44Cup Porto Cervo - Day 2
by 44Cup 17 May 05:08 AEST
12-18 May 2025
For day two of the 44Cup Porto Cervo, organised between the RC44 class and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Sardinia served up very different conditions to Thursday.
The wind was northeasterly ranging from 11-16 knots but the sea state was larger than it should have been for that wind strength. This made life challenging on the beats but exhilarating on the downwinds.
Three races were held today and, in the conditions, good helming and crew work were at a premium. Only one team seemed to have the measure of this: Vladimir Prosikhin's 2024 44Cup-winning Team Nika posted podium finishes culminating in a come-from-behind victory in today's third race. In this she held the lead, then lost it on the final run to Hugues Lepic's Aleph Racing, but recovering it again in the race's last gasp. Team Nika now leads the 44Cup Porto Cervo, on 14 points ahead of Torbjörn Törnqvist's second-placed Artemis Racing on 20 with Christian Zuerrer's Black Star Sailing Team a worthy third.
The Swiss team led for most of today's first race, the finish of which was 'classic 44Cup'. While Black Star held a small lead going on to the last run, Torbjörn Törnqvist's Artemis Racing and his son Markus' GeMera gybed early and found gold out to the right. Coming back on starboard with rights, they converged with the leaders, Artemis Racing first home but with Team Nika, Nico Poons' Team Charisma and GeMera all crossing within four seconds, the top eight finishing within 16 seconds - after 44 minutes of racing.
"It felt like you were going to crash on the finishing line," Torbjörn Törnqvist admitted. "We have had a couple of training days, which helped. And the boat's going well - well set up, well prepared. And the crew work is also where it should be right now. Obviously, you need a bit of luck as well. But that race was so close..."
The most significant part of this event for Torbjörn Törnqvist is it being the first time racing against his son Markus, whom for many years has crewed on board Artemis Racing. "Obviously, I'm very happy that he's here. And clearly, I'd like him to do well. I must say I'm impressed with the way he's approaching it. I want to do well against him, but also I want him to do well against me. When we're racing, he's just one of the field."
Markus, working with tactician Francesco Bruni, has been sailing with maturity and, far from being a back marker this week, his GeMera is currently lying sixth, just five points shy of the podium. While this is not Markus' first 44Cup event, it is his first steering: "It's definitely fun to be out there, amongst everyone. There are more things to make sure we do well - that we have the right lane, upwind speed, etc. Francesco is a very competitive guy, but I think we have a good chemistry. It's unavoidable to make a few mistakes here and there. But we're on the right track to do well in this regatta."
In today's second race GeMera and Black Star Sailing Team initially looked strong as they forged out to the right, but ultimately it was Igor Lah's Team CEEREF Vaider that was first to the top mark, then proving unassailable. "We executed a good pin end start and were able to lead around all the marks," commented tactician Adrian Stead. "It was quite a lumpy northeasterly day which made it pretty tricky to sail both upwind and downwind with the big, short waves. But we had a reasonable day."
Aside from Team Nika and Artemis Racing, John Bassadone's Peninsula Racing also performed well posting a 5-2-3 making the Gibraltar team joint second placed scorers for the day. "Conditions were better today with some waves and some breeze," commented tactician Vasco Vascotto. "We had three good starts and were able to play the long oscillation of the breeze. I think that the crew did a nice job and John drove the boat very well. We are not super excited today, but at least we're going in the right direction. This class is just amazing - it gets better and better and all the crews are getting better and better. The owners now are driving the boat more than some professional sailors."
Tomorrow conditions are expected to revert to being light and from the east. Racing will resume at 1200.
44Cup Porto Cervo results after day 2
| Pos | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Team Nika (MON10) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| 2 | Artemis Racing (SWE44) | 2 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| 3 | Black Star Sailing Team (SUI27) | 1 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 23 |
| 4 | Team Ceeref Vaider (SLO11) | 9 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 27 |
| 5 | Peninsula Racing (GBR18) | 8 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 27 |
| 6 | GeMera (SWE30) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 28 |
| 7 | Aleph Racing (FRA17) | 6 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 29 |
| 8 | Team Aqua (GBR2041) | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 30 |
| 9 | Team Charisma (MON69) | 7 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 32 |
| 10 | Lanzarote Calero Sailing (ESP1) | 10 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 46 |
| 11 | Wow! Sailing Team (TUR4425) | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 54 |
Extra report from Yacht Club Costa Smeralda
Day two was a challenging one for the competitors in the RC44 Porto Cervo Cup, who tackled three races with steep waves of at least 1.5 metres and a north-northeasterly wind of around 18 knots, dropping slightly to 16-18 knots.
With two third places and a bullet today, Monaco's Team Nika, owned by Vladimir Prosikhin, took a clear lead in the provisional ranking with a total of 14 points, demonstrating why they are reigning world champions and current holders of the 44Cup. Artemis Racing climbed to second place thanks to a spectacular win in the first race, followed by a fifth and a fourth. The final place on the podium is held by Swiss team Black Star (6-4-5 today), who have been posting consistent results and performed well in the first race, prior to being overtaken right on the finish line.
The first race, which started on schedule at 12 noon CEST, saw a very compact fleet performing spectacular manoeuvres at the mark roundings. Black Star led the fleet throughout, but the decision to head for the finish line on a port tack saw her overtaken by the tight group arriving with right of way from the right-hand side of the course. They were led by Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis Racing after a planing duel with Gemera, helmed by his son Markus. To give an idea of how close the racing was, a nail-biting finish saw four boats cross the line within 4 seconds, and all of the first eight within 16 seconds.
The second race went to Ceeref Vaider, Igor Lah's Slovenian team with Adrian Stead on tactics, who nailed a fast and on time start on the left of the course. They maintained their lead throughout the race, winning by a clear margin over John Bassadone's Peninsula Racing, with tactician Vasco Vascotto, followed in third by Team Nika. The third and final race of the day began with a general recall, with Peninsula Racing then claiming a good start on the committee boat end together with the new Turkish team WOW! It was Team Nika who rounded the first windward mark in the lead, however, followed by Peninsula Racing and Charisma. Aleph was able to make up ground on the next downwind run, moving from fifth to second place, and taking the lead on the next upwind leg. On the final run, while Aleph gybed on the right of the course, Nika continued on the left. A decisive choice that allowed them to just nudge ahead and cross the finish line less than a boat length clear of Aleph.
Nic Asher, tactian on Team Nika: "Today was an extremely hard day, the wave state built through the day and the wind was up and down. It was super hard upwind and downwind to find the right mode and rhythm, it was a great day's sailing but definitely hard on everyone. In the last one, after the start we managed to find some good shifts up the first beat and led at the top mark but on the second beat Aleph crossed ahead of us, they're always there. Then on the last run, we found our rhythm nicely and managed to get a good few waves on the way in on port. It's nice to finally get a bullet. It's really good to race here in Porto Cervo, always tricky conditions, it's a good test for a team and a tactician as well. It's just a beautiful place and scenery, so I always love sailing here.
Racing in the RC44 Porto Cervo Cup resumes tomorrow, 17 May, with the starting signal scheduled for 12 moon CEST. The forecast is for very light winds of 4 to 6 knots.
The event is organised by the YCCS in collaboration with the RC44 Class, with the support of the YCCS technical partner North Sails.
More information at yccs.it