New boats, new teams and new events: the RC 44 Class is in good shape!

[Source: RC44 Class Association] The RC 44 Class announces the arrival of two new teams, the construction of two new boats, a new event in the United States and the renewal of its partnership with SLAM for the next two years.

The RC 44 Class is pleased to announce the arrival of two new top level teams, who will join the Championship Tour before the end of the year.

Synergy, the Russian team for the America’s Cup led by Karol Jablonski – a veteran of the RC 44 Class – plans to join the Tour during the first official Class World Championship: the RC 44 Puerto Calero Islas Canarias Cup (October 11-16). Also confirmed, an American team will join the Tour during the Oracle RC 44 Cup Miami on December 7-12 at the latest.

The RC44 fleet has just arrived in Port America's Cup for the RC44 Valencia Cup. Valencia, 9 July 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Both teams have already confirmed that they will compete in 2011. Their new boats are currently being built at Pauger boatyard, in Hungary. They will be the RC 44’s no 23 and 24. Pauger is the only licensed RC 44 builder and it has built all the RC 44’s involved in the Championship Tour.

The RC 44 Class recently announced its project to expand to North America. The first regatta on US territory, the Oracle RC 44 Cup Miami, will take place on December 7 – 12 in South Beach Marina; it will be the closing event of the Tour 2010. “I really look forward to competing in Miami”, says RC 44 founder and co-designer Russell Coutts. “First of all because it is a beautiful sailing venue, but also because it is a symbolic step for the RC 44 Class as it will be the first time we race on American territory. Our goal is to develop a parallel circuit in the USA, and to see the European and American fleets meeting during several events, including the yearly World Championship.”

Following the Oracle RC 44 Cup Miami, the first regatta of the Championship Tour 2011 will also take place in the United Sates (west coast) whilst other regattas will be organised on American waters in the coming years.

The RC 44 Class is also pleased to announce that its historical partnership with SLAM has been extended until 2012. SLAM is the RC 44 Class’ official clothing supplier; it provides the Class management, umpires, race officials and guests with technical clothes that are particularly well adapted to their work.

The RC44 fleet has just arrived in Port America's Cup for the RC44 Valencia Cup. Valencia, 9 July 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Russian team wins opening final race at La Maddalena

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] Russia's SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team were unstoppable today, winning their semi-final match 2-0 and then defeating Emirates Team New Zealand in their first final match.

Today’s semi-final was the faceoff between new teams featuring familiar faces and SYNERGY won, defeating the French/German team All4One 2-0. It was a sweet victory for the boat that placed fifth in the round robin, beating the top-seeded All4One skippered by German three-time German Olympic gold medallist Jochen Schümann and steered by leading French match racer Sébastien Col.

The two semi-final races in light air marked the first time in America’s Cup history that a Russian-flagged boat has reached the final of a Louis Vuitton-sponsored event. The new Russian team with a mixed Russian and international crew was prominent in its first Louis Vuitton Trophy event, finishing third in Nice last year. Her Polish skipper, Karol Jablonski is one of the world’s top match racers and steered the Spanish boat Desafio Español to the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia in 2007.

The winds were light all day and Jablonski and his crew had to wait into early evening before their race against Emirates Team New Zealand. The Kiwi skipper Dean Barker deftly avoided a pre-start dialup, negating the starboard tack entry advantage of the Russian boat but Jablonski and his Kiwi tactician Rod Dawson won the pre-start battle and the start. The Kiwis came back to dominate the first three legs until the Russians took over at the last top mark.

"We are happy. It's been a tough match,” Jablonski said. “The race is never over until it's over. Obviously we had a good day at the office and tomorrow hopefully we have another one... You have these days when everything works fine for you and other days nothing works. But today we had a good day. The crew work was good, we had good communication, and Rod is making good calls. We did a good job and we're pleased with the result."

Semi-final Two, Race One: SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team def. All4One, 00:31 – A picture perfect starboard tack start, on time at the pin, launched the Russians out to an early lead of 64 metres. However Jablonski’s lead evaporated at the end of the first run as he chose the wrong gate. Sébastien Col accelerated away from the opposite gate to claim the advantaged left side and build a 30 second lead at the top. Both boats made poor roundings but it was Synergy which reclaimed the lead to finish first. Describing his sudden break for the pin in the pre-start, Jablonski said: “We gybed early and took a risk and turned back early because we liked the left. My job was made easy by the other boat. We had a long journey in this race.”

