RC44 Austria Cup - Consistency is key

by Jessica Gray on 14 May 2011 RC44 Austria Cup's second day of fleet racing on Lake Traunsee.

Oracle Racing has remained on top after day 2 while Team Aqua rose into the second place. Katusha dropped back down to fourth after a tough opening race saw only seven boats finish within the time limit.

Oracle Racing crossed the line eighth – but picked up nine points - (last finishing position plus two points) along with Nika, Puerto Calero, Ceeref, Peninsula Petroleum and Katusha.

Russell Coutts, tactician on Oracle Racing explained. 'The first race was very tough and we didn't have such a good start to the day. If you finish more than 10 minutes behind, you don't score and that’s what happened to us.'

After a two hour delay waiting for the wind to fill back in, Race Officer Peter Reggio got the teams back out on the race course. Oracle Racing regained their form slotting in a first and second, giving them a five point cushion over second placed Team Aqua. Coutts was full of praise for guest helm Steve Howe who is better known competing on the Farr 40 and TP52 circuit. 'A little bit of familiarity with the conditions helps and we've got some good starts which has helped, Steve doing great he's got a good feel for the boat.'

Chris Bakes’ Team Aqua got the prize for consistency, finishing the day with two first places and a fourth, a good day as tactician Cameron Appleton explained. 'We did a good job in the first race and just pulled off a win after being comfortable for a while and then the rest of the day we were just solid. I think Chris is really pleased, he did a great job. We haven't really tested the boat throughout the wind range yet and this afternoon was the windiest we've sailed it so were just figuring out where our setting needs to be.'

No Way Back, with owner Pieter Heerema (NED) at the helm and Tom Slingsby (AUS) calling tactics posted their second win of the event keeping them in third overall.

Two days of racing are left in Lake Traunsee and Race Officer Peter Reggio will be hoping for an easier day on the race course tomorrow.

Results - RC44 Austria Cup - Fleet Race (after six races)

1 Oracle Racing (USA) Steve Howe / Russell Coutts - 2, 2, 3, 9, 2, 1 -19
2 Team Aqua (GBR) Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton - 8, 1, 8, 1, 4, 2 - 24
3 No Way Back (NED) Peiter Heerema /Tom Slingsby - 1, 3, 12, 3, 1, 9 - 29
4 Katusha (RUS) Gennady Timchenko / Paul Cayard - 3, 4, 6,, 9, 8, 7 - 37
5 Ironbound (USA) David Murphy / Peter Evans - 6, 8, 4, 2, 12, 6 - 38
6 Team Ceeref (SLO) Igor Lah / Michelle Ivaldi - 7, 7, 11, 9, 3, 4 - 41
7 Aleph Sailing Team (FRA) Hugues Lepic / Mathieu Richard - 11, 13, 5, 5, 6, 3 - 43
8 Synergy (RUS) Zavadnikov Valentin / Peter Holmberg - 5, 11, 10, 4, 10, 8 - 48
9 Artemis (SWE) Torbjorn Tornqvist / Morgan Larson - 13, 9, 7, 7, 7, 5 - 48
10 Team Nika (RUS) Vladimir Prosikhin / Tomislav Basic - 10, 5, 1, 9, 13, 11 - 49 - 16
11 Peninsula Petroluem (GBR) John Bassadone / Inaki Castaner- 9, 6, 2, 9, 11, 12 - 49
12 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero /Jose Ponce - 4, 10, 13, 9, 5, 10 - 51
13 AEZ (AUS) Rene Mangold / Christian Binder - 12, 12, 9, 6, 9, 13, (2) - 63

2011 RC44 Championship Tour Ranking (Standing after one event) Fleet Race

First Katusha (RUS)
Second Oracle Racing (USA)
Third Team Aqua (GBR)
Fourth Artemis Racing (SWE)
Fifth RC44 Team CEEREF (SLO)
Sixth Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP)
Seventh Ironbound (USA)
Eighth Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS)
Ninth AEZ RC44 Sailing Team (AUT)
Tenth Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team (GBR)
Eleventh No Way Back (NED)

RC44 Austria Cup entrants

AEZ RC44 Sailing Team (AUT)
Owner – Rene Mangold (AUT)
Professional Skipper – Christian Binder (AUT)

Aleph Sailing Team (FRA)
Owner - Hugues Lepic (FRA)
Professional Skipper - Mathieu Richard (FRA)

Artemis Racing (SWE)
Owner - Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE)
Professional Skipper – Morgan Larson (USA)

Ironbound (USA)
Owner – David Murphy (USA)
Professional Skipper – Peter Evans (NZL)

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP)
Owner– Daniel Calero (ESP)
Professional Skipper - Jose Maria Ponce (ESP)

Katusha (RUS)
Professional Skipper – Paul Cayard (USA)

Team Nika (RUS)
Owner - Vladimir Prosikhin (RUS)
Professional Skipper- Tomislav Basic (SLO)

No Way Back (NED)
Owner – Pieter Heerema (NED)
Professional Skipper – Tom Slingsby (AUS)

Oracle Racing (USA)
Owner – Larry Ellison (USA)
Substitute Driver- Steve Howe (USA)
Professional Skipper – Russell Coutts (NZL)

Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team (GBR)
Owner – John Bassadone (GBR)
Professional Skipper - Iñaki Castañer (ESP)

RC44 Team CEEREF (SLO)
Owner – Igor Lah (SLO)
Professional Skipper –Michelle Ivaldi (ITA)

Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS)
Owner – Valentin Zavadnikov (RUS)
Professional Skipper – Peter Holmberg (USA)

Team Aqua (GBR)
Owner -Chris Bake (CAN)
Professional Skipper- Cameron Appleton (NZL)

RC44: Website