Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino of Italy wins ORACLE RC 44 Cup

Larry Ellison and his BMW ORACLE Racing crew wrapped up the 2010 RC 44 Season Championship with a second-place finish in the fleet racing portion of the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami.

Coupled with the team’s sixth place in the match racing portion of the regatta, BMW ORACLE Racing placed fourth overall in the Miami regatta, which equated to a 2-point victory over Artemis Racing for the season championship.

“We were up and down. We’ve had good regattas and sometimes things didn’t go so well, but overall the team did a great job sailing,” said Ellison. “We came first in fleet racing and first overall. We had a rough match racing regatta here in Miami, but the fleet was good enough and we’re happy with the result.”

Ellison and crew, including tactician Russell Coutts, finished 3-4-3 today but had to pull a few rabbits out of their collective hat.

They started one race early and found themselves constantly battling back on a day with very shifty winds. In particular they gained a few places in the last half of the runs to the finish that kept their score low enough for the championship.

“We do better when it’s breezy,” said Ellison. “There are more opportunities to pass downwind. I’ve got a lot of experience sailing on San Francisco Bay and we love the breeze.”

While Ellison got the spoils for the season championship, Vincenzo Onorato’s Mascalzone Latino won the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami title.

Mascalzone Latino showed great improvement at this regatta after rejoining the class in July. The Italian crew placed third in both the match and fleet racing for the overall victory with the low score of 6 points.

“Winning this event is special meaning for me because the past three years have been difficult for me in my life and in sailing,” said Onorato, a six-time world champion in yacht racing.

“Russell asked us to come back to the class and we couldn’t be happier with this result. We’ve worked hard to regain our form and we will do our best in the future to perform in this class,” Onorato said.

Yet a third winner today was William “Doug” Douglass aboard the RC 44 World Champion yacht 17. Douglass, sailing with Australian James Spithill as tactician, won the fleet racing portion of the ORACLE RC 44 Cup Miami with the low score of 39 points.

“The class seems extremely well organized. It was good, we had a lot of fun out there,” said Douglass, a veteran of the Farr 40 and Melges 32 classes. “Today was a little windy and we saw how the boats could get wicked up and go.”

The 2011 RC 44 Season Championship begins in March in San Diego, Calif.

RC 44 2010 Season Championship

1. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) Larry Ellison/Russell Coutts – (8)-1-1-4-2-4 – 12 points

2. Artemis Racing (SWE) Torbjorn Tornqvist/Terry Hutchinson – 1-(8)-4-2-5-2 – 14 points

3. 17 (USA) William Douglass/James Spithill – (11)-3-5-3-1-3 – 15 points

4. No Way Back (NED) Pieter Heerema/Ray Davies – 2-2-3-5-3-(6) – 15 points

5. Team Aqua (UAE) Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton – 4-6-2-1-(8)-5 – 18 points

6. Team Sea Dubai (UAE) Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser – 3-4-6-7-6-(9) – 26 points

7. Katusha (RUS) Guennadi Timtchenko/Paul Cayard – 6-5-(8)-6-4-8 – 29 points

8. Ceeref (SLO) Igor Lah/Rod Davis – 5-7-7-(9)-7-7 – 33 points

9. Mascalzone Latino (ITA) Vincenzo Onorato/Francesco Bruni – 11-(12)-12-11-9-1 – 44 points

10. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero/Jose Maria Ponce – 7-9-10-8-(11)-11 – 45 points

11. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team (AUT) René Mangold/Christian Binder – 9-10-9-10-10-(14) – 48 points

12. Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) Maxim Logutenko/Evgeniy Neugodnikov – 11-12-12-(13)-13-10 – 58 points

13. Peninsula Petroleum (ESP) John Bassadone/Inaki Castaner – 11-12-12-(13)-12-12 – 59 points

14. Ironbound (USA) David Murphy/Ian Williams – 11-12-12-13-(15)-13 – 61 points

ORACLE RC 44 Cup Final Standings

(Boat, match racing-fleet racing – total)

1. Mascalzone Latino, 3-3 – 6 points

2. Artemis Racing, 2-5 – 7 points

3. Yacht 17, 7-1 – 8 points

4. BMW ORACLE Racing, 6-2 – 8 points

5. Team Aqua, 1-9 – 10 points

6. No Way Back, 8-4 – 12 points

7. Ceeref, 10-6 – 16 points

8. Katusha, 9-7 – 16 points

9. Sea Dubai, 5-11 – 16 points

10. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 4-12 – 16 points

11. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, 13-8 – 21 points

12. Peninsula Petroleum, 12-10 – 22 points

13. Ironbound, 11-13 – 24 points

14. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team, 14-14 – 28 points

Yacht 17 takes overall title after BMW ORACLE Racing wins feet racing

Australian Jimmy Spithill, Anders Myralf of Denmark and the international crew of the yacht 17 concluded a banner week in the Canary Islands by winning the inaugural RC 44 World Championship for the Islas Canarias Puerto Calero Cup.

