2010 ORC International European Championship starts tomorrow

[Source: ORC] Over 400 sailors participating on 34 teams representing four countries will be on the starting line tomorrow for the first day of the 2010 ORCi European Championship. Competition will run through Sunday, 11 July in the beautiful blue Sardinian waters off Cagliari’s Poetto beach, with the event organized by the Legale Navale Italiano, in collaboration with the Union of Offshore Sailing Italian (UVAI) and the Italian Sailing Federation (FIV) and Offshore Racing Congress (ORC).

"Once again, Cagliari and its sea is the backdrop to a prestigious sailing event. We are sure that the history and hospitality of this city and the quality of the sea will captivate all participants in this major championship that we are honored to host," said Sergio Rossi, Chairman of the organizing committee.

In addition to the prizes awarded to the top finishers in two divisions, ORC is also offering an overall Owner/Driver Prize. “For the first time ORC recognizes the importance not just of Corinthian crews, but of those owner/helmsmen and their contribution to the overall performance of their boat,” said Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC.

The Races

The championship is contested over five days, with a total of 9 races scheduled. Seven will be inshore (windward-leeward) race, and two will be sailed over a long course with a length between 75 and 90 miles: the first half will be scored as one race, and the second over the full course length, with each worth 1.5 points and the long race unavailable for discard. Only one race can be discarded if all nine races are completed in the format.

All races are scheduled to start at 1100 local time, and the boats are divided into two groups depending on the size, with the title of European Champion awarded to the winner of the two groups.

The Race Committee is chaired by Sandro Ricetto (ITA), and the International Jury is headed by Zoran Grubisa (CRO).

Participants

There is a high level of competitive pedigree among the boats berthed at the venue’s wharf. These include Alvarosky (ITA), fresh off winning the ORC National Championship of the Tyrrhenian Sea, with her aggressive and flashy graphics; Bohemian Express (CZE), who continues to dominate the race scene in the Adriatic; Coconut (ITA), among the winners at the last Naval Academy trophy; and the new Comet 50 Verve Dahlia TV (ITA) with Lorenzo Bodini at the helm and America’s Cup tactician Francesco de Angelis.

Other notable teams include the Grand Soleil 42 MAN with Tommaso Chieffi, and Saphira, the First 50 skippered by World Match Racing Tour skipper and GP42 helmsman Paolo Cian. There is also the Comet 45 Us One Night with GP42 tactician Gabriele Bruni, the N/M 43 Nautilus Waves, and winner of the Riva di Traiano Winter Series Trajan with Mauro Pelaschier on tactics.

What do the competitors expect for the event?

“I expect a medium light wind between 10-15 knots all week, which could help here,” said Francesco Mongelli, tactician on Fral 2. “There are not many opponents here, but all are definitely well-qualified, so we just have to get out on the water and see where we stand. The long race with 3 points in a single course will play an important role in the rankings, because it cannot be discarded.”

“We came from the World Championship win last year [in Brindisi] and so we are racing against the same opponents in search of revenge,” said Giorgio Grassi at the helm of the M37 Low Noise. “We hope for good racing and the wind to assist us, though we are of all similar speed so it will be a tough week.”

“With this boat we won the Winter Series in Riva di Traiano and Tropheo Academia della Navale,” said Mauro Pelaschier, tactician on Nautilus Wave. “So here we feel competitive, though there are many boats we do not know and will be able to evaluate after the first races. On board we made only small adjustments and minor corrections to the rating to gain a few seconds / mile, plus a few new sails. The location here is very central, well connected to the city and is very beautiful. There is also life after racing, right?”

“We are a very united group,” said Zennaro Henry, helmsman on MAN,
“and all friends, so we think this team spirit is our strength. On board with us as tactician is Tommaso Chieffi, with Sandro Montefusco as the mainsail trimmer and sail designer. Richard Bartholomew, the owner of MAN, comes in Cagliari with a crew entirely made up of seasoned professionals and very well together as a team. The boat has not done many races this year but is still absolutely the Italian offshore sailing champion of 2009.”

Inshore racing starts tomorrow at 1100, with two races planned off the beach at Poetto.

For more information about the 2010 ORC European Championship, visit the event website at www.orceuropeans2010.com

Paolo Cian to defend his Korea Match Cup title

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] Seasoned sailing pro, Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia will be defending his Korea Match Cup Champion title again this year with flight 1 kicking off in South Korea on 9 June. Cian currently ranked 5th on the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) standings, only 4 points behind icon of the sailing world Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN, has consistently retained a top 10 position on the ladder for an astounding 6 years. He has celebrated two Bronze Medals at the World Match Racing Tour Championships as well as winning the 2009 Korea Match Cup.

