Olivier Backes and Arnaud Jarlegan celebrate their triumph in F18. PHOTO: Tino Armas

Nahuel Rodríguez is the new Spanish Laser Radial and Standard champion while the Padrón – Pérez team is third in the European F18 Championship; Joaquín Blanco claims first place in Standard.

The sailors from the RCNGC dominate the 13th Canary Islands Sailing Olympic Week. Success of the representatives of the Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria in the 13th Canary Islands Sailing Olympic Week – El Corte Inglés, which has taken place in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria since last 5 of December. The podium of the Spanish Championship was made up of Canarian representatives, since Nahuel Rodríguez took first place, Aythami Quintana second and Joel Rodrígues, third. Javier Padrón and Miguel Pérez could not claim victory in the European Championship, but finished in a praiseworthy third place, after competing against more experienced rivals. Joaquín Blanco won in Laser Standard Class.

At 10:00 a.m. the over 200 boats that have “invaded” the bay of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for a week went to the water to begin the last big battle, the three races that would decide the new champions of Europe and Spain in F18 and Laser Radial, respectively, so the tension and the excitement were at their peak from the first minute. On top of all this, there were great weather conditions throughout the three races, with 12 knot winds. A spectacular sight. 

While in the Bravo racecourse, which stretched from San Cristóbal to the beach of La Laja, the decisive races of the European Championship were taking place, the Spanish Championship and the Laser Standard took place in the Alfa racecourse, nearer to the RCNGC.

Finally, and after a year full of successes, Nahuel Rodríguez won the Laser Radial National Championship. The sailor from the RCNGC, who in the three regattas finished in second, first and third place, was joined on the podium by Aythami Quintana (CN Castillo del Águila) and by his brother Joel. Once on land, Nahuel was happy for having won the title, declaring that he had obtained many good results, and this had helped him climb positions. 
 
In women’s category the Laser Radial rankings also had Canarian sailors as protagonists. Paula Escuder (RCN Tenerife), María Cabrera (RCNGC) and Martina Reino (RCNGC) were the best three sailors of the National Championship.

As for Javier Padrón and Miguel Pérez, who fought in the top places of the fleet from the beginning of the European Championship, finally took third place overall, after finishing in twelfth, seventeenth and seventh place in the three races. The sailors from Gran Canaria have sailed brilliantly throughout this European Championship and have only been beaten by French sailors Olivier Backes and Arnaud Jarlegan (first), and Francois Morvan and Maithien Vandame (second).
 
Joaquín Blanco, also sailor from the RCNGC, dominated the Laser Standard Olympic Class, finishing in first place in the competition thanks to a second, a fifth and a first place in the three regattas that took place on Sunday. The podium of the category was completed by Portugal’s Francisco Lobato, who finished in second place, and Miguel Noguer, third.

The 13th Canary Islands Olympic Sailing Week – El Corte Inglés Trophy has brought together around 320 sailors from 18 European countries and from almost all the Spanish Autonomous Communities, something which has contributed to increase the prestige of this event that, once more, has been on the spotlight of national and international sailing. 
 
The prize giving ceremony took place at 6:00 p.m. in the premises of the Canarian sailing club, thus putting an end to the thirteenth Canary Islands Olympic Sailing Week – El Corte Inglés Trophy that the RCNGC has organised with the Town Hall of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, under the name of LPA Open Sea. The event has also been supported by the Tourism Department of the Council of Gran Canaria, the Government of the Canary Islands, through Promotur, and by companies such as El Corte Inglés, Pepsi, Toyota Canarias, Lopesan and Naviera Armas.

In the image, the new world champion.

The bodyboarder beat South African Jared Houston, from Cape Town, in quarterfinals, with an extremely long barrel.

Young 21-year-old Pierre-Louis Costes, from France, won the IBA GSS world championship title after beating South African Jared Houston, from Cape Town, in quarterfinals. Houston lied ahead of him after getting two minor scores when Costes managed to get out of the day’s longest and toughest barrel and scored a nine, getting ahead in the scoreboard and winning the heat.

