27^th July 2010. Valencia, Spain. Great racing conditions with winds of around 12 knots started the first day of the RC44 Valencia Cup but the day ended by testing the limits of crews with winds of up to 18 knots with gusts of 20 and rough and rolling seas. It meant equipment breakages many disappointments but still ensured 28 matches were completed. Sea Dubai started the regatta with two wins, first against Team Austria and then Mascalzone Latino. But the winning streak ended with the match against BMW Oracle. ‘We got a penalty in the dial up with BMW Oracle but sailed the match perfectly taking the lead at the downwind mark,’ said skipper Markus Wieser. ‘We were two lengths ahead at the finish line but we still had to do the penalty turn and unfortunately that allowed BMW Oracle through to beat us. It was very frustrating.’

‘It was a day of very close racing for us and huge disappointments,’ said jib trimmer Matti Paschen. ‘We crossed the start line behind Artemis after being pushed below the Committee boat in the pre start but we managed to take the lead on the second downwind leg but we couldn’t stay clear of Artemis at the finish and got a penalty and lost the race.’

More disappointment was to come after losing against No Way Back in another close race but in the last race of the day Sea Dubai faced Dubai rivals Team Aqua. A great dial up for Sea Dubai resulted in a penalty over Aqua but then Sea Dubai also received a red flag penalty which meant an immediate 360 degree turn, as the boat came out of the turn the steering cable on the boat broke leaving the team immobile and out of the race.

Racing resumes tomorrow, Wednesday for the last match-racing day.

(Match racing, after seven of 14 flights)

1. Artemis / Terry Hutchinson (SWE) 6-0

2. BMW ORACLE Racing / Russell Coutts (USA) 4-1

2. Team Aqua / Cameron Appleton (UAE) 4-1

2. 17 / James Spithill (USA) 4-1

5. Ceeref / Rod Davis (SLO) 3-1

6. No Way Back / Pieter Heerema and Ray Davies (NED) 3-3

7. Team Sea Dubai / Markus Weiser (UAE) 2-4

8. Katusha / Paul Cayard (RUS) 1-3

9. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team / Tommaso Chieffi (ITA) 1-4

10. AEZ RC44 Sailing Team / Christian Binder (AUT) 0-5

10. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero / José Maria Ponce (ESP) 0-5

Gulf News, Dubai: A mere nine points separate the top nine teams in the provisional ranking at the end of the first day of fleet racing, with Pieter Heerema's No Way Back leading Igor Lah's Ceeref by a point at the RC44 Copenhagen Cup, on Friday.

Chasing down the top two was Torbjorn Tornqvist's Artemis as they lay in third place separated by two points on a day of varying weather conditions.

Eventually it was the uneven conditions that reflected the uneven results, with the owner of Katusha, Guennadi Timtchenko, managing to win the first-ever regatta in his life.

Timtchenko only started sailing last month during the RC 44 Austria Cup, and experienced teams such as BMW Oracle Racing or Team Aqua struggling to be consistent.

Thanks to two race victories and a fourth place, and despite the first race's disappointment, Pieter Heerema and his team No way Back were the event's provisional leaders.

They were however far from being in a safe spot, with two more days of racing and up to eight more races to complete.

Team Sea Dubai had to stay content in sixth after four fleet races with four points separating them from leaders No Way Back.But with another eight races scheduled to complete the regatta there is all likelihood of constant changing positions in choppy seas, strong currents and erratic wind patterns.

"Today was my first time to helm the RC 44 in the open sea and there was something to learn from this experience," said Sea Dubai skipper Harm Muller Spreer.

"This area is also quite different and it is difficult to see whether to take the left or right to get better pressure and in the last race our start was absolutely perfect but we chose the wrong side and lost valuable places.

"It was fantastic racing though."

Results

Fleet race, provisional results after four races (ranking, name of team, helmsman, results, points): 1. Team No Way Back, Pieter Heerema, 10, 1, 4, 1 (16 points); 2. Ceeref, Igor Lah, 5, 2, 7, 3 (17); 3. Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist, 3, 5, 8, 2 (18); 4. Team Aqua, Chris Bake, 2, 3, 9, 5 (19); 5. BMW Oracle Racing, Larry Ellison, 8, 6, 2, 4 - (20); 6. Team Sea Dubai, Harm Muller Spreer, 7, 4, 3, 6 (20); 7. Katusha, Guennadi Timtchenko, 6, 8, 1, 8 (23); 8. 17, Anders Myralf 4, 7, 6, 7 (24); 9. Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, Daniel Calero, 1, 10, 5, 9 (25); 10. Team Austria, René Mangold, 9, 9, 10, 10 (38).

