Conditions could not have been better for day three of the 44Cup Scarlino World Championship. Coming out two hours ahead of schedule to make the best of the breeze, the wind was already knocking on the door of 20 knots. By the time the first race started at 1000 the wind was firmly 20 knots and then spent most of the day in the low 20s, frequently gusting more.

Blowing off mountainous Tuscany, the offshore breeze was shifty and puffy. It caused numerous lead changed and seemed to favour no one. Thus, to make up the schedule after a lost opening day four races were held and each featured a different winner.

The overall 2021 44Cup leader, Igor Lah's Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, got off to a strong start winning today's opening race, but then a collision with Aleph Racing (with Dubliner Cian Guilfoyle onboard) in the next saw them come home last with a two-point penalty imposed on them for 'hard contact'.

Meanwhile, Nico Poons' Charisma team was sailing a blinder. Winning today's second race caused them to move to the top of the leaderboard, tied with Artemis Racing, the Swedish team showing excellent consistency, despite the difficult conditions. But, as is proving typical here, this position was short-lived for both as they scored deeply in the next race. In this Chris Bake's Team Aqua finally scored a bullet, propelling his team up to second overall as Aleph Racing took the lead.

“It was pretty tricky!” admitted Bake later. “But what beautiful conditions – sunny, breezy. It was a full-on day today, but it was good. All the boats are going really well, one mistake and you are toast – you’ll get spat out mercilessly.”

Team Aqua’s tactician Cameron Appleton added: “It has been a battle. This fleet is tight and we’ve had tricky conditions to execute all the time out there. We always know we are capable of it, we just have to connect everything together. We finally got a good start and sailed well in the placement up the course. As soon as you get your nose out, things become a bit easier than when you are in the back of the pack trying to fight your way out of there, because you don’t get much room in this fleet.

“The fleet is so close and everybody just knows how to sail the boats well. Every regatta this year has been windy, so we don’t have to worry about that anymore. It is now about going out there and positioning better and doing the basics well. It is going to be a good battle all the way to the finish.”

In the fourth and final race of the day, a 1-2 for Artemis Racing and Charisma caused them to catch Hugues Lepic's Aleph Racing creating an ultra-close leaderboard going into the last day. In front is Aleph Racing, but the Frenchman's team is just one point ahead of Torbjörn Törnqvist's Artemis Racing and Nico Poons' Charisma.

“We have always known in this fleet that it is important to be always up there,” explains Aleph Racing tactician Michele Ivaldi. “You win regattas with an average of 3.5-4 points. So if you manage to squeeze in 2nds, 3rd and 4ths you end up in good shape.”

But consistency has been the one thing difficult to achieve in the blustery conditions this week and even the leader’s average score has been just under 4 per race. “With the offshore wind there are huge shifts, as much as 30° during a single race,” continued Ivaldi. “I think we managed to start reasonably well and be able to sail the first shift and then you have to sail the wind that you have and try to get out of phase as little as possible….”

As to the tight leaderboard going into the final day, Ivaldi is not surprised: “It is good to be coming into the last day with the possibility to win, but we know perfectly that four or five boats can still win. Everything is still up for grabs. We’ll just go out tomorrow as if it is a normal day.”

In the final race victory slipped through the fingers of Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy, not once but twice. Firstly a beneficial shift while on starboard propelled them into the lead at the first top mark rounding. “We started very nicely on the downwind and gybed at the right time and we were leading by 100m,” recounted tactician Evgeny Neugodnikov. “But then the wind dropped to 12-13 knots and Charisma got in front but we were still second [Charisma going left as they went right at the gate].”

There was another roll of the dice up the second beat as Artemis Racing did well on the right to lead at the second top mark rounding with Atom Tavatuy a close fourth behind Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika. Gybing early and splitting from the leaders, Kuznetsov’s team rolled Team Nika and was again in contention for the lead but Artemis Racing and Charisma covered to leave Atom Tavatuy third. “It’s nice weather, nice wind and very close racing – like usual! I hope tomorrow we will be better,” concluded Neugodnikov.

Tomorrow, the final day of the 44Cup Scarlino World Championship, racing is scheduled to start at 1100 CEST and with three or four races likely to be held, weather permitting any of the top eight boats remains capable of winning.

Dublin Bay's Cian Guilfoyle lies third overall on French yacht Aleph after three races sailed at the 44 Cup World Championship in Scarlino, Italy today.