“That was the wave of my life, the one that has won me the title and made my dreams come true,” Costes explained, excited. The new world champion dedicates his victory to his sister and parents for their support in making his dream come true, to become the world champion. Costes wiped the tears from his face, held up his well-deserved trophy and enjoyed the applause of the fans. “Right now I’m really happy and I’ve realised that dreams can come true. I think that it will take me some time to realise what has happened. I only want to thank El Frontón,” Costes concluded.

Some time after Costes claimed the world title, Australian Jason Finlay won the NMD-Stealth Fronton Pro championship after beating his fellow countryman Mitch Rawlins (Gold Coast) in the final, with long barrel, 8 to 13 feet waves.

Finlay, who began his competition year thanks to a wildcard, finished twelfth in the ranking. His most exciting moment of the competition came in the fourth round, when he eliminated one of the clearest contenders for the title, Jeff Hubbard (HAW). In quarterfinals he eliminated Dallas Singer (Box Beach/AUS) and Andrew Lester (Cronulla/AUS) in semifinals. After the final, where he beat Mitch Rawlins, Finlay went to the podium to receive the trophy awarded by the Mayor of Gáldar, Teodoro Sosa. Once there, Rawlins and Costes did not fail to shower him with cava. “I’m the happiest man in the world”, Finlay commented, “I didn’t think I could win the competition. I only wanted to come, perform some great aerials and meet contestants and locals who control this peak. The final did not have the best waves but I did my best and I got my reward, I’m really excited.”

New top 24 GSS ranking

1) Pierre Louis Costes-France
2) Jeff Hubbard-Hawaii
3) Ryan Hardy-Australia
4) Amaury Lavernhe-Reunion
5) Uri Valadao-Brazil
6) Guilherme Tamega-Brazil
7) Dave Winchester-Australia
Magno Oliveira-Brazil
9) Mark McCarthy-Sth Africa
10) Jared Houston-Sth Africa
11) Dallas Singer-Australia
12) Jake Stone-Australia
13) Ben Player-Australia
14) Dave Hubbard-Hawaii
15) Eder Luciano-Brazil
16) Michael Novy-Australia
17) Alex Uranga-Spain
18) Andrew Lester-Australia
19) Chase O´Leary-Australia
20) Sam Bennett-Australia
21) Mitch Rawlins-Australia
22) Yeray Martinez-Canary Is
23) Roberto Bruno-Brazil
24) Thomas Rigby-Australia

Javier Padrón and Miguel Pérez, celebrating their good start..

With the beginning, this Thursday, of the Spanish Laser Radial Championship, more than 220 boats will make the bay of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria a spectacular sight to see..

The European F18 Championship that takes place in the bay of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, as part of the 13th Canary Islands Sailing Olympic Week – El Corte Inglés Trophy, could not have begun better. After day one, the Canarian team of the Real Club Náutico of Gran Canaria, made up of Javier Padrón and Miguel Pérez, lies at the top of the overall ranking. Following close behind are two French boats:  Olivier Backes and Arnaud Jarlegan lie in second place while Victorien Erussard and Frederic Moreau lie in third place.

The F18 catamarans that left the beach of Las Alcaravaneras first thing in the morning and headed for the racecourse, which stretched from San Cristóbal to the beach of La Laja, were a spectacular sight to see –indeed, this class is known as the Formula One of dinghy sailing.

The first two races of the day started at 1:00 p.m. Weather conditions were good during the first regatta, with a 10 knot southeasterly breeze. However, the second race of the afternoon had to be shortened since the wind did not help.
Day one made clear that the fight for victory in this European championship will be a tough one, given the quality of the boats that participate. The almost ninety catamarans will meet again this Thursday at 10:55 on another exciting day of competition.

The rest of the Canarian fleet will try to climb places in the overall ranking, as is the case of the RCNGC team made up of Óliver Bravo de Laguna and Carlos Loureiro, who finished this Wednesday in 16th place and are the first Canarian sailors in the ranking, after Padrón and Pérez.

As for the Spanish Laser Radial Championship, it will begin this Wednesday, as part of the Canary Islands Sailing Olympic Week – El Corte Inglés Trophy. It will be the highlight of the event, with more than 220 boats competing in the bay of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, until next Sunday, 11 of December.

With the National Championship in mind, the best sailors of the category have travelled to the capital city of Gran Canaria, from almost all the Spanish autonomous communities. The Canary Islands will be represented by around thirty competitors. Part of this delegation comes from the Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria, main organiser of the competition.

