasons in Dubai; nor to Oman, which it visited previously in 2013 and 2014.

After Oman, the 2023 44Cup will then return to Europe and its most regularly visited venue, the paradise island of Marstrand on Sweden’s west coast. From 28 June until 2 July, the fleet is being hosted in the 44Cup’s Scandinavian stopover once again by long-term 44Cup competitor Torbjörn Törnqvist and his Artemis Racing team. Racing will, as usual, take place to the west of the island and at the end of at least one day, the RC44 teams will get to finish a race inside Marstrand Fjord, off one of the picturesque seaside village’s ancient forts.

For just the second time ever, the 44Cup will visit Cowes. Taking place over 9-13 August, this will be a busy period for the British venue with the 50th anniversary edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race setting off from there two weeks beforehand and with Cowes Week taking place immediately prior to the 44Cup Cowes. One of yacht racing’s most famous venues, the Solent and the Isle of Wight are also among the most historic too with Cowes Week having been held for the first time officially in 1826, the first round of what would become the America’s Cup lapping the Isle of Wight in 1851 while the first Fastnet Race started from there in 1925.

Hosted by Chris Bake’s Team Aqua and the Royal Yacht Squadron, the event will also double as the 2023 RC44 World Championship.

The 44Cup then moves to Spain for its final two events, the first in Puerto Alcaidesa Marina, while the 44Cup will again conclude its season with the support of the Calero family and their marina group over 22-26 November. As ever the Canary Islands provide a welcome end-of-year venue for the 44Cup combining warm temperatures compared to the rest of Europe at the end of November and the welcome possibility of strong northeasterly trade winds blowing.

As ever, events will include post-race drinks and food close to the dock where owners and crew can mingle to swap war stories, and there will also be a return to holding owner and crew dinners in the evening.

44Cup class manager Bertrand Favre adds: “It’s great to see the size of the fleet increasing year-on-year and new venues coming online for the class. The quality of the competition is outstanding, the racing is physical and exciting, the boat is affordable and what really makes a good 44Cup event is a friendship and camaraderie ashore amongst the teams. We are looking forward to another good season.”

2023 44CUP EVENTS:

• 1 - 5 March - 44Cup Oman, Muscat
• 28 June - 2 July - 44Cup Marstrand, Sweden
• 9 - 13 August - 44Cup Cowes, UK
• 18 - 22 October - 44Cup Alcaidesa Marina, Gibraltar Straight
• 22 - 26 November - 44Cup Calero Marinas, Canary Islands

On the concluding day of the 2022 44Cup’s final event, the 44Cup Oman, PRO Maria Torrijo defied the odds and was able to stage three races. As is usual with this fleet of high-performance owner-driver one designs, the results were close going into the final day with Team Aqua, Team Nika and Aleph Racing separated by just one point for the lead. But today’s results would not only have a bearing on the event scoreline, but on those overall for the season.

Despite the race course being moved further out to sea light winds combined with cumulus clouds made for massive race-winning/losing shifts across the course. Tornjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing read these to perfection in the first race, winning by the largest margin of the week, with Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team second, her best result of the event. After this race still, just two points separated the lead trio, a third place for Team Nika putting her back on top.

Team Nika consolidated her position winning today’s second race, which also saw a return to form of RC44 World Champions Nico Poons’ Charisma, coming home second with John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing scoring her best result here in third. This left Team Nika six points clear of second placed Artemis Racing, with still just five points separating the Swedes from Charisma in fifth.

Racing on the concluding day of the 2022 44Cup’s final event, the 44Cup Oman Photo: Nico Martinez

With the sun getting low in the sky, the third race was held as the gradient breeze was establishing. Once again Artemis Racing was in winning form, tactician Andy Horton having a sixth sense about the shifts. With the Swedes comfortably out in front, one third of the way down the final run on board fourth placed Charisma tactician Hamish Pepper made the call to gybe, and out to the right found better pressure and a favourable shift, enabling her to take the final race win.

This was a fitting season’s conclusion for Charisma which won three events back-to-back, including the class’ World Championship in Portorož in October. Here off Muscat’s Al Mouj Marina today she was best scoring boat, elevating her from fifth place to the bottom spot of the 44Cup Oman podium. It was also enough to secure Charisma the 2022 44Cup title by seven points.