Guilfoyle, who is a regular crew on Aleph, is joined by another Irish crewman in Italy, Simon Johnson, who is racing on the rival yacht, Atom Tavatuy, in the nine boat fleet.

After 30-knot winds prevented any racing on day one of the 44Cup World Championship in Scarlino, Italy, the race committee pulled out all the stops to ensure racing took place today by bringing the start time forwards by two hours. Racing at the 11th 44Cup World Championship was finally able to get underway just after 1000 this morning.

Three races were successfully held in the bay off Marina di Scarlino in a northerly that built to 20-knots gusting 25.

Partly due to the difficult-to-read conditions and the intense competition between the nine boats, it was a high-scoring opening to the World Championship. But most incredibly, after three races, and with a potential 27 points on the table today, just one point separates the top seven boats and two points from the top eight in the nine boat fleet.

Simon Johnson is racing on Atom Tavatuy.

The first race was the hardest fought with Torbjörn Törnqvist's Artemis Racing doing well on the upwinds and Nico Poons' Charisma edging ahead on the runs. The Dutchman's team was first home as the Swedes dropped to fourth.

"Everyone sailed pretty well, and I managed to get a few shifts as well - it all helped," explained Charisma's tactician Hamish Pepper: "Artemis is going well. They had one small problem which opened the door for us, thankfully and we took advantage of it.

"It wasn't a 'go hard right' sort of day. There were still a few shifts coming back from the left and you had to try and join the dots. It was tough because everyone was expecting a bit more right breeze and more breeze to come, so sail selection was tricky – we were all pretty conservative; the fleet matched itself…"

Artemis Racing turned race one's result around in the second. Hugues Lepic's Aleph Racing led around the top mark, showing some of the same form that won her the 44Cup Cowes in August, but a gybeset launched Artemis into the lead which she never relinquished.

Andy Horton, tactician for the Swedish team, explained: "We had a great start up by the boat and sailed a couple of shifts well. Then we did what TT [Torbjörn Törnqvist] called 'the boat handling move of the day' - a gybeset at the top and that got us past Aleph and then we were pretty much gone." He added that generally it was a difficult day: "We were getting reports from the top mark that it was 25 knots from 30°and we sailed up the beat in 12 knots from 5°."

Törnqvist added: "The first two races were great but unfortunately coming out of the first gybe on the last beat, when we were leading, we lost our bowsprit. It took us some time to sort that out, but these things happen. That small thing lost us three places. I'm sure everyone had similar stories today."

In the third and final race Igor Lah's Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 won the pin, then stayed to the mid-left and eventually crossed the fleet on port to lead around the top mark. The overall 2021 44Cup leaders then never looked back. Artemis Racing held a strong lead overall after race two, but lost her advantage with a seventh-place finish in race three. Therefore the day ends the closest it has ever been in 44Cup history, or in perhaps any sailing class, after three races.

Nominally the leader after day one is Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, but with such a leaderboard, this is all but meaningless. The 44Cup Scarlino World Championship will effectively restart tomorrow.

"It is amazing. It cannot get closer so tomorrow we start from scratch, like today didn't happen," said Igor Lah, adding of his race win today: "The last one was great. The first was a big mistake on my side at the start, but luckily we came back. The conditions were great - really fun. I loved it, it was brilliant."

Of the tight overall result, Nico Poons added: "That is crazy. This shows how close this is!"

Torbjörn Törnqvist: "First of all it shows the standard within the class and perhaps some of the difficulties today – it was shifty and windy, a bit all over the place. And you had to have luck also. We had two good races and one where we were dictated by the situation on the course – which does happen."

Enjoying her first 44Cup races today was Moscow lawyer Valeriya Kovalenko on board her ARTtube. While she and her fledgling team were expecting to bring up the rear in every race, in fact in today's second race they finished ahead of two teams. "Today was a great day," she said. "We were happy sailing especially in the second race." While it was Kovalenko's first day of 44Cup racing, this was not the case for the majority of her team which have previously sailed on Kirill Podolsky's RUS-7, the Gazprom Youth Sailing Challenge and Synergy. Her tactician for example, Igor Lisenko raced for a season and a half on Gazprom Youth Sailing Challenge, before joining Kovalenko on board her victorious J/70. "We are young in this class but it was a good day for us," he said. "In strong winds it is not easy, because we don't have practice. But overall we are very happy."