During these days, the competition organised by the RCNGC and the Town Hall of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the bay of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, under the name Open Sea LPA, will be on the spotlight of the national and international nautical sports. The event also has the support of the Tourism Department of the Council of Gran Canaria, the Government of the Canary Islands, through Promotur, and companies such as El Corte Inglés, Pepsi, Toyota Canarias, Lopesan and Naviera Armas.

Image of Artemis celebrating the title. FOTO: Nico Martínez

Peninsula Petroleum and Ironbound completed the podium, while Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, after colliding with the Committee in the first start of the day, finished in fifth position.

Torbjorn Tornqvist´s Artemis from Sweden is the new RC44 world champion in Puerto Calero, thus taking over from Larry Ellison’s Oracle –winner in 2010- with Daniel Calero at the helm. Thus Tornqvist continues winning world titles, having already won in the TP52 class in 2007.

David Murphy´s Ironbound, from the United States, took second place while John Bassadone´s Peninsula Petroleum, from Gibraltar, the big revelation of the championship, finished in third place, achieving its best qualification in RC44 history.

Daniel Calero’s Islas Canarias Puerto Calero could not maintain podium positions, after claiming podium spots on the three previous days, arriving as co-leader to the last day; a collision with the Committee at the start of the ninth race left them without options. The protagonist of the day was also Gennadi Timchenko’s Katusha, after claiming three firsts in all three races.

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero was the protagonist at the start of the first race of the day –ninth overall-, after it sailed too close to the Committee boat and run into it. Calero’s boat not only started in last position but the crack on the boat complicated things just after the start. As for the rest of the fleet, Peninsula Petroleum started in first position, while the boats that opted for the left side of the racecourse, such as Katusha and Ironbound, made the right decision, as they arrived to windward first, followed by Aleph.

Peninsula Petroleum crossed the mark in sixth place and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, still having problems, crossed in eleventh place. The wind shifted and there was a first change in the racecourse for the leeward gate, where the first three boats kept their positions while Peninsula Petroleum climbed one place, crossing the mark in fifth place. At the last windward mark, the top positions remained the same, while Peninsula Petroleum still sailed in sixth position and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero continued climbing places to reach seventh place. Katusha won the race, followed by Ironbound and Aleph. Peninsula Petroleum came in seventh and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, which had to evacuate mainsail trimmer Leonardo Armas, who was ill, finished in eighth place.

In the second race, No Way Back was the first to cross the start line. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, Katusha and Ironbound followed behind. The American boat was the first to cross the windward mark, followed by Artemis, Synergy and Peninsula Petroleum, while Islas Canarias Puerto Calero crossed in eighth place. Peninsula Petroleum and Katusha crossed the gate by the left side and Artemis and Ironbound by the right side, thus opening a new race. Katusha claimed victory in the end, followed by Artemis and Synergy. Peninsula came in sixth and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, tenth. This left the final open for third and fourth place, which would be decided in the last race, the boats from the Canary Islands and Gibraltar arriving on equal points. RUS7 abandoned the race due to problems with the mast.

The third race would decide the new world champion, as the boats arrived with options for final victory as well as for the rest of podium places. Katusha crossed the first windward mark in first position, followed by Ironbound and Peninsula Petroleum; Islas Canarias Puerto Calero did so in seventh place, while Katusha sailed the last stretch in first place, Ceeref in second, Ironbound in third, Peninsula Petroleum in fourth and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero in seventh place. Katusha won the last race, with Ceeref claiming second place, Ironbound third and Peninsula Petroleum fourth; Islas Canarias Puerto Calero finished in sixth place, beating Artemis on the finish line; although this was not enough to reach a spot on the final podium.

John Bassadone was really happy about reaching the podium in the RC44 World Championship: “This is fantastic, if someone had told me this one week ago I wouldn’t have believed it, but the crew has done a perfect job and we’re really happy with everything we’ve experienced. We began in this class a year ago, here in Puerto Calero, and it’s been great, to be able to fight to win until the last day has been exciting.” As for the future, he commented that “in two month’s time we’ll come back to Lanzarote, we are eager to begin the 2012 tour, especially after this final.”