Charisma won the 44Cup in 2018 but this year’s victory was definitive. “In 2018, that was victory in the last race,” recounted Poons. “This was completely different. We even finished third here, which I wasn’t expecting - some of my crew were a bit ill this event. We had three event wins in a row, so this has been a sort of a fall back compared to that. Here CEEREF could only harm us if we did badly, but in the end they did badly.”

Poons was ably supported by his tactician, plus trimmers Chris Hosking, Ross Halcrow and Dimitri Simmons, pitman Ryan Godfrey, grinder Robin Jacobs and bowman Ivan Peute and American coach Morgan Reeser, boat captain Julian Hampe and shore crew Sophie Heritage.

“It was just the experience of the team,” explained Hamish Pepper of their success. “We have been together for a few years now. We are just starting to sail the boat really well 99.9% of the time which gives me the opportunity to place the boat where I want to place it.

“This regatta was about the overall season title. We knew CEEREF was close so we had to keep one eye on them and one eye on the breeze, which was quite intense.”

Aside from a lowly eighth in Saturday’s ultra-light race, Team Nika’s 44Cup Oman performance was exceptional. Their new British tactician Nick Asher has gelled well with the experienced team, despite having sailed with none of the crew before. “It is really pleasant to sail with them and a nice atmosphere on board,” said Asher. “The first two days we weren’t looking for the best start but we were in the race and picked our way through. Yesterday I messed it up a little bit and went for the win, rather than just ‘being in the race’. So we had a bit of a reset today.” Judging from today’s 3-1-5, this worked.

With Team Nika, Artemis Race put in the second best score today. The final minutes of the last race, tactician Andy Horton said were nerve-racking: “I don’t know where Charisma came from on that last run, but the places in that race really affected the season. It was crazy, but it kept everyone on their toes. It was fun!”

The prize-giving was held in the square by the Al Mouj Marina was attended by Omani dignitaries including His Excellency Sultan Salim Saeed Al Habsi, Chairman of the Oman Investment Authority and Dr. Khamis Al Jabri, CEO of Oman Sail. Here Team Aqua owner and RC44 Class President Chris Bake thanked the hosts and complemented Oman Sail’s own crew, Team Asyad Shipping which competed here: “It has been a challenging week. It is a real pleasure having Oman Sail sail with us – it is an ambitious program and their team has done an incredible job.”

Bake concluded: “It has been an incredible year for the 44Cup and we look forward to coming back to Oman for the start for our 2023 season.”

44CUP OMAN RESULTS:

(After 10 races)
1. Team Nika 2 1 2 3 1 5 8 3 1 5 - 31
2. Artemis Racing 9 3 3 2 3 3 2 1 6 2 - 34
3. Charisma 3 2 6 5 8 2 4 5 2 1 - 38
4. Aleph Racing 6 6 1 1 2 4 3 4 8 6 - 41
5. Team Aqua 1 4 7 4 4 1 1 8 4 8 - 42
6. Black Star Sailing Team 4 9 5 8 6 8 5 2 7 4 - 58
7.Peninsula Racing 5 5 8 6 7 6 7 6 3 7 - 60
8. Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 7 7 4 7 5 7 9 7 5 3 - 61
9. Team Asyad Shipping 8 8 9 9 9 9 6 9 9 9 (2) - 87

Penalty points shown in brackets.

44CUP OVERALL RANKING:
(After five events with 1 discard)
1. Charisma 8 1 1 1 3 - 6
2. Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 1 2 2 2 8 - 13
3. Team Nika 2 3 6 7 1 - 13
4. Team Aqua 6 4 3 3 5 - 15
5. Artemis Racing 3 6 4 6 2 - 15
6. Aleph Racing 4 5 5 5 4 - 18
7. Peninsula Racing 7 7 7 4 7 - 25
8. Black Star Sailing Team 12 8 8 8 6 - 30

The forecast for the penultimate day of the 44Cup Oman was for either a moderate northeasterly or a light northwesterly. In fact, the near non-existent gradient breeze and the similarly soft sea breeze made it a tricky day for both race officials and the nine 44Cup teams alike.