With a similar forecast tomorrow, racing is again being brought forward by two hours with a first warning signal at 1000 CEST. Follow live at www.44cup.org.

44CUP SCARLINO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2021

(after three races)
1. Slovenia CEEREF powered by HRASTNIK 1860 - 8 3 1 - 12
2. Sweden ARTEMIS RACING - 4 1 7 - 12
3. France ALEPH RACING - 6 2 4 - 12
4. Monaco CHARISMA - 1 6 6 - 13
5. Monaco TEAM NIKA - 2 8 3 - 13
6. ATOM TAVATUY - 7 4 2 - 13
7. United Kingdom TEAM AQUA - 3 5 5 - 13
8. United Kingdom PENINSULA RACING - 5 9 8 - 14
9. United Kingdom ARTTUBE - 9 7 9 - 25

There's Irish sailing interest in the RC44 Cup fleet in Slovenia’s Adriatic coast this week as Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Cian Guilfoyle lies second on French boat Aleph Racing after three races sailed and Belfast Lough's Stephen Milne is seventh on Artemis.

As Afloat previously reported, the umpire for the week is Northern Ireland race judge Bill O'Hara in Portorož - Piran.

With its light start, brilliant sunshine and the ancient town of Piran and the still snowcapped Slovenian Alps as a backdrop, the day could not have been better for the 44Cup fleet to blow away any cobwebs after such a long absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 44Cup in Portorož Photo: Martinez/RC44

Having not lined up since November 2019, 44Cup competition resumed today for the high-performance owner-driver one designs, with three races successfully held on the Bay of Piran. These started in a 6 knots and built to 12 over the afternoon.

The 44Cup Portorož is being hosted by Vladimir Prosikhin and Igor Lah, owners of Team Nika and Team CEEREF respectively. Team CEEREF is the 44Cup's Slovenian-flagged RC44 while two key crew on board Team Nika once represented Slovenia in the Olympic Games, come from Portorož and one, Mitja Margon, is this event's organiser. It was appropriate therefore that these two RC44s won the first two races. Team Nika posted by far the most consistent results today, returning ashore with a four point lead. Behind her the competition is far closer with just four points separating second from seventh places.

As someone who shows jubilation well, being back was a sheer delight for Prosikhin: "Everyone here is extremely happy, because we were missing our RC44 regattas SO much - one of the worst things about this pandemic was that we couldn't sail our beautiful boats. Coming here is like returning home to your family, the relations with everyone are so good. Some of the guys on the boat have been with me for 10 years."

Having on board Margon and his former 470 Olympic helm Tomaž Copi, who are both from Portoroz, also helps. "They know what to expect. It was important - in the morning it was a bit more predictable, but in the afternoon it changed and we had some random headers and lifts, when the locals helped."

In addition, Team Nika is the only RC44 here with a 'new' tactician, in Spanish keelboat champion Manu Weiller, who stepped into the role, previously been filled by Russell Coutts, Dean Barker, Ed Baird and Terry Hutchinson. With everyone wanting the pin and the left due to the wind bend on the Croatian shore and the sea breeze building, Weiller said they had focussed more on getting clean, conservative, mid-line starts. "This crew is incredible. They know the boat perfectly which helps me a lot, deciding modes, etc."

Racing started in 6 knots and built to 12 over the afternoon

Team Nika was lining up to win today's final race until on the final beat they were forced to tack away from starboard tackers on two occasions. At the top mark for the final time Pavel Kuznetsov's Atom Tavatuy led, but the Russian team was eventually pipped at the post by Hugues Lepic's Team Aleph.

"It would have been better to be first, but it was compensation from the first race," said Kuznetsov, who has raced a few times on sportsboats since the last 44Cup event in Palma in November 2019.

Team Aleph's Hugues Lepic was delighted by the results of his team, on which Italian keelboat specialist Michele Ivaldi is calling tactics. He has not sailed at all since Palma 17 months ago. "It was an amazing finish - quite unexpected. I am very very pleased that we got to first position. The start was tough for us, but in the end it worked out okay." Despite losing a crew overboard after a winch handle broke at one point, Team Aleph currently holds second overall, on the same points at Team CEEREF which bracketed their race two win with two deeper results.