After three days of match racing at the outset of the week, the regatta wrapped up today with the conclusion of the fleet racing, which counted 10 races in total. The yacht 17 won the match racing and finished second in the fleet racing to claim the championship.

Spithill, Myralf and the 17 crew entered the day in the lead, but an early start in one race and penalties in the other two nearly scuttled their regatta.

“We’re feeling great,” said Spithill, 31, of Sydney, Australia. “It was a tough day on the water for us. We tried to stay clean but got tangled up a couple of times. It was really unpredictable on the water, but at the end of day we hung tough and got it done.”

Heading into the final heat of the fleet racing portion of the regatta the top three boats – No Way Back, BMW ORACLE Racing and 17 – were within 1 point of the title.

No Way Back and 17 each had to perform penalty turns in the race, which allowed BMW ORACLE Racing, led by tactician Russell Coutts and local helmsman Jose Juan Calero to claim the win.

“I’m very grateful to Russell Coutts and Mr. Ellison for giving me an opportunity to steer the boat,” said Calero, whose family hosted the regatta at the Puerto Calero Marina. “It means a lot for me because we organized the event as well. It was very stressful at times, but big fun at the end of each race.”

No Way Back, led by owner Pieter Heerema of The Netherlands and tactician Ray Davies of New Zealand, finished third in the fleet racing with 55 points. Coupled with their sixth-place finish in the match racing, they placed third overall.

“It was a great event. I love Lanzarote and Puerto Calero,” said Heerema, last year’s RC 44 season champion. “Being third makes me very happy. We’ve struggled a bit this season. We’ve just never sailed to our level. We were feeling we were sliding down, but to be a strong contender before the last race makes us feel good.”

Top honors on the final day of racing went to Chris Bake’s Team Aqua, with New Zealander Cameron Appleton calling tactics. Team Aqua posted the low score of 6 points on finishes of 1-1-4, a welcome day after two days of struggles.

“We redeemed ourselves a bit; finally figured out the racecourse and got our boat figured out,” said Bake, who swept all three titles at the previous RC 44 event in Valencia. “It was massively difficult out there with the shifts and the bias in the course. It felt good to be leading the pack again.”

With just the Miami RC 44 Cup remaining on the schedule, BMW ORACLE Racing leads the season standings with 8 points, followed by No Way Back with 10 points, 17 with 12 points, Artemis with 12 points and Team Aqua with 15 points.

The Miami RC 44 Cup is scheduled Dec. 7-12.


RC 44 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ISLAS CANARIAS PUERTO CALERO CUP

Fleet Racing (after 10 races)
1. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) Jose Juan/Russell Coutts – 2-5-2-3-5-4-11-10-4-3 – 49
2. 17 (USA) Anders Myralf/Jimmy Spithill – 3-11-1-1-7-3-2-7-12-7 – 54 points
3. No Way Back (NED) Pieter Heerema/Ray Davies – 5-6-8-2-4-1-10-4-6-9 – 55
4. Team Sea Dubai (UAE) Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser – 4-1-12-10-1-9-7-9-3-2 – 58
5. Katusha (RUS) Guennadi Timtchenko/Paul Cayard – 13-7-10-5-2-7-3-5-5-1 – 58
6. Ceeref (SLO) Igor Lah/Rod Davis – 11-8-3-6-3-10-4-3-7-6 – 61
7. Artemis (SWE) Torbjorn Tornqvist/Terry Hutchinson – 10-3-5-4-8-8-6-2-9-8 – 65*
8. Team Aqua (UAE) Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton – 6-10-7-8-13-12-9-1-1-4 – 69*
9. Mascalzone Latino (ITA) Vincenzo Onorato/Francesco Bruni – 1-9-9-9-10-5-14-13-2-5 – 79*
10. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team (AUT) René Mangold/Christian Binder – 8-13-4-11-6-13-1-11-8-11 – 86
11. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero/Jose Maria Ponce – 7-2-13-13-9-6-8-8-11-12 – 89
12. Peninsula Petroleum (ESP) John Bassadone/Inaki Castaner – 12-4-6-7-12-2-14-12-13-10 – 92
13. Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) Maxim Logutenko/Evgeniy Neugodnikov – 9-12-11-12-11-11-5-6-10-13 – 100
(*Points total includes 2-point penalty for on-water infraction)


Final Standings (including match and fleet racing)
1. 17 1-2 – 3 points
2. BMW ORACLE Racing 3-1 – 4
3. No Way Back 6-3 – 9
4. Katusha 4-5 – 9
5. Artemis 2-7 – 9
6. Sea Dubai 8-4 – 12
7. Ceeref 7-6 – 13
8. Aqua 5-8 – 13
9. Mascalzone Latino 9-9 – 18
10. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team 10-10 – 20
11. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero 11-11 – 22
12. Peninsula Petroleum 12-12 – 24
13. Synergy 13-13 – 26

Stronger winds shuffle the standings and make the docks resemble pit lane

BMW ORACLE Racing skipper Jimmy Spithill and amateur helmsman Anders Myralf of Denmark rode the strength of all single-digit finishes to push their yacht 17 in the lead for the RC 44 Fleet Race World Championship for the Islas Canarias Puerto Calero Cup.

