Please select your home edition
Edition
Rolly Tasker Sails 2023 LEADERBOARD

RC44 Cascais Cup - Day 2

by Jessica Gray 17 Nov 2018 07:38 AEDT 16 November 2018

To make up for yesterday's missed race and with the prospect of a possibly 'too big' weekend ahead, four races were held on day two of the RC44 Cascais Cup, the final event of the 2018 championship for the high performance owner-driver one designs.

As yesterday, conditions on the water were warm for mid-November, with the sun out and wind that started at 10-12 knots and dropped off to six, as forecast, as the afternoon wore on. Starting an hour early, the wind defied predictions, remaining just stable enough for PRO Peter Reggio to lay on one extra race to recover the schedule.

At this half way stage of the RC44 Cascais Cup, Vladimir Prosikhin's Team Nika is the stand-out leader. The 2018 World Champions, on which Dean Barker calls tactics, won the first race today, as she did yesterday, and remained star performer up until today's final race. In this she was called OCS and, unlike yesterday, was unable to recover, causing her seven point lead to dwindle to four.

Behind Team Nika the leaderboard remains impossibly close with just five points separating second from sixth in the eight boat fleet.

As the wind off Marina de Cascais remained just south of east and with a swell from the west rolling in from the Atlantic, it was the turn of Torbjörn Törnqvist's Artemis Racing to make the best job of the tough conditions to claim race two.

"It was very, very challenging today, because you had the swell from the back, against the wind, which made it hard to steer in - it throws the boat around and changes the heeling angle all of the time," described Törnqvist. "But it was great fun, we had good sailing."

Artemis Racing's tactician, American RC44 veteran Andy Horton agreed that today's conditions were tough: "It was crazy: Up and down, shifty, there was a big swell, etc. All day the wind kept ratcheting right. Once we'd figured out the waves upwind and downwind, the wind would shift 20 degrees and you'd have to relearn everything. The swell was with you upwind on starboard and then on port!"

The race they won, Horton said was textbook stuff, getting off the line well, sailing a sound first beat, to round the top mark ahead and lead on from there.

The most dramatic race today was the third. In this, newcomers to the RC44 fleet Mirpuri Foundation took the starboard side of the second beat, tacked, and then enjoyed a monster lift that left them pointing directly at the weather mark. This elevated them from fifth to first which they held to the finish, Portugese helm Paulo Mirpuri scoring his ever RC44 race win, despite this being just his second day competing in the class.

"I've come here to learn about the boat and to be honest, I thought we would be last, because everyone is pushing to the limit this being the last event of the year. It was a great surprise to get a fifth place and then a first," said Mirpuri. "We discussed in the team what tactics we should take for that third race and it played out well. We were happy with the decisions we made beforehand. Our tactician did a very good job and it played out well."

Today's fourth race had the day's fourth winner in Nico Poons' Charisma. Like Mirpuri Foundation's victory, this also occurred in an unorthodox way. Tactician Ray Davies described it: "We were OCS and were heading downwind on port when the gun went! But that sent us out to the right hand side of the course. At that point we were coming last and we said 'we just need a 20 degrees shift here and we'll be just fine'. And we got a 20 degrees shift... The wind just kept going further and further right."

Nico Poons was elated that Charisma's 2-2-6-1 score made her by far the top performing boat of the day, despite the tricky conditions. This made up - slightly - for Charisma's deep results on Thursday. "We had a good day, which compensates for yesterday," said Poons.

With the RC44 Cascais Cup on schedule at this half way stage after two fine, if difficult, days of sailing, the rest of the regatta is up in the air with the most conservative weather models showing winds gusting to 30+ knots tomorrow afternoon and the prospect of lighter winds, but 3-5m waves on Sunday.

To follow the racing live visit www.RC44.com

Results after day 2:

PosteamR1R2R3R4R5R6Pts
1Team Nika (10)13142819
2Team Aqua (25)21564523
3Team CEEREF (11)36338225
4Charisma (15)78226126
5Artemis Racing (26)64717328
6Aleph Racing (17)42475428
7Bronenosec Sailing Team (18)57653733
8Mirpuri Foundation (22)95881637

Related Articles

Marstrand challenges Lanzarote Calero Sailing Team
Team Nika claimed the overall victory after a dramatic final day in the 44Cup Marstrand Lanzarote Calero Sailing Team wrapped up their participation in the 44Cup Marstrand in 10th place after a week marked by extreme weather conditions that tested the international sailing elite. Posted on 29 Jun
44Cup Marstrand 2025 overall
Team Nika's golden wheels get shinier While the penultimate day of racing at the 44Cup Marstand was cancelled due to excess wind, today conditions off the paradise Swedish island for the final three races were still boisterous from the lumpy residual sea state after Friday's gale. Posted on 28 Jun
44Cup Marstrand 2025 day 3
Gale force winds batter the west coast of Sweden With gale force winds battering the west coast of Sweden, racing had to be cancelled on day three of the 44Cup Marstrand. Posted on 27 Jun
44Cup Marstrand 2025 day 2
Aleph Racing takes the lead after glorious four race day The 44Cup is nothing but surprises. Day two of competition for the one-design owner-driver RC44s at the 44Cup Marstrand was forecast to be light but in fact provided further magnificent conditions, with sunshine and flatter seas than yesterday. Posted on 26 Jun
Tough start for Lanzarote Calero in Marstrand
An intense day on the water, marked by gusty winds and a series of incidents The Lanzarote Calero Sailing Team began their participation in the 44Cup Marstrand with an intense day on the water, marked by sunny conditions, gusty winds, and a series of incidents that impacted the day's results. Posted on 26 Jun
44Cup Marstrand 2025 day 1
Peninsula Racing and Team Nika share the limelight After a gale forced the cancellation of yesterday's practice racing, for day one of the 44Cup Marstrand, taking place off the familiar Swedish paradise island, there was a west to northwesterly that built as the afternoon progressed, to 17 knots. Posted on 25 Jun
44Cup Marstrand 2025 starts tomorrow
Fleet back up to 12 on eve of breezy Marstrand event While the RC44s were up to 11 for the last event in Porto Cervo, for this week's 44Cup Marstrand, scheduled to set sail tomorrow from the breezy west coast of Sweden, the fleet has now grown to 12. Posted on 24 Jun
Lanzarote Calero Sailing Team returns to Marstrand
The team returns to these waters with good memories The Lanzarote Calero Sailing Team is heading into the third stage of the 2025 44Cup in Marstrand, Sweden, with a clear objective: to turn the season around and climb the overall rankings. Posted on 21 Jun
44Cup Marstrand 2025 preview
3rd event of the season in Sweden next week Historically this is the most consistently visited venue for the high performance owner-driver RC44 one designs and their owners, which have visited the remote picture postcard island on Sweden's west coast since 2011, with the sole exception of 2016. Posted on 20 Jun
Lanzarote Calero Sailing Team at 44Cup Porto Cervo
Heads held high and another important step forward in its journey The Lanzarote Calero Sailing Team concluded its participation in the 44Cup Porto Cervo with heads held high and another important step forward in its journey within the demanding RC44 circuit. Posted on 19 May
Sea Sure 2025Rooster 2025Hyde Sails 2024 - One Design