Please select your home edition
Edition
North Sails Loft 57 Podcast

Gearing up for the GC32 Villasimius Cup

by GC32 Racing Tour on 14 Jun 2017
Flavio Marazzi's ARMIN STROM Sailing Team - GC32 Villasimius Cup Jesus Renedo / GC32 Racing Tour
America’s Cup-style foiling catamaran racing will be coming to Sardinia in just two weeks’ time when the GC32 Racing Tour visits Villasimius in the southeast corner of the Italian island.

The GC32 Villasimius Cup will mark the Sardinian debut for the GC32s, which fly around the race course like the America’s Cup catamarans are doing in Bermuda, but are identical one designs and have conventional, easier to handle soft sail rigs rather than wings. Still capable of speeds well above 30 knots, the flying catamarans are campaigned on the GC32 Racing Tour by a mix of professional sailing teams including Olympic medallists and those with owner-drivers.

Of the seven teams competing at the GC32 Villasimius Cup favourite is Realteam, skippered by Jérôme Clerc. Last month in Riva del Garda at the first event of the 2017 GC32 Racing Tour, Realteam came out on top in an exclusively Swiss podium ahead of Team Tilt, which this week is one of the favourites in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in Bermuda.



For Villasimius it will be the first time a major international yacht racing event has been held in its magnificent waters. As Gianluca Dessi, Mayor of the city of Villasimius, said: 'In order to promote the unique qualities of our region, sport is a strategic channel. Hosting a stop on the international GC32 Racing Tour is an opportunity to discover the 'Polynesia of the Mediterranean' - the wind paradise and all its forms of life, which is our city.'

GC32 Racing Tour competitors are also eager to try racing in this virgin sailing venue. The Realteam skipper says of the conditions he anticipates in Villasimius compared to Lake Garda: “We expect strong winds and bigger waves, being at sea. It will surely be a good technical challenge. We will use our experience training in Barcelona at the beginning of this year with this particular venue.”



According to Clerc, Realteam will continue racing with their new line-up for this season that includes former crew from Team Tilt and Team ENGIE. “In Riva we saw that we could compete among the best. We intend to keep up the pressure and to continue making progress, although the others will progress too.”

Third last month in Riva del Garda, Flavio Marazzi and his ARMIN STROM Sailing Team, complete with Rio 2016 49er bronze medallist Erik Heil on the helm, will be hoping to make progress up the 2017 GC32 Racing Tour championship leaderboard as will France’s Team ENGIE skippered by Sebastien Rogues.

Competition is also expected to be fierce between the three owner-driver teams racing in their own, as well as the overall championship: Jason Carroll’s Team Argo, present leader of the 2017 GC32 Racing Tour’s owner-driver championship, and Mamma Aiuto! of Japan’s Naofumi Kamei and the ever improving Malizia - Yacht Club de Monaco of Pierre Casiraghi.



However all eyes will be on the new arrival this season on the GC32 Racing Tour – in Spanish sailing star Iker Martinez and his Movistar - Ventana Group team. The Spanish campaign is being supported in its participation at the GC32 Villasimius Cup by Ventana Group, the Turin-based meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions company with whom the GC32 Racing Tour has partnered for a second season in the organisation of its Italian events.

“We are super happy that they are joining the team. Their support will make a difference, allowing us to go to Villasimius and do some training there, because we need more hours,” said Iker Martinez, best known for his two Olympic medals in the 49er skiff class as well as skippering the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race entry Telefónica. “We will try and have a good event as we can to make them happy.”



Movistar - Ventana Group is in Palma this week training with her crew that now includes tactician Juan Ignacio Maegli, who represented Guatemala in the Laser at the last three Olympic Games. He missed the GC32 Riva Cup due to a back operation. “We’re happy to have him on board but when you have a crew change you have to take time to get them all working together well as a team again,” said Martinez.


Hyde Sails 2024 - One DesignMackay Boats 728x90 BOTTOMMySail 2025

Related Articles

Rooster - Supporting Women in Sailing
Here to amplify women's voices, create better gear, and help shape a more inclusive future At Rooster, we're proud to be part of a movement that's putting women at the forefront of sailing - not just on race day, but every day.
Posted today at 8:00 am
5.5 Metre German Open in Warnemunde day 1
Race wins go Beta Crucis and New Moon III New Moon III (BAH 25, Christoph Burger, Kim Chabani, Peter Vlasov) is the early leader after two races in great conditions at the 2025 5.5 Metre German Open in Warnemunde.
Posted today at 7:59 am
Casa Vela Cup 2025 at St Francis Yacht Club Day 2
Another flawless day for top-ranked French skipper Pauline Courtois and her team Another thrilling day of racing with top-ranked French skipper Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy Elite Team continuing their unbeaten streak with fifteen straight wins in the qualifying round robin stage, asserting a dominant lead.
Posted today at 5:18 am
XR41 shines at Fyn Rundt with 1st and 2nd in class
Formula X and Xbox dominate prestigious Danish regatta under new conditions In a weekend of challenging conditions and fierce competition,the high-performance racer secured 1st and 2nd in its class, and 4th and 5th overall out of 220 boats at the prestigious Fyn Cup, a 145-nautical-mile regatta around Denmark's island of Funen.
Posted today at 4:20 am
Team Racing Worlds at Newport, RI, Day 1
Tricky conditions & challenging 2v2 format tests Team Racing fleet Gray skies, intermittent rain and shifty light winds were not enough to dampen the energy and enthusiasm on Narragansett Bay for Day 1 of the Team Racing World Championship under way at Harbour Court.
Posted today at 3:02 am
16th 151 Miglia-Trofeo Cetilar preview
Registered entries for the race now total 229 This will be the fourth event in the International Maxi Association's 2024-25 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge, which began with last October's Rolex Middle Sea Race.
Posted on 29 May
Sailors look ahead to 20th Ida Lewis Distance Race
PHRF will have its own share of excitement this year Set for its 20th running in 2025, the annual Ida Lewis Distance Race has solidified its reputation as a well-organized, competitively challenging overnight offshore event.
Posted on 29 May
Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta day 2
Moat and Gelliceaux are class leaders The second day of racing at the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta and Southern Wind RendezVous was characterised by a light northerly breeze, which went on to drop below an initial 10 knots and swing slightly to the east.
Posted on 29 May
76th Wilson Trophy at West Kirby
24 teams included five from the USA and four from Ireland Thirty-four of the best teams in the world competed over two and a half days for the coveted Wilson Trophy, including five teams from the USA and four from Ireland. The event used a Swiss League round robin format followed by the knockout stages.
Posted on 29 May
America's Cup fillibustered by Challengers
A Cup in turmoil - Protocol is unsigned - with entries due to open on Sunday. Updated story: America's Cup got underway in Rome on Monday, with Round 2 of the official welcoming ceremonies on Wednesday in Naples. However three teams are working in collusion and have again issued statements within minutes of each other.
Posted on 29 May