Daniel Calero was resigned, but happy at the same time with their participation in the world championship: “We have reached podium positions every day, but all kind of things happened to us on the last day, we collided with the Committee at the start, we had to evacuate a crewmember… but anyway, this is how sailing works and we must accept it.”  As for the championship, he explained that “to arrive to the last day on equal points with the leader is something we just couldn’t imagine could happen. We could summarise it by saying that we’ve done a great championship, but we’ve had a bad last day.”

As for the RC44 Championship Tour, Chris Blake is the overall winner of the 2011 season. The British boat had already arrived to Puerto Calero as virtual winner, followed by Artemis Racing and Oracle Racing.

FINAL RANKING OF THE PUERTO CALERO-LANZAROTE RC44 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1st Artemis (SWE), 4-5-1-1-4-8-12-1-4-2-7, 49 points
2nd Ironbound (USA), 9-3-5-4-10-1-4-5-2-5-3, 51 points
3rd Peninsula Petroleum (GBR), 2-2-4-12-3-9-3-6-7-6-4, 58 points
4th Katusha (RUS), 8-11-2-8-5-3-9-10-1-1-1, 59 points
5th Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3-1-7-7-8-4-2-4-8-10-6, 60 points
6th No Way Back (NED), 1-12-3-3-7-2-10-12-6-7-5, 68 points
7th Ceeref (SLO), 6-10-8-5-2-12-5-8-9-8-2 (+2), 77 points
8th Aqua (GBR), 7-8-10-2-1-10-6-3-10-9-12 (+2), 80 points
9th Aleph (FRA), 14-4-12-11-6-13-1-2-3-11-9, 86 points
10th Nika (RUS), 10-6-13-6-11-5-8-13-5-13-10, 100 points
11th Synergy (RUS), 12-9-6-9-9-7-11-11-11-3-13, 101 points
12th AEZ (AUT), 5-7-9-13-12-11-13-14-12-4-8 (+1), 109 points
13th MAG Racing (POL), 11-14-15-10-12-6-14-9-13-12-11, 129 points
14th RUS7 (RUS), 13-13-11-14-13-14-7-7-14-15-15, 136 points

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, leading the fleet. PHOTO: Nico Martínez

Artemis, on equal points with the Canarian boat, Ironbound and Peninsula Petroleum, will also fight to claim the world title in Lanzarote.

The last day of the RC44 World Championship, which is taking place in Lanzarote, arrives full of excitement after Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis, from Sweden, and Daniel Calero’s Islas Canarias Puerto Calero reached the top of the overall ranking on equal points. The ranking is still open, since David Murphy’s Ironbound and John Bassadone’s Peninsula Petroleum, third and fourth, also have options for final victory, as they are only five points behind the first two.

In the first race of the day –fifth overall- there was a strong 20 knots wind. The boats sailed fast and the first to head for the windward buoy were Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and David Murphy’s Ironbound. Chris Blake’s Team Aqua was leading the fleet at the first windward mark, followed by Igor Lah’s Ceeref, Gennadi Timchenko’s Katusha and Peninsula Petroleum, while Islas Canarias Puerto Calero crossed the mark in eight place. 

The wind shifted and the course changed, Aqua and Ceeref repeated positions at the leeward mark and Peninsula Petroleum arrived in third place. Aqua and Ceeref held on to their positions in the second beat, while Katusha Peninsula Petroleum recovered third and fourth place, respectively. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero climbed one place and entered the last windward leg in seventh place. Meanwhile, Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back began a spectacular recovery, climbing from fourteenth position to sixth, where it finished. Team Aqua won, followed by Ceeref and Peninsula Petroleum. Islas Canarias crossed the finish line in eighth place.

The start of the second race of the day was delayed because a heavy shower made the wind shift and drop in intensity; the ten knots breeze was enough to allow sailing for the rest of the day. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero started well, defended itself well at the head of the fleet and arrived second to the windward mark, just behind Ironbound, while Katusha crossed the mark in third place. Then the group divided, on the left were Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, Artemis and Katusha; on the right, Ironbound and No Way Back. Halfway through the racecourse the boats on the right benefited, with the American boat crossing the leeward gate in first place, followed by the Dutch, the Russians, who were third, and the Spaniards, fourth. Positions changed little from then on, with Ironbound claiming victory, No Way Back finishing in second place, Katusha in third place and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero in fourth place. Peninsula Petroleum only managed to come in ninth.