The RC 44 owners were back at the helm today for the fleet race practice session. After several practice starts, PRO Peter Reggio launched a complete course. The theory was to complete a full double windward leeward course; however the weather decided differently. Due to the heavy rain and light wind only one lap got completed, and won by James Spithill’s 17 before everyone got sent back to the Royal Danish yacht Club dry hospitality tent.

The fleet regatta starts tomorrow. The forecast is a little bit better, with temporary rain showers and a fairly strong wind.

Sandra Lane, The National. Following its clean sweep in Tuesday’s races at the RC44 Copenhagen Cup, the Dubai-based Team Aqua staged another masterclass in yacht racing today, to take the match-racing title for the regatta.

A day that had begun with a good breeze – albeit accompanied by heavy cloud and a threat of rain – degenerated into a frustrating day for racing, as the wind dropped to barely five knots, accompanied by a choppy sea.

However that did not deter Team Aqua. Owned by the Dubai businessman Chris Bake and helmed by Cameron Appleton, Aqua began the day by beating Sea Dubai in a UAE derby, after the latter went over the line early and had to re-start.

Aqua’s race against Ceeref, was crucial, with the Slovenian yacht still mathematically capable of snatching the top spot. However, a brilliant move by Appleton and his crew, dipping Ceeref to take the inside at the top mark, proved decisive earning the UAE team its eighth win in nine races.

The Swedish boat, Artemis, with Terry Hutchinson at the helm, became the only yacht to defeat Aqua in this regatta.

“This has been a great series for us,” said Appleton. “I am very happy for the team and for myself. We’ve also had a lot of fun.”

Sea Dubai, the yacht owned by Dubai International Marine Club, had stood at third equal overnight but had a less happy day. Although its four matches were all close, it was unable to notch up a win and ended 7th in the match-racing rankings.

“Racing was very close today and we sailed really well as a team,” said Eberhard Magg, the pitman at the centre of the boat. “The level of the racing is so high and when you look at the names on the crew lists, it’s like a who’s who of the sailing world; it’s amazing to be racing at this level and doing so well. It felt good out there today even though our scores weren’t so good.”

Sea Dubai is ranked fourth overall in match-racing for the season to date, and goes in to the fleet-racing stage of the regatta tomorrow holding second place overall in the combined rankings.

With Aqua holding second and fifth places respectively in those rankings, Dubai is certainly making its presence felt in the elite RC44 class this season.

Today there is a practice race, which will be followed by three days of fleet racing, starting tomorrow, in which the class rules state that the yacht’s owner or a non-professional sailor must take the helm. 

Sandra Lane, The National. With hardly time to draw breath after the very long and demanding Louis Vuitton Cup regatta in La Maddalena, Sardinia, several Dubai sailors were on the water again yesterday in Denmark for the first day of the RC44 Copenhagen Cup.

Cameron Appleton, who spent much of the Louis Vuitton Trophy 100 feet up the mast as the wind spotter and strategist on board Artemis, was much closer to the water, at the helm of Team Aqua, which is owned by the Duabi businessman Chris Bake. His record yesterday was flawless, winning all five races and taking Aqua straight to the top of the leaderboard.

Sea Dubai also had a good day. With Matti Paschen and Kazuhiko Sofuku (on All4One and Luna Rossa respectively, in La Maddalena) rejoining the crew, its temporary helmsman Jes Gram Hansen steered the boat to equal third place at the end of the first day’s match racing. Hansen replaces Sea Dubai’s regular professional skipper, Marcus Wieser, who is in Hungary defending his Dragon European championship title and, as a Dane, brings many years’ experience of local conditions to the team.

Conditions were perfect yesterday, with winds of 15–18 knots producing a full day of close and interesting match-races – notably a sensational duel between Sea Dubai and Ceeref. The UAE team narrowly lost to the Slovenian boat, skippered by Rod Davis, whose "day job" is coach of the Louis Vuitton Trophy winner Emirates Team New Zealand.

Other key faces to have made the quick switch from the America’s Cup Class yachts in La Maddalena to the swift and agile RC44s include Terry Hutchinson at the helm of Artemis (which campaigns yachts in both classes), Ray Davies, Emirates Team New Zealand’s tactician, as the skipper of No Way Back and Paul Cayard, the skipper of Artemis in La Maddalena in the same role on Katusha here.

The wind is perfect for another full day’s sailing today, which will complete the match-racing part of the regatta. A lay day will be followed by three days of fleet racing.