Ultimately one race was held, the north-northwesterly wind never exceeding 6-7 knots, but enough for the nimble RC44 owner-driver one designs to make this speed both upwind and downwind.

Starting to weather of the nine boat fleet, Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing was best positioned on the line and after sailing into a big lift up the first beat was able to lead around the top mark. However hanging on to their coattails in second place was not Nico Poons’ World Championship winners on Charisma nor 44Cup Oman leader Team Nika, or indeed any of the A-list 44Cup teams but local host Oman Sail’s own crew on Team Asyad Racing, who had done well making some sensible decisions up the right side.

Racing at the 44 Cup in Oman Photo: Nico Martinez

Despite sailing the former Artemis Racing Youth boat, which for the past season has been made available to aspirant teams wishing to try out racing in the 44Cup, Team Asyad Racing managed to fend off the 44Cup hot shots on the run. They led round the starboard leeward gate mark, a few seconds after Artemis Racing had led around the port mark. After tacking on to starboard, the Omanis dug into a major lift as they crossed the breadth of the course and by the time they had returned to the starboard layline, Team Asyad Racing was leading.

In an impressive display, the Omani crew on Team Asyad Racing had just pulled into the lead when their bowman fell overboard

Sadly for the local team, this proved to be their ‘five minutes of fame’ for while turning at the top mark their bowman was pitched into the water. They put their boat head to wind as their bedraggled crew was returned to them, uninjured save for his pride, by one of the 44Cup’s on the water umpires. They then continued racing.

“It was good, but it went wrong at the top mark. We just tried to hang on until the end after that,” said Team Asyad Racing’s skipper and Oman’s top 49er sailor Musab Al Hadi, admitting that if perhaps he had made the bear away slightly later they might have prevented the MOB. Of their success otherwise today (they ultimately still finished sixth– their best result to date), Al Hadi added: “It was great. It was exciting. We were just trying to keep it cool. If we can just continue matching the other boats…”

Ultimately it was Chris Bake’s Team Aqua that led onto the run. Anticipating the breeze going right, they were quick to gybe and so held their advantage to the finish.

Team Aqua tactician Cameron Appleton commented: “The race was really tricky with a lot of decisions and a lot of thought going into positioning. For us it was a really solid race in the end, but there were a lot of up and downs, trying to balance out the whole fleet versus the wind. We got ourselves out to the right when the breeze went right, and so we were able to lead on to the last run. It went heavily our way and we are really happy that it did.”

Appleton paid tribute to Team Asyad Racing: “They have been sailing a fantastic race and doing a fantastic job. It was unlucky for them that they lost a guy overboard - we felt bad for them.” (Team Aqua themselves had had a MOB incident yesterday…)

A disappointing eighth-place finish in the race for Team Nika saw their carefully constructed six-point overall lead evaporate. They ended the day tied on points with Team Aqua, but second overall on account of Chris Bake’s team having scored three bullets to their two.

Going into the final day the point score is showing the 44Cup’s usual closeness with just one point separating the top three and eight points between the top five. Any of the top seven teams remains mathematically capable of winning.

Tomorrow is the final day of racing, with three races scheduled. Hopefully, there will be more wind – Inshallah…

44CUP OMAN RESULTS:

(After seven races)
1. Team Aqua 1 4 7 4 4 1 1 - 22
2. Team Nika 2 1 2 3 1 5 8 - 22
3. Aleph Racing 6 6 1 1 2 4 3 - 23
4. Artemis Racing 9 3 3 2 3 3 2 - 25
5. Charisma 3 2 6 5 8 2 4 - 30
6. Peninsula Racing 5 5 8 6 7 6 7 - 44
7. Black Star Sailing Team 4 9 5 8 6 8 5 - 45
8. Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 7 7 4 7 5 7 9 - 46
9. Team Asyad Shipping 8 8 9 9 9 9 6 (2) - 60

Penalty points shown in brackets.

After a light start, conditions were optimum off Muscat’s Al Mouj Marina for day two of the 44Cup Oman, the fifth and concluding event of the 2022 44Cup.

Three races were again held, but today the northerly wind peaking at 15 knots, enough to get the nimble RC44 one designs planing on the downwind legs.