Cian, who started his racing passion at only 6 years old, is a strong believer in the power of team work. The skipper with a distinctive Italian flair will be racing with a different team set up since Korea Match Cup last year and is confident in their match racing abilities, “I’m working with a new configuration this year and the guys are very promising and motivated”.

The match racer will be coming straight from winning a very different kind of regatta where he skippered a 50 foot yacht to victory in a traditional Mediterranean Sea offshore event. Cian mixes his professional level match racing with time spent helming a range of race yachts including; GP42s, X-35s and Maxis. His main love however, will always be match racing compared to big boat fleet racing, “Everything happens so much quicker in match racing, the umpire is right there to tell you who is right and who is wrong and you never end your day with a long discussions in a jury room”.

This will be Cian’s third WMRT event of 2010, he has completed all of the sailing series circuit to date and is a keen participant in the Tour, “I’m a strong believer in match race competition to keep improving all your sailing skills, to me it’s always a great challenge to participate in World Match Racing Tour events”. He feels his team are provided with the best quality of training actually in the early stages of the WMRT events as it is hard to set up top level match racing team training in his home nation, “We do not have sparring teams and so we can only practice during the early stages of the events”.

Team Italia are expecting light to medium wind conditions on the tidal flats of Gyeonngi which Cian knows he can excel in against some of the world’s toughest competition. The 2009 Korean WMRT event was a huge success for Cian and he puts this down to being very focused as a team, “We came very focused and found the right mode during the quarters”. This experienced racer is not one to dwell on ‘strategy’ for winning he instead will wait and see what Korea Match Cup holds for him, “I search for the best mental condition race after race”. He sights all entries as potential contenders to be crowned 2010 Korea Match Cup Champion as he feels skippers come to the WMRT events at the ‘top of their condition’.

Having previously been part of the Masclazone Latino and Shoshloza syndicates, Cian is able to compare the Tour circuit to America’s Cup style campaigns, “On the Tour most of the time you sail against AC teams and skippers, the level of the competition is the same as the AC racing and the boats on the WMRT are easier to handle so you see a different approach to boat on boat tactics”.

South Korea grows annually in popularity from the world’s top sailors as a premiere race event destination and Cian is a notable fan of the venue, “I really think that all aspects of Korea Match Cup are very well managed and developed year after year”.

Cian is already looking towards competing in the 2011 ISAF World Match Racing Tour and puts this decision down to sourcing sufficient funding for next year’s sailing series.

Korea Match Cup 2010 Skipper List:
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing
Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team
Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team
Gunwoo Park (KOR)
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing

Video: TV New Zealand reports on the challenges teams face with the unknown boats

TV New Zealand's Martin Tasker sends another interesting report from the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series and the continuing preparations, especially of the 8 teams that will have to race on the BMW Oracle and Emirates Team NZ yachts.

Gavin Brady and Paolo Cian, helmsmen of Greek Challenge and Shosholoza respectively, talked about the feeling at sailing these boats. Brady, former BMW Oracle helmsman, pointed out that they had 5 years at the American team in order to get ready for the America's Cup while the Greek team has only 5 days. Despite the fact there are more medalists on the Greek team than BMW Oracle, the learning curve is extremely steep. On the other hand, for Cian it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn their secrets. A few months ago they would have paid a fortune to do it while now it's free, according to the Italian match racer.

Even Ben Ainslie, helmsman for Team Origin, has to take things slowly. The former second helmsman of Emirates Team NZ might know the boats and his kiwi opponents inside out, he will have to tame his aggressive sailing in order not to ruin the event by crashing the yachts on the first day.

Martin Tasker reports on the strange sights of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series . Auckland, 25 January 2009. Video copyright TV New Zealand

Paolo Cian wins Open de España - Soria Natural

Paolo Cian and his Shosholoza crew were the winners of the 5th edition of the Open de España - Soria Natural, the ISAF Grade 1 match racing event that took place from April 8th to 12th in Calpe.

It is Spain’s most important match racing event and the only to have the newly-established title of qualifier regatta for the World Match Racing Tour. These events, although not forming part of the circuit, play a significant role since the winners are invited to one of the World Match Racing Tour’s official stages. Each WMRT stage can have up to two qualifier events, and Calpe’s Open de España –Soria Natural winner gets a slot to the starting line of the Saint Moritz Match Race, held in the Swiss city, from September 2nd to 7th.

Unfortunately, today’s racing took place under very difficult and demanding conditions, very similar to Thursday and Friday. There was a constant fight between the sea and land breeze that resulted in constantly fluctuating and shifting winds. These trying conditions put race officials at test and forced them to cancel racing twice during the day.

