2010 Oracle RC 44 Cup Miami

[Stuart Streuli]

RC 44 Championship Tour heads to the US


The ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami will take place next month (December 7 – 12) in the United States, followed in March 2011 by the RC 44 San Diego Cup (March 2 – 6).


November 4, 2010 – A record number of entries – fourteen strict one design RC 44’s – will compete in next month’s ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami (December 7 – 12). The event will be followed by the RC 44 San Diego Cup (March 2 – 6), whilst some teams will also compete in Key West Race Week in January.

The ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami will be the final stage of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2010. The annual ranking is currently led by Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison’s BMW ORACLE Racing, ahead of Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back and James Spithill’s “17”.

BMW ORACLE Racing leads the fleet, match race and overall rankings. However, the American team is on a tie with Chris Bake and Cameron Appleton’s Team Aqua in the match race event whilst third placed No Way Back – the winner of last year’s Championship Tour - sits three points behind the leader in the fleet race contest. Needless to say that all three rankings (fleet, match and overall) remain open, with only five points between the leader and fifth placed Team Aqua in the overall ranking.

A new American team will join the RC 44 Championship Tour in Miami: David Murphy’s Ironbound, with Ian Williams (GBR) at the helm for the match races, bringing the total number of entries to fourteen following the recent arrival of Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) and Peninsula Petroleum (GBR). Commenting his arrival in the RC 44 Class, David Murphy said: “We’ve entered this fleet because it represents the highest level of competition in sailing today. What could be better than competing against the best on a level playing field? IRONBOUND is in the house!!!”

The RC 44 fleet will stay in the United States over the winter, with some teams competing in Key West Race Week in January before heading to the West Coast for the RC 44 San Diego Cup (March 2 – 6). Commenting about this event, Russell Coutts – who won the America’s Cup in San Diego for the first time in 1995, before winning the event three more times in 2000, 2003 and 2010, said: “I really enjoy racing in San Diego and I am looking forward to a great regatta”.

Racing will take place directly in front of the Broadway Pier, site of the Event Village. “We're excited to be bringing the RC 44 event to San Diego in 2011. San Diegans are huge fans of sailing and the RC 44 event will be a highly competitive international regatta bringing the best sailors in the world to America’s Finest City,” said John Laun, President and CEO of SEA SD. “The new Port Pavilion at the Broadway Pier will be a spectacular venue for race fans to view these races.”

The Port of Pavilion on Broadway Pier will showcase a gorgeous improvement to San Diego’s dynamic and diverse waterfront built by the Port of San Diego. Built to be an environmental gem, the Port Pavilion is an ideal venue for waterfront activities such as this international sailing competition when not in use as an impressive arrival terminal for cruise-ship visitors.

The RC 44 Cup will be run by Sailing Events Association San Diego (SEA SD), a new organization which promotes major sailboat racing events in San Diego for the benefit of the local economy. John Laun, President and CEO of SEA SD has enlisted an experienced Board including Chuck Nichols, President of both the America’s Cup ’95 and the San Diego Super Bowl Host Committee in 1998; Troy Sears, owner of Next Level Sailing which provides sailing experiences on the SD waterfront; Mike McDowell, CEO of the San Diego Lodging Industry Association; Ray Ashley, President of the Maritime Museum of SD; Alan Kidd, head of the San Diego Sports Commission; Sharon Cloward of the Port Tenants Association and many other leading San Diegans. The Event Coordinator for the RC 44 races is two-time Olympic sailing medalist, JJ Fetter. More information on SEA SD is available on: www.sea-sandiego.org The RC 44 Cup will be supported by the SD Tourism Marketing District, a non-profit group dedicated to improving San Diego tourism.

[MLovett]

Nov 30

One week to go to the RC 44 Championship Tour Grand Finale

The winner of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2010 will be crowned at the end of the regatta, alongside the match race and fleet race champions. The ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami will also be the first ever RC 44 regatta on US territory.

November 30, 2010 – Miami, Florida, will host the sixth and final regatta of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2010 on December 7-12. Organized by the RC 44 Class Association, the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami will reassemble 14 strict one design RC 44’s.

The event will be special in many ways. Indeed, it will be the first ever RC 44 regatta on US territory; it will reassemble a record number of entries and it will be the culmination of the season, with the overall, fleet and match race titles awarded to the best teams and sailors of the year.

The ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami will start on December 7-8 with the match race contest, featuring some of the world’s best champions of the discipline such as Terry Hutchinson and Paul Cayard (USA), or America’s Cup winners Russell Coutts (NZL) and James Spithill (AUS).

The second part of the event – December 10-12 – will be dedicated to fleet racing, with the team owners at the helm.

The RC 44 Championship Tour 2010 will be awarded to the best team in the combined fleet race / match race rankings. With one last event to complete, the annual ranking is currently led by Larry Ellison’s BMW ORACLE Racing (USA). Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back (NED), James Spithill’s “17” (USA) and Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis (SWE) are within reach and will be fighting hard to grab the title.

The first regatta of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2011 will also take place in the US, in San Diego, on March 2-6 whilst five teams will compete in Key West Race Week in January.

[MLovett]

Dec 6

RC 44 class debuts in American waters off Miami Beach

MIAMI (6 December 2010) – In style befitting a class brimming with talent, the 2010 championship of the RC 44 Class will be decided this week at the season’s final event, the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami.

Leading the fleet after the first five events is BMW ORACLE Racing, led by Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts. The crew has the low score of 8 points and leads Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back, last season’s champion, by 2 points.

Two crews are tied for third, James Spithill’s 17 and Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis Racing, while Chris Bake’s Team Aqua holds fifth with 13 points.

With such a tight grouping and a windy forecast over the next few days the standings could well see a shuffle. A cold front that has pushed across the South Florida region brought with it cooler temperatures and strong northwesterly winds.

“We haven’t changed our setup since the previous event in the Canary Islands,” said BMW ORACLE Racing mainsail trimmer Dirk de Ridder of the regatta where BMW ORACLE Racing placed second overall. “We have used all our sail cards and are ready to slide back into action.”

Ray Davies, the pro helmsman and tactician for No Way Back, sees many opportunities to overtake the leader. The racecourse will be to the north of Government Cut instead of the south, which will make the predicted offshore breeze shiftier.

“It’s good that it’s all come down to the wire, it’s all on,” said Davies of New Zealand. “And with a few more boats in the class there’ll be plenty of opportunities to make up the 2 points we’re behind.”

The ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami represents the class’s first foray into U.S. waters. The fleet is the largest ever for an RC 44 event with 14 boats on the entry list including newcomer David Murphy and Ironbound.

“We have entered this fleet because it represents the highest level of competition in sailing today,” said Murphy, who has attracted an all-star crew including pro helmsman Ian Williams of Great Britain, a match racing specialist, and tactician Kevin Burnham of the U.S., a gold medalist at the 2004 Olympic Regatta in Greece.

Another American, William “Doug” Douglass, is set to helm the yacht 17 in the fleet racing portion of the regatta, which requires amateur helmsman as classified by ISAF, the world governing body for sailing.

Led by Spithill, 17 won the RC 44 World Championship in October and now Douglass, a veteran campaigner of the Farr 40 and Melges 32 one-design classes, will try his hand later this week.

“We’re looking forward to working him in the crew,” said Spithill, the skipper of 17. “The fleet is loaded.”


ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami Entry List
(Based on overall season standings)
1. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) Larry Ellison/Russell Coutts – 8 points
2. No Way Back (NED) Pieter Heerema/Ray Davies – 10 points
3. 17 (USA) William Douglass/Jimmy Spithill – 12 points
3. Artemis (SWE) Torbjorn Tornqvist/Terry Hutchinson – 12 points
5. Team Aqua (UAE) Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton – 13 points
6. Team Sea Dubai (UAE) Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser – 19 points
7. Katusha (RUS) Bob Little/Paul Cayard – 21 points
8. Ceeref (SLO) Igor Lah/Rod Davis – 26 points
9. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero/Jose Maria Ponce – 34 points
10. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team (AUT) René Mangold/Christian Binder – 38 points
11. Mascalzone Latino (ITA) Vincenzo Onorato/Francesco Bruni – 43 points
12. Peninsula Petroleum (ESP) John Bassadone/Inaki Castaner – 47 points
13. Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) Maxim Logutenko/Evgeniy Neugodnikov – 48 points
Debutante: Ironbound (USA) David Murphy/Ian Williams




Notes to the editor:

The RC 44 is a light displacement, high performance One Design sailing boat. It was designed by four-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts, together with Slovenian naval architect Andrej Justin. The RC 44 was created for top level racing in international regattas under strictly controlled Class Rules. The concept and the design features of the RC 44 are dedicated to the amateur helmsmen racing in fleet and match racing sailing events. The Class partners are: Oracle and SLAM (official clothes).