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero began well the third race, taking the lead, which enabled it to dominate and reach the windward mark in first place, followed by Aleph, Team Aqua and Peninsula Petroleum. The French boat overtook the Canarian boat in the first windward leg, and they came in first and second, respectively, at the leeward gate, while Peninsula Petroleum came in third. The first three positions remained the same at the last windward mark and at the finish line, with Aleph coming in first, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero second and Peninsula Petroleum third, which again placed Daniel Calero’s boat at the top of the provisional overall ranking.

The wind kept blowing at nine knots at the start of the fourth race of the day, eighth overall. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero started with AEZ, but it did not manage to keep up with the leading group this time and reached the windward mark in thirteenth place. Team Aqua crossed it in first place, followed by Peninsula Petroleum and Ironbound. At the leeward gate the first three positions remained the same, while Islas Canarias Puerto Calero climbed three places, crossing the mark in tenth place. The wind shifted and there was a change in the course for the last leeward mark, where the boats that were sailing on the right, such as Artemis and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, dominated the situation and began to recover, while those on the left, Katusha, Ironbound and Synergy, followed behind. Aqua came in first at windward, Artemis second, Aleph third and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero fourth, thus completing a great beat and recovering sixth place. In the last windward leg Artemis overtook Aqua, which had problems hauling the spi, and so did Aleph, which finished in second place, and Islas Canarias, fourth, with Peninsula Petroleum arriving in sixth place.

Daniel Calero commented on arriving to the port that “we’re fighting to be at the top; the truth is that if someone had told us this before beginning we wouldn’t have believed it. There is still one day to go and anything can happen, but we’re confident in our possibilities and we will fight for victory, as hard as ever.” John Bassadone explained that “we are in the best moment of the season, the crew is excellent and to arrive to the last day with possibilities is the best gift. I have a top-class crew.” The start of Sunday’s races will happen earlier than scheduled, at 11:30, so that three races may be completed and some of the races that could not be completed on Friday may be recovered.

RANKING:

1st Artemis (SWE), 4-5-1-1-4-8-12-1, 36 points
2nd Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3-1-7-7-8-4-2-4, 36 points
3rd Ironbound (USA), 9-3-5-4-10-1-4-5, 41 points
4th Peninsula Petroleum (GBR), 2-2-4-12-3-9-3-6, 41 points
5th Aqua (GBR), 7-8-10-2-1-10-6-3 (+1), 48 points
6th No Way Back (NED), 1-12-3-3-7-2-10-12, 50 points
7th Katusha (RUS), 8-11-2-8-5-3-9-10, 56 points
8th Ceeref (SLO), 6-10-8-5-2-12-5-8, 56 points
9th Aleph (FRA), 14-4-12-11-6-13-1-2, 63 points
10th Nika (RUS), 10-6-13-6-11-5-8-13, 72 points
11th Synergy (RUS), 12-9-6-9-9-7-11-11, 74 points
12th AEZ (AUT), 5-7-9-13-12-11-13-14 (+1), 85 points
13th MAG Racing (POL), 11-14-15-10-12-6-14-9, 91 points
14th RUS7 (RUS), 13-13-11-14-13-14-7-7, 92 points

Daniel Calero’s boat climbs one place in a complicated day, as only one race could be completed due to scarce, gusty wind.

Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis, from Sweden, is the new leader of the RC44 World Championship, after overcoming a really complicated day, with scarce, gusty wind. Artemis best managed an end of race with practically no wind, finally taking the lead, and taking over from John Bassadone’s Peninsula Petroleum. The boat from Gibraltar, which did have a tough time with the scarce wind and lost its privileged position on the podium, is now fourth.

The wind was indeed the first protagonist of the day; the regatta committee decided to move the race course from the area of Playa Quemada to that of Playa de Guacimeta, where the wind was blowing with greater strength and seemed to be steadier. Yet the races did not begin until two hours after the scheduled time, with a 8-10 knots southern breeze, which ended up dropping entirely.