The semifinals started at around 12pm and Cian faced Russian Andrey Arbuzov whom he beat without great difficulty 3 to 0. In the other semifinal, Presti had to face the young up-and-coming Australian, and last year's winner, Torvar Mirsky. After losing the first race, Presti finally prevailed over the young Australian by 3 to 1. A penalty at the 3rd race and unforgivable crew errors at the 4th one cost Mirsky the spot in the finals of the event.

Presti continued his winning streak into the first race of the finals. After a close prestart, he crossed the starting line two boatlenghths ahead of Cian and never lost his lead. Cian was unable to pass him and lost the race.

In the following two races, Cian demonstrated his excellent match-racing skills and the reason he's third in the ISAF Match Racing rankings. He had a plan, to force Presti to commit errors and get penalties and he stuck to it. Presti received two penalties, one at the top mark of the second race and another one during the prestart period of the third and last race. Although Cian never managed to gain a great lead, the late-afternoon excruciatingly light conditions (as seen in the photos) meant it was impossible for Presti to make up the lost distance after offloading his penalties.

In addition to Cian, Shosholoza's crew consisted of Teva Plichart, Pierluigi de Felice and Pierluigi Fornelli. During the 32nd America's Cup, Plichart was grinder with Areva Challenge while de Felice was a trimmer at Mascalzone Latino.

Philippe Presti racing against Torvar Mirsky in the semifinals. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Everybody's yelling on the two boats but Philippe Presti was not right. He got a penalty. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The young Australian sailor gets furious as he sees his chance to the finals go away. Not only was he penalized, he lost precious time at the beginning of the last leg as his crew was unable to hoist the spinnaker. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian racing against Andrey Arbuzov during the day's first semifinal. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian racing against Andrey Arbuzov during the day's first semifinal. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian and Philippe Presti during prestart of the first race. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing


Paolo Cian sailing in the first race. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian and Philippe Presti during the first leg of the first race. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Final run of the first race between Paolo Cian and Philippe Presti. It was a close race but Presti held on to his advantage from start to finish. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Philippe Presti squeezes in at the top mark of the second race and gets a penalty. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Paolo Cian sailing in the last race of the finals. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Philippe Presti sailing in the last race of the finals. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Happy faces for Paolo Cian and his Shosholoza crew after beating Philippe Presti 2-1. Calpe, 12 April 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Extreme conditions ... and surprising defeats at the Marseille International Match Race

[Source: Marseille International Match Race] The first flights were launched at 10am this morning in Marseille.

The everpresent wind stayed at around 30 knots for most of the day. Tough conditions for the teams, who all hoped it would get lighter during the afternoon. Towards 12, the race committee even considered postponing racing as the sailing conditions were getting really hard, but sportsmanship held the day and the flights went ahead.

Then from 4.30 pm onwards the wind dropped, the spinnakers came out, and the storm jib and reefs were replaced. At last the real match racing show could begin with tightly fought duels.

Jure Orel, Sébastien Destremau, Bertrand Pacé and Damien Iehl are the four skippers to leave the tournament after the round robin.

Bertrand Pacé and Philippe Presti during the second day of the Marseille International Match Race. Marseille, 13 March 2008. Photo copyright Gilles Martin-Raget

They said

Mathieu Richard, World ranking list leader, First in the round robin
"We are really pleased and surprised with our performance. We are just starting our season with the MIMR after a long winter break, and we've won all our matches, it's brilliant. We've been able to adapt to the extreme sailing conditions over the two days. We've been able to sail all our matches with the spinnaker which is an advantage.

We are very surprised by the results of the round robin and the elimination of the two French skippers Iehl and Pacé who I thought were favorites for the final.

Damien Iehl, 8th in the world
The upset of the day was the elimination of Damien Iehl, member of the French Match Racing team.

"We've had a really long and hard day's sailing – we're not used to these conditions with lots of wind and waves, having to sail without a spinnaker, all a bit strange. We started the day with two successive losses which were hard for the team's moral. We found it hard getting back into the race. At the end of the day, when we were already pretty tired, we had to race against the leaders ... We are obviously disappointed, but we'll be back!

Sébastien Destremau, 629 world ranking, knocked out of the competition today
"We haven't done any match racing for 5 years. We are slowly coming back into the circuit this season. Finishing with just 2 points isn't great! The sailing conditions were really tough during the first two days: our team doesn't have the right reflexes and coordination yet. We had to fight the boat, the waves... The conditions were too tough for a warm-up. We could have won some matches, but we need more training. But whatever else, we had a fantastic time on the water and would like to congratulate the organizers for the welcome and great organization of this event."

