Strong outcome for Sweden on ‘two wand day’ at the 44Cup Marstrand

Despite a third fantastic day out on the water at the 44Cup Marstrand, with sun, a 8-13 knot southerly and the new bonus of flat water, it was another where most of the nine hotly competitive owner-driver one-design teams struggled to find consistency. Those that did were not always at the top of the leaderboard.

PRO Maria Torrijo and the race team from the Marstrands Segelsällskap setting the course for the first race so perfectly; the left side again being favoured (due to tidal relief and a favourable shift there), plus the RC44s punching into a knot or more of current, combined to create chaos at the top mark. The majority of the fleet had dived out to the left – save for Nico Poons’ Team Charisma and Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing – and tacked on the shift. Coming back on port it was John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing that found herself best laying the top mark and once beyond the layline was able to get around cleanly as Team Aqua inside her attempted to shoot the mark, only to grind to a halt. Behind GeMera Racing and Black Star Sailing Team were unable to lay and, with nowhere to go, had to bear away and gybe round to make a second approach, followed eventually by Team Aqua, which, as she struggled to get out of irons, accidentally took out the masthead wand on Wow! Sailing Team incurring a penalty.

As GeMera Racing tactician Francesco Bruni observed: “It was complete chaos! As always in the RC44s you need to stay out of trouble, but we didn’t. We could have gone behind Aleph, but I saw an opportunity that wasn’t there - it wasn’t the first time I have done that and unfortunately it won’t be the last. I’m not happy with my decisions there, but we still finished fifth…”

Remarkably en route to the leeward gate Artemis Racing (on starboard, hipped up with GeMera Racing and with Wow! Sailing Team closing on port gybe), also took out the masthead wand on the Pietro Loro Piana-steered Aleph Racing which was coming upwind on port out of the starboard gate mark. Artemis Racing’s tactician Phil Robertson explained: “Unfortunately they came around the bottom mark and tacked in our blind spot. We saw them a bit late, scraped past them and apparently took off their wind gear. You wouldn’t want to get any closer than that…”

Mercifully that was the end of the drama. Peninsula Racing maintained her lead, a fine start to a fine day that concluded with her scoring 1-4-2 – by far the best of the day.

Owner John Bassadone summarised: “The first two days were a nightmare. Last night we did a lot of talking and analysing and I think generally today we sailed better, I probably helmed better and we were tactically better. We were also trimming the boat a little differently. Plus this is a new boat - there's a lot of work still to do and it hasn't bedded in completely. But again, it just shows how close the class is: It's not like we’ve made massive changes. Literally, being half a metre ahead in a cross, can cause a completely different result… which happened in the first race…”

Peninsula Racing tactician Vasco Vascotto confirmed that they had executed their plan well. “Sometimes you just need to remember what sailing is - we become old and maybe our memory gets worse! Luckily what we discussed last night was correct.”

Part of the reason they got round the first mark unscathed was being care not to misjudge the current, said Vascotto. “There was almost 1.5 knots so to be shy at the marks would make life very difficult…”

In the second race Artemis Racing and Aleph Racing were called over early and after recrossing took a hitch out to the right before tacking. Meanwhile GeMera Racing, which had started on starboard up by the race committee boat remained on this tack to the port layline to lead around the top mark ahead of Team Charisma and Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika, with good separation between the lead trio. On the run Peninsula Racing and Aleph Racing, in seventh and eighth respectively, gybed early with Peninsula Racing reaching the leeward gate in third while Aleph Racing was up to fourth at the second top mark rounding. Despite a tacking duel between GeMera Racing and Team Charisma up the second beat, the Swedish team hung on to claim their second bullet of the event.

For a second day, the final race concluded with a ‘Foxtrot finish’ in Marstrand Harbour to the delight of fans and visitors ashore. This race proved textbook for Artemis Racing, as Phil Robertson described: “Obviously it’s extremely important to win the race to the bar (!), so we decided that ‘big sails win big races’ and put up the J1 while everyone else was on the J2. We had a strategy to start at the pin and go around the outside…it worked.” Artemis Racing won the pin, led back from the favoured left side of the course to lead at the top mark and from there on. “It was definitely a nice way to end the day, winning the race back to the harbour, passing the castle flying the Swedish flag…” concluded Robertson who these days holds a Swedish passport.

Team Charisma and GeMera Racing both had good enough days and, sitting on 35 and 37 points respectively, top the leaderboard with a small lead over Aleph Racing on 43 and Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team (leader after day 1 and day 2) now fourth on 44, tied with Team Nika.

Three races and potentially 27 points are available on the final day tomorrow, in potentially lighter more troublesome conditions. At present any of the top eight could mathematically still win.