Semi-final Two, Race Two: SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team def. All4One, 01:15 – All4One’s early move to break clear of a dialup ended French/German hopes in the race and the semi-final. Col got clear and sailed away but gybed, returning early to the line. Jablonski followed, and hooked and broke the collision wand on All4One’s leeward quarter. Col was over early in his efforts to wriggle clear and was forced to restart, carrying a penalty. SYNERGY romped away in a building breeze.

Final Race One: SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team def. Emirates Team New Zealand, 00:34 – Jablonski was aggressive in the pre-start as the teams circled, almost getting a hook on the Kiwi boat and forcing them away towards the committee before he made a speedy start at the pin. The Kiwis tacked to start on starboard close to the committee. Dean Barker gained slowly on a long drag race well beyond the port tack layline and held Jablonski out to round the top mark first. They were level at the end of the run and the Russians worked the left to cross ahead of the Kiwis on port approaching the weather mark. Ray Davies, ETNZ tactician said: "It was a bit disappointing. A really good start and good first beat. We had a bad gybe set, but were still comfortably ahead. The left gate was closer, but it wasn't a nice rounding. We took the favoured gate but coughed up quite a lot. He was getting good pressure on the left and we protected the wrong side on the second beat... Those guys sailed a really good race... We let ourselves down a bit. It wasn't our smoothest day on the water."

Final Provisional Results

Final Race One SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team def. Emirates Team New Zealand

Semi-final Provisional Results

Semi-final One: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Artemis, 2-1
Semi-final Two: SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team def. All4One, 2-0

Round Robin Results

1. All4One, 6-3, 6 points

2. Artemis, 6-3, 6 points
3. Emirates Team New Zealand, 6-3, 6 points

4. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 6-3, 5 points *

5. SYNERGY Russian Sailing Team, 5-4, 5 points
6. Azzurra, 4-5, 4 points

7. TEAMORIGIN, 4-5, 4 points
8. Luna Rossa, 3-6, 3 points
9. BMW Oracle Racing Team, 3-6, 3 point
10. ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-7, -2 points *

* Penalties deducted by Jury/Umpires

Ben Ainslie unstoppable at the Omega Auckland regatta

[Source: Emirates Team NZ] British triple Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie and his Team Origin crew continued to dominate the Omega Auckland Match Racing Regatta today and by the end of racing were the only team to have secured a semi-final berth.

Despite his fairly untroubled progress through to the semi-finals, Ainslie said there were no easy wins. “This is probably the toughest group of match racers I have ever sailed against in a single regatta,” he said.

Racing was called off early as the wind deserted the course and became too unstable for fair racing – in contrast to yesterday’s predicament when the yachts were sent off the course because of too much wind.

By the end of racing today, six out of the nine scheduled flights in the second round robin had been completed. Ainslie had amassed a combined score over both round robins of 13 wins and 2 losses.

Dean Barker will have to race flawlessly in order to advance into the semis. Auckland, 5 March 2010. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team NZ

Behind him in second place were Karol Jablonski of Poland on 9-6 and Adam Minoprio (NZL) on 9-7. Bertrand Pace (FRA), Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and Dean Barker (NZL) were all 1pt back on 8-7 – but Minoprio, had sailed one more match than the other front-runners, so the results are slightly deceptive.

With three flights remaining to complete the second round robin, Ainslie had done enough to secure a semi-final slot, but the logjam beneath him left the other three semi-final places up for grabs.

The match of the day once again proved to be a local derby between Barker and his Emirates Team New Zealand crew and reigning world match race champion Minoprio and his young BlackMatch crew.

This was a real cliff-hanger, with Minoprio recovering from a port-starboard penalty to come from behind and win the match by 1 second.

“It was very difficult conditions today,” said Ainslie, referring to the combination of a powerful ebb tide and very light, shifty winds. “So far we have managed to be on the right side of things, so we are looking forward to racing in the final four.