Spithill, who today was named Australian Male Sailor of the Year by the Australian Yachting Federation, and Myralf posted finishes of 1-7-3-2 to overtake the previous leader, BMW ORACLE Racing, with local sailor Jose Juan Calero helming and Russell Coutts calling tactics.

On a day when good winds – southwesterlies between 8 and 16 knots – returned to the racecourse, there were four different winners of today’s heats: 17, Harm Müller Spreer and Sea Dubai, Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back from The Netherlands and Rene Mangold’s AEZ RC 44 Racing of Austria.

Myralf guided 17 to victory in the first race of the day, Race 4 of the series.

“It was quite hard to find the right lanes today, but Jimmy and the crew did a fantastic job finding those lanes,” said Myralf of Denmark. “We were leading that race at the first top mark, but then lost out on the finish line and placed seventh. It only shows how close this racing is; it’s so close.”

Müller-Spreer helmed Sea Dubai to victory in Race 5, guided by tactician Markus Wieser. Müller-Spreer is helming his third regatta, but finds himself in fourth place with a day to go.

Müller-Spreer won perhaps the most exciting race of the day. Sea Dubai was running third at the final windward mark, but gained the win in the final jibe to the finish.

“We had a good race, the one we won,” said Müller-Spreer. “We came from a bad position on the first upwind leg, but we fought hard the whole time and we caught up to first on the finish line.”

After recalling the win, Müller-Spreer went on to say that they need to become more consistent. Prior to the victory, they finished 10th in Race 4.

“I’m satisfied with the result because I’m sailing this boat for only the third time, but we have to do it a bit better because we had some bad results in between,” said Müller-Spreer.

Mangold and the AEZ crew can attest to that. The Austrians preceded their Race 7 win with finishes of 11-6-13. Sometimes it takes a last to forget worrying about the fleet and just go sailing.

“We had a good start, and then sailed well around the course,” said Mangold. “For us it’s better when there’s more consistent wind. We lost the race before it, and when that happens you feel freer, you can sail your own race and not worry about things.”

The conditions seemed to wake everyone up from the week-long slumber. After Monday’s opening day, the winds have rarely blown above 8 knots. The stronger winds put a premium on quick reflexes, otherwise collisions resulted. And there were a few.

The docks resembled a pit lane with damaged bows and stern scoops removed to be replaced by new pieces. The desire to win a world championship comes at a price.

Tomorrow’s final day of racing is scheduled to begin with a warning signal at 1130 local.


RC 44 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ISLAS CANARIAS PUERTO CALERO CUP

Fleet Racing (after 7 races)
1. 17 (USA) Anders Myralf/Jimmy Spithill – 3-11-1-1-7-3-2 – 28 points
2. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) Juan Jose Calero/Russell Coutts – 2-5-2-3-5-4-11 – 32
3. No Way Back (NED) Pieter Heerema/Ray Davies – 5-6-8-2-4-1-10 – 36
4. Team Sea Dubai (UAE) Harm Müller-Spreer/Markus Wieser – 4-1-12-10-1-9-7 – 44
5. Ceeref (SLO) Igor Lah/Rod Davis – 11-8-3-6-3-10-4 – 45
6. Artemis (SWE) Torbjorn Tornqvist/Terry Hutchinson – 10-3-5-4-8-8-6 – 46*
7. Katusha (RUS) Guennadi Timtchenko/Paul Cayard – 13-7-10-5-2-7-3 – 47
8. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team (AUT) René Mangold/Christian Binder – 8-13-4-11-6-13-1 – 56
9. Peninsula Petroleum (ESP) John Bassadone/Inaki Castaner – 12-4-6-7-12-2-14 – 57
10. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero/Jose Maria Ponce – 7-2-13-13-9-6-8 – 58
11. Mascalzone Latino (ITA) Vincenzo Onorato/Francesco Bruni – 1-9-9-9-10-5-14 – 59*
12. Team Aqua (UAE) Chris Bake/Cameron Appleton – 6-10-7-8-13-12-9 – 67*
13. Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) Maxim Logutenko/Evgeniy Neugodnikov – 9-12-11-12-11-11-5 – 71
(*Points total includes 2-point penalty for on-water infraction)

Terry Hutchinson (Artemis) wins silver and Russell Coutts (BMW ORACLE Racing) bronze

The first three medals of the inaugural RC 44 World Championship for the Islas Canarias Puerto Calero Cup were awarded today in recognition of the match racing portion of the regatta.