Artemis wanted to show that it went to Puerto Calero to win the World Championship, and from the beginning of the first race of the day –fourth race overall- it sailed in first position. At the beginning, Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika, from Russia, and John Bassadone’s Peninsula Petroleum, from Gibraltar, followed behind. At the first windward mark, Team Nika arrived first, followed by Artemis, Hughes Lepic’s Aleph, from France, and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero. Artemis regained the lead at the leeward gate, followed by Islas Canarias Puerto Calero and David Murphy’s Ironbound, from the United States. Peninsula Petroleum began to improve and climbed from twelfth to fourth position.

The last downwind leg was dramatic, with the fleet arriving very tight. The wind began to shift and drop, a real trap for some boats. At the last stretch positions changed a lot and only Artemis managed to hold on, ending up winning the fourth race of the World Championship and leading the overall ranking. Chris Blake’s Team Aqua finished in second position, while Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back, from Holland, came in third.

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero dropped several places and finished in seventh position, while Gibraltar’s Peninsula Petroleum, previous leader, crossed the finish line in twelfth position. The arrival at the finish line was tough, especially for Peninsula Petroleum, AEZ, Ironbound and RUS7, which were dragged near the committee boat at the moment of the arrival after the wind dropped completely and due to the current.

Since the wind gave no options and ended up dropping, the committee, seeing the instability of the racecourse, decided to bring the day to a close; thus, none of the RC44 tour regattas have been cancelled because of weather conditions.

Daniel Calero was really happy about entering the podium area: “Today the best conclusion is that we have climbed one position in the overall ranking;” as for the complicated end of the single race that was sailed, he commented that “we were in second position at less than fifty meters from the finish line; when the wind dropped completely and we were left practically anchored, we dropped from second to fifth place”.

RANKING
1 Artemis (SWE), 4-5-1-1, 11 points

2 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3-1-7-7, 18 points

3 No Way Back (HOL), 1-12-3-3, 19 points

4 Peninsula Petroleum (GBR), 2-2-4-12, 20 points

5 Ironbound (GBR), 9-3-5-4, 21 points

6 Aqua (GBR), 7-8-10-2, 27 points

7 Katusha (RUS), 8-11-2-8, 29 points

8 Ceeref (SLO), 6-10-8-5, 29 points

9 AEZ (AUT), 5-7-9-13+1, 35 points

10 Nika (RUS), 10-6-13-6, 35 points

11 Synergy (RUS), 12-9-6-9, 36 points

12 Aleph (FRA), 14-4-12-11, 41 points

13 MAG Racing (POL), 11-14-15-10, 50 points

14 RUS7 (RUS), 13-13-11-14, 51 points

Puerto Calero and Peninsula Petroleum, in the image, fought a nice battle. PHOTO: Nico Martínez

Peninsula Petroleum is the first leader of the RC44 World Championship, which takes place in Lanzarote.

John Bassadone’s Peninsula Petroleum is the first leader of the RC44 class World Championship, which takes place in Puerto Calero. The boat from Gibraltar surprised the entire fleet and climbed to first place after being today’s most regular boat, with two seconds and a fourth, after recovering several times. Daniel Calero’s Canarias Puerto Calero lies in third place after taking third, first and a seventh place, while Torbjorn Torqvist’s Artemis is second.

The wind helped from the beginning, blowing at 10-12 knots, enabling the races to begin on time. The protagonist of the first race was Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back, from Holland, which led the fleet from the first minute, crossing all the buoy marks in first place. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, with Daniel Calero at the helm, was the first to catch up and climbed to second place in the following stretches. However, in the last downwind leg, Peninsula Petroleum, which had managed to surpass the entire fleet, beat Calero’s boat in the last metres and crossed the finish line in second place, while the boat from Lanzarote came in third. The arrival of the rest of the fleet was a tight one and the tour’s winner and big favourite, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua, from Great Britain, lost no less than three places at the finish line, and was beaten by Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis, from Sewden, Christian Binder’s AEZ, from Austria, and Igor Lah’s Ceeref, from Slovenia.

There was a general call in the second race of the day, as a large part of the fleet had come out of the starting line, and the start had to be repeated; the second start also saw a black flag, which meant that the boat that started ahead of time would be disqualified for the race. Islas Canarias was brave in the second start and started off the pin line leading the fleet, with a surprising AEZ following behind and arriving to the first windward mark in first and second place, respectively. David Murphy’s Ironbound, from the United States – which could not compete on day one – did a great comeback and arrived in third place. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero emulated No Way Back in the first race, and held on to first place until it arrived to the finish line, winning the race and finishing as provisional overall leader.

