Please select your home edition
Edition
Rooster 2025

RC44 World Championships day 1 delivers unexpected results

by Jo Grindley on 18 Nov 2011
RC44 World Championship Puerto Calero 2011 Nico Martinez / RC 44 Class Association http://www.rc44.com
The first day of the RC44 World Championships in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote delivered unexpected results in the form of challenging, shifty conditions which resulted in a shake-up on the leader board for the 14 competing teams.

An unfamiliar face emerged at the top of the leader board, John Bassadone (GBR) and the team from Gibraltar have recruited Italy’s Vasco Vascotto as their pro skipper for the last event of the season. The new team dynamic seem to be paying dividends, as they proved to be the comeback kids of the day. In the days opener they were last around the first windward mark, slowly gaining places on each leg, to finish second, a pattern they repeated in each race.

New tactician Vasco Vascotto had some high praise for the team whose best result so far this season has been a seventh. 'John and the guys did some fantastic manoeuvres and perfect driving in the shifts and we enjoyed it. It’s good. At least one of the days of the Championship has gone our way!'


Two seconds and a fourth give Peninsula Petroleum a slim two point cushion at the top of the leader board, but the team won’t be popping the champagne corks yet though as owner John Bassadone said after racing. 'We start again tomorrow from scratch, we have built into the plan that we might have some bad results during the week. It’s so shifty here that you have to take it on the chin and carry on, which is exactly what we did after the first beat of today, we were literally last but we carried on and managed to climb up the leader board.'


Torbjorn Tornqvist’s (SWE) aim for the week, with Morgan Larson (USA) at his side, is to ensure Artemis Racing is on the podium in Lanzarote this week. Team Aqua may have already won the 2011 RC44 Championship Tour with an event to spare, but second place is undecided. A 4, 5, 1 score-line means the Swedish team are well positioned for both.

'We are aiming for the top like everyone else. It would be nice to finish in the top of the fleet for the last regatta of the season. There are pretty high stakes behind Aqua, so we are going to fight for it.' Torbjorn Tornqvist, owner and helm, Artemis Racing.

Daniel Calero knows the venue better than any, the Calero family own and run the full Marina complex in Puerto Calero, and the home team had a good start to the World Championships. They added a third and seventh to their race win, finishing the day third overall. The conditions tested all the teams on the first day of racing, something it seems that will continue until Sunday.


'I think this week we are going to have a the full range of wind conditions, today we had medium pressure and shifty conditions, tomorrow I think it will be less pressure and we will just have to wait and see how the teams perform in those conditions. After tomorrow (Friday) until Sunday the wind will increase, which will suit us and hopefully we will be able to stay in the top five, which is our goal this week.' Daniel Calero, owner and helm of Islas Canarias Puerto Calero.

No Way Back had an up and down day, winning the first of three by over two minutes, quite a feat in a race that lasted 45 minutes. In the second they could only manage an 12th, but finished well with a third, leaving the Dutch team, led by Pieter Heerema, in fourth overall.

Ironbound had to pull out of yesterday’s match race day due to mass illness onboard, today they came out fighting, finishing the day in fifth overall. What was the mystery illness? Owner David Murphy explained.


'I think there’s been an intestinal bug going around. We had eight of the twelve team members yesterday all face down in bed, ill! So we couldn’t race and they had to go to the doctors to get IV’s and steroids before going home and sleeping it off. But we’re back today and did better. After that start to the regatta the plan for the week is to have fun!'

Team Aqua were in unfamiliar territory today. A seventh place was their best result of the day, leaving them ninth overall.

The RC44 World Championships in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote also doubles as the final event of the 2011 RC44 Championship Tour. There are still two places on the podium to be won in the Tour and today Artemis put themselves firmly in pole position, while the other main contender Team Ceeref have some catching up to do.

The RC44 World Championships continues until Sunday 20th November.