It hasn't been smooth sailing so far for the Louis Vuitton Cup holders. Auckland, 5 March 2010. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team NZ

“Some of the top match racing teams might struggle here, because the conditions are quite unconventional,” said Ainslie, who has plenty of experience of sailing in Auckland from his time with Emirates Team New Zealand in the lead up to the 2007 America’s Cup. He is also familiar with big tides and shifty winds from his home waters on the south coast of England.

Racing is scheduled to resume on the Waitemata Harbour on Saturday with the remainder of Round Robin Two still to complete, plus the semi-final and final.

Round Robin One Results after 15 Flights
Ben Ainslie (GBR) 13-2
Karol Jablonski (POL) 9-6
Adam Minoprio (NZL) 9-7 (having raced one more match)
Dean Barker (NZL) 8-7
Bertrand Pace (FRA) 8-7
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) 8-7
Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 6-9
Francesco Bruni (ITA) 6-9
Sebastien Col (FRA) 5-11(having raced one more match)
Chris Dickson (NZL) 4-11

Video: Karol Jablonski talks about Synergy in the Louis Vuitton Trophy

Without any doubt Karol Jablonski and the Russian Synergy team turned out to be the protagonists of the 2 round robins of the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Although crewed by excellent sailors, Jablonski himself helmed Desafío Español to the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals in Valencia 2 years ago, this regatta is the first time ever Synergy raced in America's Cup Class yachts.

Not only haven't the Russians made a fool of themselves, they are currently standing 4th overall with 6 wins and 4 losses and have secured their spot in the semifinals, even with one race remaining against Emirates Team New Zealand. Our friends at BTS Broadcast talked to Jablonski this afternoon.

Karol Jablonski talks about Synergy in the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Nice, 16 November 2009. Video copyright BTS Broadcast

Semi finalists set at Louis Vuitton Trophy

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] Synergy secures spot in top four with thrilling win over Azzurra.

There’s one match outstanding to complete the round robin at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur, but the four semi finalists are confirmed.

Emirates Team New Zealand will win the round robin and have the opportunity to select its opponent in the semis. Team New Zealand didn’t race today and has one match remaining, against upstart Synergy Russian Sailing Team, but the veteran team led by skipper Dean Barker has a 9-1 record and cannot lose the top spot.

The Kiwis will pick their opponent from a group including TeamOrigin (8-3) of the U.K., Azzurra (7-4) of Italy or Synergy. After starting the regatta 0-3, the Russian crew today won its fifth consecutive match and sixth out of seven with a hard-fought victory over Azzurra. Synergy now stands at 6-4.

The second half of the leaderboard has Artemis (5-6) in fifth, BMW Oracle Racing (4-7) in sixth, All4One (3-8) in seventh and TFS – PagesJaunes (1-10) in eighth. These four teams will race a knockout round to determine places 5th though 8th concurrent with the semi finals.

“We’re getting stuff done, but it hasn’t been easy,” said Peter “Luigi” Reggio, principal race officer for the regatta. “The last two days have been very similar to each other, unlike the eight or so before that; every day was different. In the last race we had 13, 14 knots. In the second flight we started to see whitecaps. We haven’t seen those since last Tuesday.”

After the morning northerly blew itself out today the wind shifted to the east and built. Synergy ensured its advance to the semis with the win over Azzurra in a classic match race.

The two crews were rarely separated by more than two boatlengths, but there was only one “Y” flag requesting a ruling from the on-water umpires. It was in the pre-start and it was green.

Synergy again got the right-hand side of the start line and Azzurra started at the pin. The Italians quickly tacked to port once on the racecourse and a tacking duel ensued up the 1.4-nautical mile leg to the windward mark with Synergy protecting the right side of the course.

There were stretches where the two yachts sailed overlapped on the same tack for up to 2 minutes, with neither showing a real speed edge. During one stretch on port tack Synergy, to leeward, was able to foot out and force Azzurra to tack away. Synergy then covered in a windward position and drove the match to the port layline to round the windward mark with an 8-second advantage.

The delta was down to 5 seconds at the leeward gate, but Synergy bumped it back up to 15 seconds at the second windward mark.

Azzurra was making a charge on the run to the finish, having closed to within one boatlength. But after a jibe to port Azzurra hardened up to roll over the top of Synergy. Then, with the asymmetric spinnaker loaded, the sail split from luff to leech just below the head patch. Race over.