Peninsula Petroleum again sailed a brilliant race and crossed the finish line in second position, while Ironbound did so in third place. Surprisingly, No Way Back, winner of the first race, finished in fourteenth place in this second race, closing the fleet.

The third and last race of the day also began with a black flag, with Mag Racing starting ahead of time, and thus being disqualified. Artemis was the first to start and lead the race, followed by Ironbound and Katusha, while Islas Canarias Puerto Calero started also in the leading group of boats in fourth place. However, Artemis ended up crossing the windward mark ahead of Calero’s boat, which crossed it in ninth place. The Spanish boat improved in the next stretches and climbed to sixth place, while Peninsula Petroleum did again a great job and crossed the windward mark in fourth place, behind Artemis, Katusha and No Way Back. In the end, this would be the order of arrival to the finish line in the third race, with Peninsula Petroleum following behind. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero finally crossed the finish line in seventh place, with the boat from Gibraltar taking over the leadership.

John Bassadone was really happy after this first sailing day, in which Peninsula Petroleum will finish as leader: “The truth is that everything has come out really well, the boat has sailed really fast and the team has been perfect, tactically and with the manoeuvres. We can’t ask for more,” the ship-owner from Gibraltar declared, although he is aware that “this is only the beginning, tomorrow we will start as if it were the first day of regattas.”

Daniel Calero was also satisfied with this opening of the World Championship for Islas Canarias Puerto Calero: “We have achieved very good results; this good position in the overall ranking is the result of teamwork and, besides, we managed to win a race competing against such a high-level fleet.” The skipper from Lanzarote also pointed out that “the championship is very long and the goal is to finish all races among the top five to be at the top.”

RANKING
1 Peninsula Petroleum (GBR), 2-2-4, 8 points
2 Artemis (SWE), 4-5-1, 10 points
3 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3-1-7, 11 points
4 No Way Back (NED), 1-12-3, 16 points
5 Ironbound (GBR), 9-3-5, 17 points
6 AEZ (AUT), 5-7-9, 21 points
7 Katusha (RUS), 8-11-2, 21 points
8 Ceeref (SLO), 6-10-8, 24 points
9 Aqua (GBR), 7-8-10, 25 points
10 Synergy (RUS), 12-9-6, 27 points
11 Nika (RUS), 10-6-13, 29 points
12 Aleph (FRA), 14-4-12, 30 points
13 RUS7 (RUS), 13-13-11, 37 points
14 Mag Racing (POL), 11-14-15, 40 points

Today´s performance was not one of the best of Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, in the image. PHOTO: Nico Martínez

Peninsula Petroleum and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero finished with three wins.

Day one of the RC44 World Championship, which brought the RC44 Championship Tour to an end, was a complete sailing day, with the ten scheduled flights taking place. Russia’s Ketusha, with Francesco Bruni at the helm, won the Puerto Calero event, while Great Britain’s Team Aqua, with Cameron Appleton at the helm, won the RC44 Championship Tour.

The wind was present from begging to end and the regatta committee, chaired by Peter Reggio, took the opportunity to complete the scheduled program for the first time in match race this season, with a short format of windward-leeward regattas.

The excitement to know the winner of the RC44 Championship Tour lasted until the very end. Team Aqua arrived with a comfortable victory, but Katusha, with a brilliant regatta, put up a fight and ended struggling to win the tour. Cameron Appleton’s team, however, managed to keep the leadership and won the title in the end. The skipper from New Zealand admitted that “it was a really tough ending, because Katusha and Ceeref put a lot of pressure, but luckily we were able to hold on and win the tour.”

Katusha’s skipper was not Paul Cayard this time, but Italian helmsman Francesco Bruni, who won the event of Puerto Calero after claiming seven matches out of eight–the last one against Aleph did not take place because of a problem with the mast. Before, they had won against Ceeref, No Way Back, Synergy, Peninsula Petroleum, AEZ, RUS7 and Ironbound. Russia’s Team Nika also did a great job, winning six matches and they were only defeated by No Way Back, while France’s Aleph and Sweden’s Artemis finished with five victories.