2011 RC44 World Championship Ranking (after three races):

1 Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team 2 2 4 = 8
2 Artemis Racing 4 5 1 = 10
3 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 3 1 7 = 11
4 No Way Back 1 12 3 = 16
5 Ironbound 9 3 5 = 17
6 AEZ Sailing Team 5 7 9 = 21
7 Katusha 8 11 2 = 21
8 RC44 Team Ceeref 6 10 8 = 24
9 Team Aqua 7 8 10 = 25
10 Synergy Russian Sailing Team 12 9 6 = 27
11 Team Nika 10 6 13 = 29
12 Aleph Sailing Team 14 4 12 = 30
13 RUS-7 Sail Racing Team powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com 13 13 11 = 37
14 MAG Racing 11 14 15 = 40



RC44 Class Association Website

Mackay Boats 728x90 BOTTOMHyde Sails One Design Sale 2025Vaikobi Custom Teamwear

Related Articles

The Winner-Takes-All Race
Event format at the 49er, 49erFX & Nacra 17 Worlds could be the best option for the Olympics The 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships just held in Cagliari, Italy, could well be the most important held in the class. Not just that, it may influence how sailing happens at the Olympics.
Posted today at 7:00 pm
Vaikobi's top-rated polarized shades
VIZE+ Polarized Ocean Eyewear - lenses made for the ocean environment With lenses made for the ocean environment, Vaikobi's VIZE+ Polarized Ocean Eyewear is too good to look away. But don't just take their word for it... all their polarized sunglasses have been tested and reviewed by ocean frothers all over the world!
Posted today at 5:30 pm
Thomas Ruyant aims for a three-peat in IMOCA Class
There will be 18 two-handed IMOCAs on the Transat Café L'OR startline The Transat Café L'OR from Le Havre to Martinique, which forms the finale of the 2025 IMOCA season, is now just 12 days away and it's a classic course that has attracted a stellar field.
Posted today at 3:10 pm
A Q&A with Chris Alexander on the 2025 VX One NAs
Chris Alexander on the 2025 VX One North American Championship This year's VX One North American Championship will be hosted by the Gulfport Yacht Club, in Gulfport, Mississippi from October 16-18, and will feature eleven scheduled races on the waters of the Mississippi Sound, near the GYC.
Posted today at 3:00 pm
All change in the Endeavour Trophy
A dramatic twist in the results after a request for redress was reopened by the Protest Committee The 64th Endeavour Trophy has seen a dramatic twist in the results after a request for redress was reopened by the Protest Committee when they realised that a significant error may have been made at the initial hearing.
Posted today at 2:37 pm
Manly 16s Club Championship Heat 3
Crazy doesn't begin to explain the finish Crazy doesn't begin to explain the finish to third heat of Manly's club championship on Saturday.
Posted today at 1:45 pm
Macif renews its commitment to ocean racing
A new IMOCA program 2027-2030 with Sam Goodchild as skipper Macif announces the continuation of its commitment to ocean racing with an ambitious project that will begin in 2027 and end in 2030. The IMOCA MACIF will be on the starting line of the Vendée Globe 2028-2029.
Posted today at 11:01 am
Belgium Ocean Racing breaks Class40 24hr record
452.22 nautical miles at an average speed of 18.84 knots At an average speed of 18.84 knots, a superb performance by the Jonas Gerckens Belgian team competing in the 2nd edition of the GLOBE40 with Benoit Hantzperg and Renaud Dehareng on board for this leg 2, covering 452.22 nautical miles in 24 hours.
Posted today at 5:37 am
America's Cupdate: October 10, 2025
Sailing Illustrated's Tom Ehman and Sail-World's Richard Gladwell dissect the America's Cup. Sailing Illustrated's Tom Ehman and Sail-World's NZ Editor, Richard Gladwell discussed the latest developments in the America's Cup, last Friday/Saturday (depending on your time zone) on sailing's only regular live video podcast.
Posted today at 5:23 am
Sydney - Auckland Ocean Race: Lucky wins
The USA registered pocket maxi Lucky, formerly Rambler 88, has taken line honours in the Sydney Auck The USA registered pocket maxi Lucky, formerly Rambler 88, has taken line honours in the Sydney Auckland Ocean Race - crossing the Tasman in in just 68hrs. Four yachts are still racing.
Posted today at 2:12 am