RC44 World Championship - Team Aqua prepares for action

by Team Aqua on 12 Aug 2014 The RC44 World Championship will take place in Marstrand, Sweden, from August 13 - 17. Team Aqua is more motivated than ever: the Worlds are the only title they haven’t managed to grab yet in this class.

Triple winner of the RC 44 Championship Tour, and involved in the circuit since its beginning in 2007, Team Aqua never managed to win the RC 44 World Championship. This week’s regatta will therefore have a specific flavor, and the team is getting ready for it. 'We started our preparation on Saturday the ninth with the full team sailing on Sunday, in order to train and test sail at the venue,' explains the team’s helmsman, tactician and project manager Cameron Appleton.

Fifteen teams will gather in Marstrand for the RC 44 Worlds. This venue is well known and appreciated in the sailing world since 1994, when it became a stage of the World Match Race Tour. 'We expect to find strong and light winds, rain and sun, big swells and flat seas,' foresees Cam. 'This venue is very unpredictable. It is absolutely beautiful, and some races will probably end up in front of the castle, inside the fjord, although we will mainly be sailing outside.'

Currently in the lead in the match race event and second overall in the fleet regatta - on a tie with Peninsula Petroleum - Team Aqua will play some important points in Sweden. 'It’s an important race and we will be training for a longer time than we usually do. But most importantly, we will try to sail ‘the Aqua Way’: clean and tidy, and hopefully fast and in the right place. We are all fully motivated and we want to be as successful as we have already been in this class. Chris Bake will also join us early; he is very much looking forward to this event.'

Jonatan Ameln, from Stockholm, will be joining the team as part of their youth program. A member of the Swedish Youth Challenge in the Redbull Youth Americas Cup, he has been sailing on keelboats since 2004 and ambitions to become a pro sailor. 'To get the opportunity to be a part of Team Aqua during this event is a dream come true,' he says. 'It is a fantastic chance to learn how to act and work in a pro team. I'm so happy to have been given this opportunity and I will do everything to make the best out of the time I spend with this team.'