Paolo Cian and Torvar Mirsky during the second day of the Marseille International Match Race. Marseille, 13 March 2008. Photo copyright Gilles Martin-Raget

Provisional Results of Round Robin
1. Mathieu Richard 10/10
2. Sébastien Col 8/10
3. Paolo Cian 8/11
4. Mads Ebler 6/11
5. Torvar Mirsky 6/11
6. Evgeny Neugodnikov 6/11
7. Andrei Arbuzov 5/11
8. Philppe Presti 5/11
9. Bertrand Pacé 4/11
10. Damien Iehl 4/11
11. Sébastien Destrémau 2/11
12. Jure Orel 1/11

The top seeds win it all at Marseille International Match Race

[Source: Marseille International Match Race] The first day of racing went ahead on Wednesday in Marseille.

The sailing conditions faced by the teams were very difficult in spite of the everpresent sunshine: 25 knots and heavy seas: "we reached the limits in terms of possible weather".

In theses conditions, where luck doesn't really come into it, the standing order was respected, so it will not come as a surprise that the three top seeds (Richard, Cian and Col) won all their races easily.

The toughest match of the day was a Franco-French duel between Presti and Iehl – which the former ended up winning.

At the close of the day, the sailors and organizers were all clearly satisfied.

They said

Paolo Cian, ITA, World n°3 – Won all his matches today ...
We are pleased with today's results. The MIMR marks our return to competition after a long winter break. Our performance is motivating and promising for the rest of the regatta and the world championship. We are always happy to come back to Marseille; this is our third time at the MIMR. The level is constantly rising and
we were overjoyed to be invited to this sixth edition. The sailing conditions are tip-top and the organisation – both off-shore and on-shore – is faultless.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the French sailing federation which has put a lot into Match Racing. 5 French sailors in the top 15 in the World – and 4 of them are in Marseille ...

Torvar Mirsky, AUS, World n°11 – 1 st participation in the MIMR
This is our first time ever in Marseille and in the MIMR. In the training sessions we got to know the sea. A lot of waves, which is unusual for match-racing in Europe. But we like it – it"s a lot of fun to sail in these conditions. With these windy conditions, sailing is very physical and we like it! Our objective in the MIMR is
to sail as well as possible: like at Pornichet we can beat everyone here, but the competition is really tough, the level of the event is really high...

Results after 7 flights
Mathieu Richard 4/4
Paolo Cian 5/5
Sébastien Col 4/4
Evgeny Neugodnikov 3/5
Damien Iehl 1/2
Torvar Mirsky 1/2
Philippe Presti 2/2
Andrei Arbuzov 0/2
Mads Ebler 4/7
Jure Orel 0/7
Bertrand Pace 2/7
Sébastien Destremau 1/7

Paolo Cian talks to Valencia Sailing

Thursday was day off for most of the teams in Valencia and we visited the Shosholoza base to talk to Paolo Cian, helmsman of the first ever South African America's Cup challenger. Despite the calm in the rest of Port America's Cup, the South Africans were busy preparing Saturday's unveiling ceremony, allegedly full of surprises.

Valencia Sailing: Louis Vuitton Act 13 and the Louis Vuitton Cup are just around the corner. What are your expectations?
Paolo Cian: Our first goal for Louis Vuitton Act 13 is to get the extra bonus point and pass from 1 to 2. In order to assure that we have to be ranked above both +39 Challenge and Areva Challenge. Obviously, all our preparation has been focused on the Round Robins of the Louis Vuitton Cup. This has been our program since the first day of sailing in 2007 with the modified RSA-83. As you know, the boat has undergone major changes in hull shape and appendages and there has also been a massive improvement in the sail program. We are very happy with the performance of the boat, especially in the light to medium-air range. For that reason I'm confident we can earn points no only against our similar-level teams but even against the bigger ones.

Valencia Sailing: Captain Sarno has stated many times that his goal for Shosholoza is to reach the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals. Is that just a beautiful dream or a feasible target?
Paolo Cian: No, I don't think it's a dream. It is clearly related to wind conditions. The three top teams (Emirates Team NZ, BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa) have what I call a statistical advantage. They are the most reliable in the majority of conditions. But I wouldn't be surprised if one of them was beaten by a smaller team in a day with out-of-range wind conditions. If you have one or two days with wind out of your range and start losing 1 or 2 points it wouldn't be impossible to get out of the semifinals, even for a big team.

