It was a punch-up between Team Ceeref and Banco Espirito Santo for fleet racing honours in the Puerto Calero RC44 Gold Cup, and also for the 2008 season title. Nothing was certain until the boats had crossed the line in the final high-wind race in Lanzarote.

You can’t just turn up in the RC44 class and expect to win, but today saw the new owners come to the fore in the Puerto Calero RC44 Gold Cup in Lanzarote. Torbjorn Tornqvist steered Artemis to victory in the long distance race for the DHL Trophy, and local owner Daniel Calero came second.

After James Spithill steering Team Ceeref to victory in all 10 match races of the Puerto Calero RC44 Gold Cup, today owner Igor Lah continued that winning streak in fine style, taking three of the four fleet races, and finishing second in the other. Can anyone stop the Slovenian team?

James Spithill delivered another match racing master class today, winning all five of his matches for the second day running in the Puerto Calero RC44 Gold Cup. This means that Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref win the 2008 Match Race Series by a dominant margin.

Lanzarote delivered on its promises of strong wind today, with the six RC44 teams battling to master the gusty conditions while also trying to win their five flights of intense match racing. The only boat to keep a clean sheet was Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref, helmed by James Spithill.

The RC 44 Gold Cup takes place in Puerto Calero (Canary Islands, Spain), on December 10-14. This event is the last regatta in the RC 44 2008 Championship Tour. The season’s match, fleet race and long distance champions will be crowned. The pressure is rising: there is a lot at stake.

Most RC 44's are now training for the Gold Cup, off Puerto Calero.

The new Austrian team did it’s first training session on Lake Traun.

The RC 44 Gold Cup will take place in Puerto Calero (Canary Islands, Spain), on December 10-14. This event is the last regatta in the RC 44 2008 Championship Tour. The season’s match, fleet race and long distance champions will be crowned. The pressure is rising: there is a lot at stake.

Pieter Heerema and his team are training hard in Copenhagen despite the cold weather.

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Patrick de Barros’ Team Banco Espirito Santo finish the race in fourth, Artemis fifth and Ceeref eighth. The race winner is the super Maxi Alfa Romeo, whilst Shosholoza’s America’s Cup boat finishes just ahead of the first RC 44.

Patrick de Barros and Russell Coutts haven’t had to fight to keep their three points lead over Armando Giulietti’s Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano: there was once again no wind today and the racing got cancelled at 2:30 PM by Race Officer Peter Reggio.

The sailors involved in the Friuli Venezia Giulia RC44 Cup finally had the opportunity to sail superb races today. Held in up to 25 knots of wind, the races confirmed Patrick de Barros and Russell Coutts’ leadership.

After another long postponement, the fleet regatta finally started today afternoon at 3:00 PM. Patrick de Barros’ Banco Espirito Santo made the best of the light breeze and won the race ahead of BMW ORACLE Racing (with Peter de Ridder at the helm) and Armando Giulietti’s Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano.

The RC 44’s managed to complete two more flights today. BMW ORACLE Racing, Cro-A-Sail, Ceeref and Artemis are the winners of the day. However, with only three flights completed the contest is not valid. The fleet regatta starts tomorrow.

The RC 44 Championship Tour 2008 comprises six international regattas; it attracts some of the world’s best sailors.

The Italian team confirms its good results from the beginning of the season and increases its lead in the RC 44 Championship Tour. Hiroshi will keep the Tour leader’s gold wheels for the next event, in Trieste, on October 7-11.

The wind was not at its best on Lake Garda today for the long distance DHL Trophy. However, the nine RC 44’s managed to sail an interesting regatta. Banco Espirito Santo made the best out of the conditions to win the race, ahead of Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano and Ceeref. Armando Giulietti’s Team Hiroshi is now alone at the top of the fleet race ranking.

The team from the UAE, led by Markus Wieser, had an excellent day. Sea Dubai leads the event alongside Armando Giulietti’s Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano, ahead of Igor Lah’s Ceeref and Patrick de Barros’ Banco Espirito Santo.

The scenario of the match race event couldn’t have been any better, with four teams sharing the lead before the last race, illustrating the closeness and the intensity of the event! Larry Ellison, Russell Coutts and their crew made the best of it; they are the 2008 RC 44 Continental champions.

Less than two weeks to go to the start of the RC 44 MALCESINE SLAM CUP and the tension is rising. The Class’ 2008 Continental challenge will once again reassemble some of the world’s best sailors in the notoriously windy town of Malcesine, on Lake Garda, including Dean Barker, Philippe Presti, Cameron Appleton, Sébastien Col, Russell Coutts and many more.
 
Will Chris Bake’s Team Aqua repeat their win from last year? Will Armando Giulietti’s Team Hiroshi-Città di Milano keep the championship Tour leader’s gold wheel? Or will James Spithill and Igor Lah confirm their recent leadership over the Class?
 
Well, it’s all open and Lake Garda’s beautiful breeze will be the judge.
 
See you there!
 
Bernard Schopfer
 

The organisers of the RC 44 Austria Cup are not lucky: the weather doesn’t play the game, and doesn’t reward them for their great organisation.

With Igor Lah at the helm and James Spithill calling the shots, the Slovenian team had another excellent series on day one of the fleet race event of the RC 44 Austria Cup, taking the lead ahead of Team Aqua and Team Banco Espirito Santo.