“I think Synergy was strong on us but by pushing to edge we thought their spinnaker might blow. It was a 50-50 chance,” said Francesco Bruni, Azzurra skipper. “That was one of best races I’ve ever sailed in Cup boats. I really enjoyed it. Every leg was close and each crew did a fantastic job.”

Despite the closeness at that stage of the race, Synergy skipper Karol Jablonski felt in control of the match. He was positioned to leeward and ahead and it would’ve been a long way around for Azzurra.

“These spinnakers are more for downwind sailing so when you heat up you don’t go faster. The sail just loads up,” Jablonski said.

Although the leaderboard is determined, the pairings for the semi finalists and knockout round won’t be announced until after tomorrow’s race. The match between Emirates Team New Zealand and Synergy is scheduled to start at 1210 CET.

Other matches today included BMW Oracle Racing defeating Artemis by 36 seconds, TeamOrigin beating All4One by 48 seconds, Azzurra beating BMW Oracle by 1:01 and Artemis defeating TFS – PagesJaunes by 1:03.

Artemis leads BMW Oracle approaching the weather mark in the last match of today. Nice, 16 November 2009. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann / www.go4image.com

Russia's Synergy on cusp of semi-finals at Louis Vuitton Trophy

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] Emirates Team New Zealand scores two wins to wrap up round robins.

Synergy skipper Karol Jablonski and tactician Rod Dawson were wearing huge smiles dockside and expressing their pleasure over a job well done when Philippe Mourniac from All4One approached. “Great job, guys. It was awesome to watch on TV,” said Mourniac, the Franco-German team’s navigator.

Synergy had recently completed a wire-to-wire win over TeamOrigin, restructuring the order at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur as perestroika revamped Russian politics in the 1980s.

Great comeback victory for Team Origin in their race against BMW Oracle. The Americans are definitely struggling in this trophy. Nice, 15 November 2009. Photo copyright Ian Roman / Team Origin

Synergy today won two races and now occupies fourth place on the leaderboard with a 5-4 record, 1 point behind third-placed Azzurra. Synergy has two matches remaining in Round 2 and a victory in at least one would ensure advancement to the semi-finals.

“That would be an accomplishment. But we still have to win it,” said Jablonski, the 47-year-old skipper from Poland. “Today we had a good day and we’re happy with our performance in this event. Before the start, who would’ve counted on us going forward?”

The semi-finalists took shape today with Emirates Team New Zealand wrapping up the round robins. Kiwi skipper Dean Barker came out victorious over BMW Oracle Racing and TFS – PagesJaunes and leads the event with a 9-1 record.

England’s TeamOrigin holds second at 7-3. Italy’s Azzurra didn’t race today but remains in third place at 6-3. Synergy is fourth followed by Artemis at 4-5. BMW Oracle Racing is sixth (3-6), All4One seventh (3-7) and TFS – PagesJaunes eighth (1-9).

It was a tough day for Terry Hutchinson, Paul Cayard & Co on Artemis. The Swedish team was defeated by Russian Synergy. Nice, 15 November 2009. Photo copyright Sander van der Borch / Artemis

“The big deal for us is getting into the top four, and I think we’re comfortable,” said Ben Ainslie, TeamOrigin skipper. “It’s about getting better and trying to get results in the semi-final sail-offs. All the teams are battling a bit with the conditions and boats and trying to get used to it all. Like everyone else, we’re trying to get better.”

If a few breaks had fallen differently in Round 1, Synergy might be placed even higher. The team lost a heartbreaker to Emirates Team New Zealand just five lengths from the finish line. It lost another match that it led when the mainsheet broke. Despite the setbacks, the learning curve has remained vertical.

“The important thing for our team is the atmosphere,” Jablonski said. “We went through a difficult time at the beginning. If something goes wrong there are a lot of possibilities for the team to explode or not be happy, but we are holding together. We have good attitudes.”

That attitude was evident when Synergy took down TeamOrigin. Jablonski started to the right of Ainslie, won the first cross on the right side of the course, and opened a lead at the first windward mark that wouldn’t be overcome on the short, two-lap course.