Valencia Sailing: Why should this happen only to bigger teams and not the smaller ones as well, like Shosholoza?
Paolo Cian: Of course, but there are more small teams ready to steal points in their conditions. Even if you are a strong team and get caught out of your usual range and start losing 2-3 points in ranges where smaller teams could beat you, it's not that difficult to get in trouble. As a result, I think that getting into the semifinals is a feasible goal, obviously not only for us but for Victory Challenge, Desafío Español, of course, as well as Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team and Areva Challenge. It's going to be tough though for all of us.

Paolo Cian at the helm of RSA-83 (Press play to start video)

Valencia Sailing: Concerning your performance, I have personally watched a number of your training races against other challengers and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. Should we pay any attention to these results? Do they reflect the real situation of the teams?
Paolo Cian: The teams that are on the same level normally will do their best to win a training race. I don't think either that a big team racing a smaller one would want to lose, even in training. Now if you see a big gap, maybe the bigger team pulled back in order not to increase it even further. On the other hand, if the race is close you should watch it carefully and know at what moment the leader got in front and took control. I wouldn't be surprised if the bigger teams are in control since the start of the race but even if a smaller teams starts in front, it is difficult to overtake.

Valencia Sailing: So, these results are important and reflect the conditions of a team.
Paolo Cian: Yes, but don't forget that a fresher sail of a newer-generation shape can make a difference. Teams don't always train with their best gear. In my opinion, the observer of a training race must take into account the whole picture; wind conditions, sea state, sails and the key moment of the race. If it's a split race or a controlled one since the beginning. If there is an even start and a tacking duel that keeps to the weather mark then the performance of the two boats is very similar. Every race has its own story and in order to interpret the result you need to know the whole picture.

Valencia Sailing: There is a general consensus that Shoholoza is one of the teams that improved the most in the last year or so. Is this entirely due to your and Tomaso Chieffi's arrival or has the whole team greatly improved?
Paolo Cian: There are two important factors to remember. First, if you are near the bottom of a group, you have much more room to improve considerably. When you have reached a stage of last refinements, it is very difficult to see the change, even if it exists. In addition, it is normal for a young team to improve. It is the whole team that got better and in my opinion the biggest improvement took place since the last Louis Vuitton Act, last July. For this reason we are very happy with the work on the boat, the sails and the way we sail this boat.

Valencia Sailing: Did the fact that you are now the only helmsman have also a positive effect?
Paolo Cian: That decision was taken by the whole team together with Captain Sarno. I find it similar to the decision Areva Challenge took to have Sébastien Col as their helmsman. The reason we changed the configuration of the afterguard was the departure of Dee Smith. He was the tactician and Tomaso and I took mutually agreed the most consistent decision would be for me to helm the boat, as a match racer, and for him to call tactics and focus on race management.

Paolo Cian at the helm of RSA-83. Valencia, 11 October 2006. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia Sailing: How does the modified RSA-83 feel? In what areas do you see the most improvements?
Paolo Cian: I think the boat is faster and more maneuverable. One of her weakest points in the past was maneuverability in prestart, especially at a low speed. She mainly didn't like cutting corners. Now she is much better and it is really impressive to see the difference after the modifications.

Valencia Sailing: How does she compare to the rest of the new fleet?
Paolo Cian: I think we now can rotate the boat as quick as the other teams and we can play real match race in prestart. She is now much more competitive in all conditions and prefers the light to medium range. I don't think, unless we see some big surprise in Unveiling day, that any team has pushed their design to a direction focused on strong breeze. Of course, we know that two-boat teams have in advantage in match racing.

Valencia Sailing: That was exactly going to be my question. A couple of other smaller teams have two boats. Is that a disadvantage for you?
Paolo Cian: It depends on the way you manage it. It is not easy to manage two boats and I think that probably, Victory Challenge, Desafío Español and Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team did a good job and carry out high-level in-house races. On the other hand, the relaxation of the rules allows us to carry out match races with other teams and this is very efficient because you have two A teams fighting each other, instead of an A team against a B team. In an in-house race one of the boats is always stronger in a given wind range and as their names imply one team is inherently better than the other one. All in all there is a small disadvantage in having just one boat but in our case it's not that important.

Valencia Sailing: Last but not least, which of the challengers is in your opinion the strongest?
Paolo Cian: I think that up to now, Emirates Team NZ show having the best preparation. I'm sure they worked very well during their winter training in New Zealand. BMW Oracle is also very well prepared although they were slightly slower with their first boat USA-87. They changed her dramatically, a sign they were unhappy with her performance. All the other challengers also worked hard here in Valencia but still Team New Zealand is the strongest in my view.

Valencia Sailing: Thanks a lot. I suppose I can't wish you good luck.
Paolo Cian: No! Never to an Italian!