For more information, high resolution photos and video footage please contact:

Bernard Schopfer
bernard.schopfer@maxcomm.ch
M: +41 79 332 11 76

MaxComm Communication
media@maxcomm.ch
P: +41 22 735 55 30

www.rc44.com

If we have wrongly contacted you with regard to the RC44 Class Association, please accept our sincere apologies.
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[MLovett]

ORACLE RC44 Cup Miami off to rollicking start


MIAMI (7 December 2010) – The RC 44 class made its debut in American waters today in conditions that make Miami a renowned racing venue: a northwesterly breeze gusting over 20 knots and the boats planing around the racecourse north of Government Cut at speeds of 17 to 20 knots.

The ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami commenced today with the 14-boat fleet split into two groups of seven for preliminary match racing. If time permits by mid-Thursday, semifinals and a final will be held for the top two from each group.

Wintertime racing off the southeast coast of Florida has long been a sailor’s playground. The sun is brilliant, the water is warm and the conditions usually challenge the best of crews.

Although the Northern Hemisphere winter is still officially two weeks away, chilly temperatures this morning had the sailors thinking it came early. The passing of a cold front helped stir up the strong northwesterlies, and the fleet completed eight flights of five matches for 40 races in total.

In Group Alpha, Cameron Appleton has Chris Bake’s Team Aqua tops in the group with a 5-1 record, followed by Harm Müller-Spreer and Markus Wieser in Team Sea Dubai. Sea Dubai actually posted a 6-0 record, but had penalty points applied by the umpires.

In Group Bravo, Terry Hutchinson guided Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis to the top of the group with a 5-1 record. Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino enjoyed its best day since returning to the class and is second at 4-1 with one flight to complete the round. BMW ORACLE Racing, with Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts, is third at 4-2.

The conditions taxed many of the crews, who were sore from being thrown about the light-displacement yachts, but none other than Daniel Calero’s crew aboard Islas Canarias Puerto Calero. The Spanish crew from the Canary Islands was forced out of action with a broken mast before morning had turned to afternoon.

Islas Canarias had just completed a jibe in its Flight 1 race when the mast broke about five feet above the gooseneck, where the boom attaches to the mast, and the spar went over the port side.

“We had just completed our jibe when we heard a big crunch," said Calero. “There wasn’t much we could do to save the mast."

Crewman Carlos Hernandez jumped into the warm Atlantic Ocean to help the crew recover some of the sails and disassemble the rigging so the mast could be brought back aboard the yacht for the motor to the harbor.

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero returned to shore where the crew began stepping a spare mast that the RC 44 Class Association has available at each regatta for just such an incident.

“This is the good side of this class, there’s a mast ready to go and we’ll be ready to race tomorrow," said Calero. “We were enjoying the great conditions today and can’t wait to get back out tomorrow."


ORACLE RC44 Cup Miami Day 1 Quotes

Cameron Appleton, Team Aqua: “We came off the water with one loss and that was good on a day like today. It was very shifty. Wind started out with puffs up to 28 knots or more, we saw the first rig come down in the class, and everyone seemed to be handling the conditions in different ways. It was a good test for the crews. A really good crew was rewarded today by sailing the boats well. Today was tricky because of a little cross swell and change in pressure. It kept us all on our toes.

Francesco Bruni, Mascalzone Latino: “We’re very happy, obviously. We had four good starts. We’re making big progress from Valencia to here and are now starting to win some races. We’re learning the boat more and more. It’s normal to struggle in the beginning, but now we’re learning again. We had 20 knots, sunny and breezy. It was puffy, shifty, a very nice challenge. It was just a bit too cold, but everything else was brilliant."

Pieter Heerema, No Way Back: “Today was exciting, a beautiful wind but tough. Lots of people had problems in boathandling. That makes the sailing exciting. We had an up and down day. We sailed well, no problems with the boathandling, but we didn’t always grab the opportunities we created for ourselves. At a certain point you just have to nail it."

Terry Hutchinson, Artemis: “It was an incredibly difficult day. Our guys sailed very well. This was our first regatta since Dubai where we had any training prior to the first day of racing and it showed. Sailing north of Government Cut (the channel leading to Miami Harbor) was pretty good. The course gave options for both sides to work."

Harm Mueller-Spreer, Team Sea Dubai: “We had six wins, good boatspeed and very good starts. We had a bit of bad luck in the second to last race because we hit the Russians (Synergy Russian Sailing Team). But our boathandling is good, the maneuvering is good and the feeling for the pre-start is good. I feel very comfortable. First off we had not so much wind and then it increased to 25 knots or more and slowly decreased all afternoon."

