RC44 Championship Tour, gioie e dolori del vento forte
MonotipiaRC44Vela 8 Dicembre 2010 Zerogradinord 0
RC44 Championship Tour – Miami – Inizia in grande stile l’ultimo appuntamento dell’RC44 Championship Tour. A Miami, dove sono ben quattordici gli RC44 impegnati tra le boe dell’Oracle RC44 Cup, gli equipaggi hanno dovuto fare i conti con condizioni meteo impegnative, caratterizzate da venti compresi tra i 17 e i 20 nodi. Condotti sul campo di regata a nord di Government Cut, gli scafi sono stati divisi in due gruppi e si sono affrontanti nella prima serie di duelli validi ai fini dell’evento di match race che, come vuole la tradizione della classe, apre ogni tappa del circuito riservato al monotipo disegnato dalla coppia Coutts-Justin.
Dopo i primi quaranta duelli a guidare le classifiche di due gruppi sono Team Aqua del binomio Bake-Appleton e Artemis di Tornqvist-Hutchinson, entrambi tornati all’ormeggio con un parziale di cinque vittorie e una sconfitta. Molto bene sono andati anche Team Sea Dubai, addirittura imbattuto ma penalizzato di due punti causa collisione, e Mascalzone Latino, secondo nel gruppo Bravo con un parziale incoraggiante che a una sconfitta contrappone ben quattro vittorie.
Giornata da dimenticare per Islas Canarias Puerto Calero. Lo scafo di Daniel Calero, infatti, ha disalberato in uscita da una virata. La reazione dell’equipaggio è stata immediata ed ha permesso di salvare parte dell’attrezzatura e di riportare la barca in porto dove, grazie alla collaborazione dello shore team della classe, ha potuto procedere all’immediata sostituzione dell’albero.
Oracle RC44 Cup, match race
Group Alpha
1. Team Aqua, Bake-Appleton, 5-1, pt. 5
2. Team Sea Dubai, Müller-Spreer-Wieser, 6-0, pt. 4*
3. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, Logutenko-Neugodnikov, 2-3, pt. 2
…
Group Bravo
1. Artemis, Tornqvist-Hutchinson, 5-1, pt. 5
2. Mascalzone Latino, Onorato-Bruni, 4-1, pt. 4
3. BMW Oracle Racing, Ellison-Coutts, 4-2, pt. 4
…
Video courtesy RC44 Championship Tour.
RC44 CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR, TESTING CONDITION IN MIAMI
[RC44 Championship Tour Press Release] The RC44 class made its debut in American waters today in conditions that make Miami a renowned racing venue: a northwesterly breeze gusting over 20 knots and the boats planing around the racecourse north of Government Cut at speeds of 17 to 20 knots.
The Oracle RC44 Cup Miami commenced today with the 14-boat fleet split into two groups of seven for preliminary match racing. If time permits by mid-Thursday, semifinals and a final will be held for the top two from each group.
Wintertime racing off the southeast coast of Florida has long been a sailor’s playground. The sun is brilliant, the water is warm and the conditions usually challenge the best of crews.
Although the Northern Hemisphere winter is still officially two weeks away, chilly temperatures this morning had the sailors thinking it came early. The passing of a cold front helped stir up the strong northwesterlies, and the fleet completed eight flights of five matches for 40 races in total.
In Group Alpha, Cameron Appleton has Chris Bake’s Team Aqua tops in the group with a 5-1 record, followed by Harm Müller-Spreer and Markus Wieser in Team Sea Dubai. Sea Dubai actually posted a 6-0 record, but had penalty points applied by the umpires.
In Group Bravo, Terry Hutchinson guided Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis to the top of the group with a 5-1 record. Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino enjoyed its best day since returning to the class and is second at 4-1 with one flight to complete the round. BMW Oracle Racing, with Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts, is third at 4-2.
The conditions taxed many of the crews, who were sore from being thrown about the light-displacement yachts, but none other than Daniel Calero’s crew aboard Islas Canarias Puerto Calero. The Spanish crew from the Canary Islands was forced out of action with a broken mast before morning had turned to afternoon.
Islas Canarias had just completed a jibe in its Flight 1 race when the mast broke about five feet above the gooseneck, where the boom attaches to the mast, and the spar went over the port side.
“We had just completed our jibe when we heard a big crunch,” said Calero. “There wasn’t much we could do to save the mast.”
Crewman Carlos Hernandez jumped into the warm Atlantic Ocean to help the crew recover some of the sails and disassemble the rigging so the mast could be brought back aboard the yacht for the motor to the harbor.
Islas Canarias Puerto Calero returned to shore where the crew began stepping a spare mast that the RC 44 Class Association has available at each regatta for just such an incident.
“This is the good side of this class, there’s a mast ready to go and we’ll be ready to race tomorrow,” said Calero. “We were enjoying the great conditions today and can’t wait to get back out tomorrow.”
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