Team Aqua and Cro-A-Sail dominate the Portoroz Cup

[Source: RC44] The team from the United Arab Emirates confirms its domination in the Portoroz Cup by winning the first Round Robin of the match racing event. With Cameron Appleton at the helm, Team Aqua (6 wins / 0 defeats) is however still under big pressure from Cro-A-Sail before RR 2.

Chris Bake's Team Aqua carries on impressing – and dominating - its competitors in the Portoroz Cup. With Cameron Appleton at the helm, the team from the UAE won its six matches of the first round robin. One point behind is Cro-A-Sail, followed by another newcomer in the RC 44 circuit: Ekipa 44. Having won – and lost – three races, the Slovenian team is on a tie with Team Beecom (JPN) and Team Omega (IRL). But they take the third spot thanks to their results in the direct confrontations. Beecom finishes fourth whilst Team Omega, with Russell Coutts at the helm, ends up in fifth.

It was a grey day today in Portoroz, with winds ranging from 5 to 12 knots and a light rain at times. But this didn’t stop the racing from being extremely intense and the show impressive. Indeed, luffing matches, crew members falling overboard and tensed situations were frequent occurrences.

Round robin 1 of the Portoroz Cup. Portoroz, 30 March 2007. Photo copyright Portoroz Cup

Following their impressive performance in the fleet race, Team Aqua is collecting the dividends from two intensive training sessions in Dubai this winter. Their good results are also due to a hugely experienced crew, led for the match races by kiwi sailor Cameron Appleton. “I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had today”, he commented. “The concept is great; this class really is a breath of fresh air in the world of sailing.”

Sailing on a new RC 44 with three new crew members, Russell Coutts and his team still need to fine tune their boat and improve their maneuvers in order to be fully competitive. They also need to keep their crew members on board, two of them having tasted the temperature of the Adriatic… Also sailing under their potential, Mascalzone Latino’s sailors haven’t managed to win a single match today. But they plan to train hard and ambition to step the ladder soon.

Tomorrow, the teams will finish round robin two before sailing more fleet races on Sunday to conclude the event. The general ranking of the Portoroz Cup will be a combination of match and fleet racing.

Round robin 1 of the Portoroz Cup. Portoroz, 30 March 2007. Photo copyright Portoroz Cup

They said:

Cameron Appleton, match race helmsman, Team Aqua:
“This was the first match race we sailed together and my first match since over a year, so we didn’t have huge expectations. Our strategy was to try to concentrate on a clean, smooth, simple sailing. Obviously, we have over-exceeded our expectations.”

Gasper Vincec, Ekipa 44:
“We haven’t had much time to practice, so we can consider ourselves happy with our result although I am not surprised: I know how good our team is. I am personally a fleet sailor but I discover match-race and I love it. I also love the RC 44 class. The boats are like dinghies to sail: they are nervous, fast & fun. At the helm, they respond immediately. I think this is much more fun than fleet racing. I am only 25 years old. Match racing is certainly a direction I will explore in the future.” (Note: Gasper Vincec is one of the world’s best Finn sailors)

Matteo Savelli, Mascalzone Latino:
“The sailing is great but our results are not up to our expectations. The crew is very young; they are my friends. But we are obviously not at the right level. We have been doing a lot of mistakes during the manoeuvres and my starts weren’t always good. Vincenzo Onorato will join us once the America’s Cup is over and we will build a more competitive crew.”