Meanwhile, as temperatures elsewhere in the northern hemisphere plummet below freezing, so the air temperature today in Oman remained in the high 20s°C. The only small downside to the otherwise outstanding conditions was the lumpy sea state.

Today’s first race saw Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing (with Dublin Bay's Cian Guilfoyle as Grinder) continuing her winning ways. In today’s first race, they made gains out on the left of the first beat, then found a good lane out to the right, setting them up with a solid lead at the top mark ahead of Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing. Following this with a 2-4, the French team was the lowest scoring boat of the day, elevating it from fourth to second place overall. 

Standing in for Hugues Lepic on the helm for this event is experienced American driver Steve Howe, who, with his father Fred, has successfully campaigned Farr 40s, TP52s and Melges 32s named Warpath. Steve has also previously raced in the RC44 although the last time was in 2013. The competition remains as hot in the 44Cup as it always has been, he maintains: “Everyone is good - there are no breaks out there. Our last race today we had to fight it out around the race course - nothing’s changed.” On Aleph Racing, Howe has old sailing friends like coach Steve Erickson, and crew James Dagg and bowman Greg Gendell.

Of today’s first race, Howe added: “It was hard. We made a good start and Michele [Ivaldi, tactician] did a nice job getting us around the race course. It was puffy, shifty, everything.”

Having a spectacular day was Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing, which didn’t win a race but today was the only boat to score three podium finishes. This was despite an incident in the second race when, after rounding the leeward gate, they tacked ahead of Black Star Sailing Team and Team Asyad Shipping, still charging downwind, and ended up being struck by the Omani RC44’s bowsprit, resulting in them receiving a small hole in their sacrificial stern. “Luckily it was a glancing blow,” explained tactician Andy Horton and they still went on to secure a third place. Back in their berth within the Al Mouj Marina later, they removed their RC44’s sacrificial transom and replaced it with their spare.

Of their day generally, Horton continued: “We battled back really hard. The guys sailed really well and we were in the pack with just good boat handling and speed.” Fortune was also smiling upon them: “We won the little battles today - we had a leeward mark rounding with Team Nika and we came in and had room to go right. If they had been 2m further forward they would have been able to get clear air in front of us and we would have had an awful one… Similarly there were just a couple of crosses and tight lanes that we lived in that were game changers.”

After two mid-fleet finishes, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua won todays’ third race by which time the wind had reached its peak. “I was a bit rusty in the first two races. In the last race we joined the dots up pretty well,” admitted Bake. “We had a good start and powered through and went all the way out on starboard – one tack and in. We got a few favourable shifts. That left corner seemed to have some decent wind channels. It all worked. We just managed to stay ahead of the fleet. We got clear and had a clean downwind. It was hard because the wind was really fluctuating in terms of direction and speed and with the waves it was hard to stay in the groove.”

Several 44Cup owners race with their offspring and today Bake was sailing with his eldest son Andrew, who despite his enthusiastic father’s long tenure in the class has managed, remarkably, to escape racing on the Team Aqua RC44 until this week. “It was a lot of fun,” said Andrew of this new experience. “I left for university in California in 2015 and I only moved back to London in October, so before I wasn’t old enough and then I left, so it just never lined up. Ben [Graham] offered to step down and I stepped up. I would like to stay involved because it is such a fun circuit.”

Team Nika’s run of supreme consistency only came to an end in today’s final race when they posted a fifth, however at this half way stage of the 44Cup Oman they continue to lead with a six point margin, although now over Aleph Racing. Behind it is close with just six points separating second place from Nico Poons’ fifth placed Charisma.

Racing continues tomorrow at 1200 local time (UTC -4 hours). 

44CUP OMAN RESULTS:

(After six races)
1. Team Nika 2 1 2 3 1 5 - 14
2. Aleph Racing 6 6 1 1 2 4 - 20
3. Team Aqua 1 4 7 4 4 1 - 21
4.Artemis Racing 9 3 3 2 3 3 - 23
5. Charisma 3 2 6 5 8 2 - 26
6. Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 7 7 4 7 5 7 - 37
7. Peninsula Racing 5 5 8 6 7 6 - 37
8. Black Star Sailing Team 4 9 5 8 6 8 - 40
9. Team Asyad Shipping 8 8 9 9 9 9 (2) - 54

After a light World Championship back in October in Portorož, Slovenia, the nine teams competing today off Muscat’s Al Mouj Marina at the 44Cup Oman were well dialled in for the opening day of the 2022 44Cup’s grand finale.