Jimmy Spithill and the 17 crew won the gold, Terry Hutchinson and Artemis the silver and Russell Coutts and BMW ORACLE Racing the bronze.

Spithill, a winner in 2005 of the ISAF World Match Racing Championship, defeated Hutchinson 2-0 to claim the championship that began yesterday afternoon and concluded today.

“It feels fantastic, very satisfying. We were up against some tough conditions and top competition,” said the 31-year-old Spithill, who won his first match racing regatta on the RC 44 circuit. “As a team we’re sailing a lot better than when we first came into the class this year. Before this event we did a lot of preparation with our coach, Philippe Presti, and our teammates.”

Both races were sailed in light, streaky winds. Spithill and 17 won yesterday’s race with breathing room, but were under pressure to follow it up today. The 17 crew fell behind on the first leg and trailed for most of the race before nipping Artemis at the finish by 1 second.

“It’s like a swift kick in the crotch,” said the ever-honest Hutchinson. “Credit to Jimmy and those guys for doing what they had to do. We sailed a loose race and tried to pick the shifts. Some went for us and some against, but we still led at the last top mark comfortably.”

Coutts and his BMW ORACLE Racing crew won the bronze medal by defeating Paul Cayard and Katusha by a similar score of 2-0.

Coutts and crew held a slim lead at the first windward mark of their second race. After the rounding both boats performed a jibe set to starboard tack, but Katusha had trouble completing the maneuver and had to jibe back to port. That allowed BMW ORACLE Racing to gain control through the rest of the match.

“We’re pretty happy,” said mainsail trimmer Dirk de Ridder. “The conditions were real dodgy. Yesterday we had a huge lead, like half a leg, and only won by one length. That’s part of sailing in these conditions.”

In other racing, Cameron Appleton led Team Aqua to fifth place by defeating Ray Davies and No Way Back, 2-0.

Rod Davis and Ceeref defeated Markus Wieser and Sea Dubai also by a 2-0 score to place seventh and relegate Sea Dubai to eighth.

Racing resumes tomorrow with the commencement of fleet racing. All 13 boats will line up with amateur helmsmen in a series scheduled through Saturday with a maximum of four races per day.


RC 44 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ISLAS CANARIAS PUERTO CALERO CUP

Match Racing Final
1. 17 (USA) Jimmy Spithill – 8-1
2. Artemis (SWE) Terry Hutchinson – 6-3
3. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) Russell Coutts – 5-3
4. Katusha (RUS) Paul Cayard – 3-5
5. Team Aqua (UAE) Cameron Appleton – 7-2
6. No Way Back (NED) Ray Davies – 4-4
7. Ceeref (SLO) Rod Davis – 5-3
8. Team Sea Dubai (UAE) Markus Weiser – 4-5
9. Mascalzone Latino (ITA) Vincenzo Onorato
10. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team (AUT) Christian Binder
11. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) Daniel Calero
12. Peninsula Petroleum (ESP) John Bassadone
13. Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) Evgeniy Neugodnikov

Match racing portion set to conclude tomorrow morning

When competitors yesterday said the winds were going to be light and shifty for Day 2 of the RC 44 World Championship Islas Canarias Puerto Calero Cup, they probably had no idea just how light it would be.

Today’s schedule for the round robin was thrown into disorder by a cold front that stalled out over Lanzarote. The fleet first took the water about 1200 hours, but returned to shore after three and a half hours and only one completed flight.

That flight, however, set up the match racing finals with these pairings, the winner being the first to 2 points:

17 (Jimmy Spithill) vs. Artemis (Terry Hutchinson)
BMW ORACLE Racing (Russell Coutts) vs. Katusha (Paul Cayard)
Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton) vs. No Way Back (Ray Davies)
Ceeref (Rod Davis) vs. Sea Dubai (Markus Wieser)
AEZ RC 44 Racing (Christian Binder) vs. Mascalzone Latino (Vincenzo Onorato)

One race was held in very streaky, shifty conditions and the winners were 17, BMW ORACLE Racing, Team Aqua, Ceeref and AEZ RC 44 Racing.

“The wind was very patchy and unsettled, you couldn’t forecast what was going to happen next," said Cameron Appleton of Team Aqua. “But you have to keep winning races and we won the ones we had to."

The match racing is scheduled to conclude tomorrow morning, with the first warning signal scheduled for 1000 local.

The weather forecast, however, is calling for more light winds. There may be some weak north/northeast trade winds in the morning, but they are expected to die away and veer to the east/southeast and be very light in the afternoon.

The event can be followed online here : www.rc44.com/en/live/