Ian Williams, Ironbound: “The boat’s fantastic. The best thing is that you only have eight guys and lots to do. Everybody needs to pull their weight and be aware of what’s going on, doing right things at the right time. It makes it a great challenge as a team to do well."


ORACLE RC44 Cup Miami Provisional Results
(Through 8 flights)
Group Alpha
1. Team Aqua (UAE) Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton – 5-1, 5 points
2. Team Sea Dubai (UAE) Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser – 6-0, 4 points*
3. Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) Maxim Logutenko/Evgeniy Neugodnikov – 2-3, 2 points
3. No Way Back (NED) Pieter Heerema/Ray Davies – 4-2, 2 points*
3. Katusha (RUS) Guennadi Timtchenko/Paul Cayard – 2-4, 2 points
6. Peninsula Petroleum (ESP) John Bassadone/Inaki Castaner – 1-4, 1 point
7. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero/Jose Maria Ponce – 0-6, 0 points
(* penalty points applied)

Group Bravo
1. Artemis (SWE) Torbjorn Tornqvist/Terry Hutchinson – 5-1
2. Mascalzone Latino (ITA) Vincenzo Onorato/Francesco Bruni – 4-1
3. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) Larry Ellison/Russell Coutts – 4-2
4. 17 (USA) William Douglass/Jimmy Spithill – 4-2
5. Ceeref (SLO) Igor Lah/Rod Davis – 2-4
6. Ironbound (USA) David Murphy/Ian Williams – 1-4
7. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team (AUT) René Mangold/Christian Binder – 0-6

[MLovett]

ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami hits wind block

Strong winds on Day 1 are followed by no wind and a lack of racing

MIAMI (8 December 2010) – After yesterday’s wet and wild start to the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami, the regatta ground to a virtual halt today with a lack of wind.

After waiting all day for the wind to build, Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio was forced to abandon the day’s schedule at 1520 hours with insufficient breeze on the racecourse.

The loss of the semifinal round today sees the event advance to the match racing final tomorrow morning where Chris Bake’s Team Aqua, led by Cameron Appleton, will square off against Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis Racing, with Terry Hutchinson as skipper. The two crews won Group A and B, respectively, with 5-1 records.

Additional racing will take place as follows:

3rd and 4th place: Synergy Russian Sailing Team vs. Mascalzone Latino

5th and 6th place: BMW ORACLE Racing vs. Team Sea Dubai

7th and 8th place: 17 vs. No Way Back

9th and 10th place: Katusha vs. Ceeref

11th and 12th place: Ironbound vs. Peninsula Petroleum

13th and 14th place: Puerto Calero Islas Canarias vs. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team

Each match is a one race sudden death, winner take all. Event organizers have moved the start time forward by an hour to 1100 with the hopes of completing each match.

No racing will be conducted after 1300 as the afternoon is set aside for practice for the fleet racing portion of the regatta, Friday through Sunday.


ORACLE RC 44 Cup Match Racing Provisional Standings

Group Alpha
1. Team Aqua (UAE) Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton – 5-1, 5 points
2. Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) Maxim Logutenko/Evgeniy Neugodnikov – 3-2, 3 points
3. Team Sea Dubai (UAE) Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser – 5-1, 3 points*
4. No Way Back (NED) Pieter Heerema/Ray Davies – 4-2, 2 points*
5. Katusha (RUS) Guennadi Timtchenko/Paul Cayard – 2-4, 2 points
6. Peninsula Petroleum (ESP) John Bassadone/Inaki Castaner – 1-4, 1 point
7. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero/Jose Maria Ponce – 0-6, 0 points
(* penalty points applied)

Group Bravo
1. Artemis (SWE) Torbjorn Tornqvist/Terry Hutchinson – 5-1, 5 points
2. Mascalzone Latino (ITA) Vincenzo Onorato/Francesco Bruni – 4-1, 4 points
3. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) Larry Ellison/Russell Coutts – 4-2, 4 points
4. 17 (USA) William Douglass/Jimmy Spithill – 4-2, 4 points
5. Ceeref (SLO) Igor Lah/Rod Davis – 2-4, 2 points
6. Ironbound (USA) David Murphy/Ian Williams – 1-4, 1 point
7. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team (AUT) René Mangold/Christian Binder – 0-6, 0 points