Paul Cayard climbs up the mast to sniff the wind. Nice, 15 November 2009. Photo copyright Sander van der Borch / Artemis

“Both sides wanted the right, but we didn’t want it with a bad start,” Ainslie said. “I thought we were in position to make their start tough, but they did a good job squeezing around the committee boat. It’s good to see those guys doing so well,” Ainslie continued. “They’ve got some great sailors. It’s good to see that when they get the boat handling side figured out they’ve got some smart sailors who know what a wind shift is and can figure it out.”

Three flights remain to complete the second round robin over the next two days. And although the semi-finalists are taking shape, the day still belonged to Synergy, even if they have to scream at each other.

“We don’t have a communications system on board, so we have to talk loud to make sure everyone’s on the same page,” Jablonski said. “The communication with the guy up the rig is difficult because he has to scream. But it doesn’t matter. It’s in Russian half the time so no one else can understand!”

Great victory for Synergy. If the Russians win one of the two remaining races in RR2, they secure their ticket to the semis. Nice, 15 November 2009. Photo copyright Sander van der Borch / Artemis

Emirates Team NZ, unbeaten, leads Louis vuitton trophy

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] Italy’s Azzurra of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda won today its first match of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur while Emirates Team New Zealand survived a hair-raising finish to keep its record perfect.

Azzurra scored the victory it was denied on Saturday when it defeated BMW ORACLE Racing of the U.S. Two days ago the Italian crew, led by skipper Francesco Bruni, was 200 metres from the finish line when the 20-minute leg time limit expired.

Today, the Italians scored an emphatic win of 2 minutes and 56 seconds to the pleasure of YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadero, who rode with his team as 18th man, and displeasure of BMW Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who was among his team’s afterguard.

“The team did a very good job all over the course,” said Bruni, the skipper from Sicily. “We didn’t feel robbed Saturday; we understand rules are rules. We wished the race committee had shortened the course, but we’re all learning. We are very happy about this point, it was very important for us.”

The two crews took split tacks onto the racecourse with BMW Oracle on starboard and Azzurra on port. Each crew got the side it wanted, but the wind shifted to the right and gave the Italians an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish.

“They got the first good shift and we were behind from there,” said BMW Oracle strategist Cameron Dunn of Australia. “We were happy coming off the line where we were, but the conditions were changing very quickly. When we came back at them the wind shifted right and they were wound up to layline. From there it was a soldier’s course, marching along. They sailed very well, so good on them.”

Emirates Team New Zealand entered its match against Russia’s Synergy Team with a perfect 2-0 mark while Synergy was 0-1. For a while it appeared that each team’s zero would be wiped from its scoreline. In the end this turned out to be the most exciting match of the regatta still in its early days.

Synergy led Team New Zealand by four to five boatlengths within 10 lengths of the finish line in very light and shifty winds. Then the Kiwis found a private puff and rolled over the top of the Russian team, which was dead in the water, and won by 22 seconds.

The Kiwis kept their record perfect at 3-0 and Synergy dropped to 0-2. The loss was crushing for Synergy skipper Karol Jablonski of Poland, who rallied his crew to lead the match after being over early at the start.

“Yeah it hurts,” said Jablonski, a match race world champion and three-time DN Ice Boat world champion. “I knew it was going to be tough to the finish because I could see the finish line and there was no wind at it. Everything can happen in one puff. We couldn’t do anything.”

The Kiwis kept their heads down and persevered. After rolling Synergy the spinnaker blew back into the rig, so the crew dropped it on deck and crossed the finish line without a headsail.

“We’ll take the point, but it’s not the kind of conditions we want to sail in,” said Dean Barker, Emirates Team New Zealand skipper. “We worked hard to get back at them. They would gain, then we would take back some of it, but it looked like there was no way around them.”

The two matches were the only ones completed as regatta organizers were once again frustrated by very light and shifty winds. Racing for the day was postponed at 1430 CET when the Bay of Angels was calm. Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio holds out the hope that tomorrow he can complete four flights, or eight races.

“If the breeze cooperates we can do four flights; that’s not an issue,” said Reggio. “We’re starting to see the sun shine now and we haven’t had that all weekend. We’re hoping the sun will do its work and make the area come true to form with a northerly in morning and southeasterly in afternoon.”