Dublin Bay's Cian Guilfoyle is racing onboard French 44, Aleph and is lying fourth.

However, today it was not the turn of Nico Poons’ Charisma, with her newly installed season leader’s golden wheels, to come out on top, nor past 44Cup season winners and World Champions Chris Bake’s Team Aqua but Team Nika, which, across today’s three races, posted a nearly immaculate 2-1-2. And this was despite having a new tactician.

With Team Nika’s regular tactician Francesco Bruni tied up with the Italian challenger for the America’s Cup, his shoes are being filled by British two time 470 World Champion turned pro tactician Nic Asher. According to Asher, the secret today was down to “very good communication. We had a lot of gear changing, and it was quite tough out there. So it was our communication, and we were fast - that was the secret.

Light and shifty for the first day of the 44Cup Oman Photo: Nico Martinez

“It was definitely tough out there, although I quite enjoy the light and shifty stuff. It was a case of keeping everyone calm - a lot can go right, but a lot can go wrong quite quickly. You just had to keep everyone calm and keep doing the right things.”

Still being relatively green to the RC44, Asher was impressed with the high-performance owner-driver one-designs ability to race well even in the lightest conditions: “It’s incredible: At times we had 4-5 knots [of wind], and the boats are still powered up and going - you can race them well in next to nothing. With this class, there is a lot of chat about how you get a lot of racing in. I don’t think a lot of the other classes would have raced today, so there was a lot of learning in those light conditions.”

In the first race, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua did well out on the left of the first beat, leading into the top with Team Nika on her transom, then defending well to take the event’s first bullet. This was followed by Team Nika’s win in the second, again from a good start and claiming the left.

With the afternoon wearing on and shadows getting longer, the third race was claimed by Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing, on which Steve Howe, an American former Farr 40 skipper is steering this week. The French team’s tactician Michele Ivaldi explained: “It was pretty tricky - in the first race we struggled a bit. In the second we had a good start and were launched but then when we got to the left side of the course there was a massive split breeze and fell out of the rightie, so we were then playing catch up. The third race was the same set-up, but we managed to go all the way to the left with speed and then we tacked and crossed all of the fleet and led from then on - which wasn’t easy…”

Given the lightness of the conditions, the day was tricky with the northwesterly gradient fighting with the northerly sea breeze that would occasionally kick in. For most it was a high scoring day. Local fans were thrilled that the Oman Sail crew on board Team Asyad Shipping, sailing their first ever 44Cup were in the mix – huge testament to the progress Oman Sail has made since it was established in 2008 by the order of the then Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said to rekindle Oman’s maritime heritage.

“It was good to catch up with this strong fleet for the first time,” explained helmsman, Musab Al Hadi, Oman’s 49er helm, who is otherwise currently attempting to gain Oman its first Olympic berth.“It should be a good finale regatta. We are just trying to learn as much as we can because it is an opportunity.” So does being the local boat help? “It gives us some tricks, but once again you can have the best tactician but if you don’t have the best helmsman then you can’t go anywhere,” continues Al Hadi. “You need everything – good helmsman, tactician and a good reading for the wind and there you go…”

As a local weather expert, Al Hadi is forecasting more wind tomorrow, perhaps 11-13 knots.

Once again racing is scheduled to have its first warning signal at 12:30 local time (UTC -4 hours). Follow live from www.44cup.org.

44CUP OMAN RESULTS:
(After three races)
1. Team Nika 2 1 2 - 5
2. Charisma 3 2 6 - 11
3. Team Aqua 1 4 7 - 12
4. Aleph Racing 6 6 1 - 13
5. Artemis Racing 9 3 3 - 15
6. Black Star Sailing Team 4 9 5 - 18
7. Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 7 7 4 - 18
8. Peninsula Racing 5 5 8 - 25
9. Team Asyad Shipping 8 8 9 - 25