The RC44 Class Rule has been rewritten to allow for at least one female crew member this season, and the 44Cup will be seeing its first all-female team next week. The nine competing teams will include the "black boat," typically used by local teams such as Oman Sail and lent out to those looking to join the circuit. This time around, the boat will be campaigned by Cowes skipper Louise Morton and her Bullet team. Although new to the high-performance RC44 one design, Morton is no stranger to racing with an all-female crew and has had great success in "beating up the boys."
Her experience includes three wins of the highly prestigious Quarter Ton Cup, even beating out her vastly experienced husband Peter and four wins of the Women's Open Keelboat Championship. Morton's extensive sailing background includes transatlantic and Fastnet Races, numerous RORC seasons, and inshore regattas such as the St Barths Bucket, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Rolex China Sea Race, and Phuket King's Cup.
Recently, she has even taken to yacht racing in the 5.5mR keelboat class. "I am really looking forward to it - it is something different," says Louise of the upcoming 44Cup Cowes. "All of the crew immediately said 'yes.' For them, it is a really exciting opportunity." Morton's RC44 will be named Bullet, just like her previous Quarter Tonner.
Cowes Skipper Louise Morton on her Quarter Tonner Bullet
Within the family, there is a little 44Cup form. Husband Peter Morton steered Team Aqua in place of Chris Bake for the first two days in Porto Montenegro in 2019. On the second of those, Team Aqua was top scoring boat. “He loved it,” Louise says of Peter’s brief stint. “I think he was hoping he might be asked next week, but he’ll have my role! He absolutely thinks we can have a crack at it and have a good time. We have local knowledge of the Solent, and we’ll be based at home, which will make life easier.”
With former Olympian Lucy Macgregor as tactician, Louise will be migrating her regular crew across to the new boat, although she has had to expand this. The Bullet crew will comprise Lucy Macgregor, her capable sisters Kate and Nicky; Annie Lush on mainsheet; Dutch Ocean Race sailor Laura van Veen; Annabel Vose; Midge Watkins; Mary Rook and Abby Childerley. While with the new rule for 2023, RC44s now typically sail with nine, all-female teams can sail with 10 and their combined crew weight can be 760kg compared to 730kg. However according to Lucy Macgregor they won’t be anywhere near these figures: “We are going to be wildly underweight. We will be ‘eyes wide open’ to work out our own way of sailing the boat, because we won’t have the power that some of the guys have in terms of body weight.”
Up until this year RC44s were regularly sailed with eight, so Lucy says: “I think effectively we’ll have two floaters - someone floating between bow and pit for example and another at the back of the boat. We will work all of this out as we go - I’m sure it will be one of those events where we’ll finish the last race wishing we were starting the event again, because we will have learned so much.”
Significantly for Lucy, this regatta will not only reunite her with her sisters but also with her past crew line-ups. She match-raced with Lush and younger sister Kate in the Elliott 6m at London 2012 and with Lush and both her sisters when she won the last of her four Women’s Match Racing World Championship titles in 2018.
Both Lucy Macgregor and Louise Morton are impressed by the level of support they have had from other teams and individuals in the 44Cup. Like all the other RC44s, the 'black boat' had the same Harken winch and pedestal upgrade. Over winter, she also received a full new paint job, non-skid plus standing and running rigging replacement. On top of this, the regular teams are lending them good quality racing sails.
Aside from being light, a lack of RC44 experience will be their principal hurdle. They will sail the boat for the first time on Saturday and will put in more training days before the race proper starts. However, on their 5.5mR team is Andrew Palfrey, previously Team Aqua’s long-term coach, and the Macgregor’s match racing experience will come to play: “I am sailing with some girls who have been on the match racing circuit for some time, and they are used to turning up at regattas and having to learn a boat and go racing,” says Louise. As to the specifics of the RC44: “It has got twin wheels, and I haven’t sailed very much with asymmetrics, which will be interesting…”
Lucy Macgregor concludes: “For me personally, the RC44 has always been on my list of fleets I wanted to sail in. It is a bucket list item for me to have this opportunity to race and race with our own team as well. We’ll be quick learners - we’ll need to be because there are a lot of established teams and some seriously high-quality talent across the fleet. We are just looking forward to getting stuck in and trying to make some impact in the class. I can’t wait.”
The 44Cup Cowes starts with practice racing on Wednesday, 9 August, with racing proper from Thursday, 10 August to Sunday, 13 August, culminating with a prizegiving at the Royal Yacht Squadron.