John Bassadone's newly rechristened Peninsula Racing had a tough day. After a solid second in the first race, they were unable to fight back from an OCS in race two and then had the top of their rig damaged and Windex torn off after Chris Bake's Team Aqua clashed rigs with them at the start of the third race (for which Bake's team was awarded two penalty points).

Racing resumes today with stronger winds forecast. 

44CUP OVERALL RANKING

(After three races)

1. Team Nika 1 3 4 - 8
2. Aleph Racing 5 6 1 - 12
3. Team CEEREF 6 1 5 - 12
4.Peninsula Racing 2 8 3 - 13
5. Atom Tavatuy 8 4 2 - 14
6. Team Aqua 4 2 7 (2) - 15
7. Artemis Racing 3 5 8 - 16
8. Charisma 7 7 6 - 20

Penalty points shown in brackets.

Nigel Biggs’s Checkmate XVI flew the burgee of the Royal Irish Yacht Club at Key West Race Week in mid-January, with a crew including young Irish sailors Adam “Bubbles” Hyland and Cian “Tree” Guilfoyle, alongside Dublin resident Jim Houston. This regatta is a “bucket list” event for sailors all over the globe, attracting Olympic medallists, America's Cup winners and Volvo winners to join professional and Corinthian sailors alike. Is there a better place to sail in January than the Florida Keys writes skipper Nigel Biggs

This was the second instalment of Checkmate’s US tour, following the Annapolis Fall Regatta last October. We joined ten other evenly matched C&C30’s for 5 days of highly competitive windward/ leeward racing where regular place changes were to become the norm. A high scoring regatta is often a testament to close racing, which was this case as this true one design fleet battled for the slightest advantage.

After losing a much needed practice day due to high winds, the first day of racing was a tough one. Starting in 20 knots of breeze that reduced during the day, the waves were up and the water warm for a great day of sailing. Boat handling is vital in any fleet, but when a flogging kite can be the difference between five and fifteen knots, it is crucial. Although happy with our pace, our lack of time in the boat and a couple of breakages meant we struggled to take the results we had hoped for in the first two races. However, we were improving and our efforts were rewarded with a hard earned win in the last race of a long day.

After a long discussion about where we could improve, the boat job list was finished and we headed of for Conch Fritters, Mahi-mahi and Shrimps….with maybe a cold beer.

Tuesday brought big winds, big waves and no racing. After more work on the boat we had a day of sightseeing, swimming and relaxation. The nippers took the opportunity to get up close to the Maxi 72’s and take a dip in a the ocean….slightly more pleasant than the beach at Dalkey in January.

Day three bought a 15 - 18 knots from the NE, an offshore wind that held steady enough to provide the closest racing of the week. With a swell left over from the previous day, it was tough to get upwind without slamming around and kept the fleet close together all day. The first windward mark had 10 of the 11 boat fleet overlapped, but our early start to the day and practice session paid off and we were in the mix all the day.

Finally we got some proper sunshine for day four of racing. Starting in a 10 – 14 knot breeze from the NE, the racing was as close and intense as Wednesday with no room for mistakes. Race 3 of the day had us in the middle of the leading bunch heading for the line, but a slight shift had us heading back in on port….hero to zero in 5 boat lengths!
For the last day of racing we headed out into a torrential downpour, 20 + knots from the south and a monster swell. Just like home – only warmer! After a conservative start at the committee boat, we headed right in a clear lane and were in our element……wind, waves and rain, all very reminiscent of Duna Laoghaire Regatta last summer! With confidence in our boat handling, we worked the boat hard to round the windward mark in first place, hoisted the spinnaker and headed off downwind at speeds approaching 20 knots as the breeze continued to build. Neil Mackley called a perfect lay line for our gybe into the bottom mark and we rounded with a good lead which we extended on the next round to take a thoroughly deserved and applauded win. With the breeze now a solid 25 knots, gusting to 30+, racing was abandoned for the day as we surfed back to the shelter of the dock at 15 knots plus with smiles all round….a great way to end a great week.

Key West Race Week 2016 was certainly very good to us both on and off the water. With a huge range of age and experience on board, we took every opportunity to learn from each other and improve and develop our skills. Our 2 race wins were reward for our efforts (the last being particularly satisfying) and whilst disappointed to only finish 6th out of the 11 competitors in our class, in the no discard series, we will continue to improve.

Our next event is the Miami Ocean Challenge in February where we will continue our 30 year plus Checkmate campaign of working hard, racing harder, but more importantly having fun and making new friends.