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, with José María Ponce at the helm, began the day really well, winning the first two flights against Aleph and Mag Racing, respectively. Later, however, it began a bad streak, losing against Artemis, Peninsula Petroleum, Aqua and Nika, while in flight 8 it won against RUS7. José María Ponce commented that “we began extremely well, but then we lost races that were rather under control by a close margin against Aqua, Artemis and Nika. We started having options to climb to the podium in the tour and in the end we finished in seventh place.”

The fleet competition begins this Thursday. It will decide the World Championship winner of the RC44 class, which will end next Sunday.

MATCH RACE RANKING
1 Katusha (RUS), 7 points
2 Team Nika (RUS), 6 points
3 Artemis (SWE), 5 points
4 Aleph (FRA), 5 points
5 Ceeref (SLO), 4 points
6 Synergy (RUS), 4 points
7 Team Aqua (GBR), 4 points
8 No Way Back (NED), 4 points
9 Peninsula Petroleum (GBR), 3 points
10 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 3 points
11 RUS7 (RUS), 2 points
12 AEZ (AUT), 1 point

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, training with the rest og the fleet in Lanzarote. FOTO: Nico Martínez

The Match Race competition will begin this Wednesday with names such as Vasco Vascotto (Peninsula Petroleum), Morgan Larsson (Artemis) or Francesco Bruni (Katusha).

Puerto Calero turns out in its finest regalia to host from this Wednesday and until next Sunday the RC44 World Championship, with the participation of some of the world’s best skippers. The regatta, which started at the beginning of the year in San Diego (Lanzarote) and has gone through Austria, Italy, Sweden and Croatia, will also bring the RC44 Challenge Tour to an end. Chris Bake and Cameron Appelton’s Team Aqua, still the season’s top team, arrives as the big favourite after leading the Challenge Tour. Larry Ellison and Russell Coutt’s Oracle will not defend the title, though, since it participates in the America’s Cup World Series in San Diego this same week.

Daniel Calero, organiser of the event, is really excited about hosting the RC44 World Cup again: “It’s an honour for us to have been awarded the World Category for Puerto Calero for the second consecutive year; besides, this year it will round off the whole season.” A total of fourteen boats have participated: “The class is really consolidated and I think that to have practically all the fleet sailing in Lanzarote is very positive for everybody.”
The leading ship owner of the tour, Chris Blake, is really happy about the season ending in Puerto Calero: “Wind conditions this time of year are prefect and forecasts are really good. We are hoping to have a good week.”

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero’s skipper, Jose María Ponce, also considers the World Cup to be “our particular regatta of the year, we compete at home and we are really motivated to do a good job. In past regattas we managed to climb to the podium in Match Race and in fleet, and we’re obviously going to try the same here.” The first goal is to try to climb to the podium in Match Race “we have to finish even in second place in the tour in Match Race. It’ll be more complicated in the fleet category, as we would have to win while Ceeref would have to finish in fifth place, so anything is possible.” As for the World Tour, he explains that “to have the World Tour category is always an incentive”.  The competition will include a Match Race on day one, while the fleet competition will take place during the next four days, which is the same competition format as that of the RC44 Challenge Tour.

The RC 44 World Tour is the last race of the RC 44 Championship Tour, currently led by Team Aqua, followed by Oracle, Ceeref, Artemis and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero.
 RC44 CHALLENGE TOUR RANKING (After five events)

1st Team Aqua (GBR), 5
2nd ORACLE Racing (USA), 12
3rd RC44 Team CEEREF (SLO), 14
4th Artemis Racing (SWE), 16
5th Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 18
6th Katusha (RUS), 22
7th No Way Back (NED), 22
8th Aleph Sailing Team (FRA), 27
9th Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team (GBR), 33
10th Ironbound (USA), 36
11th Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS), 41
12th Team Nika (RUS), 42
13th AEZ Sailing Team (AUT), 41
14th RUS-7 (RUS),  54
15th MAG Racing (POL), 56

didas Tenerife, on the right, was one of the winners of the event.

Adrián Hoteles, Adidas Tenerife, Chance V, Nenúfar Segundo and Gran Cocotero were the brilliant winners of an event marked by tough wind and sea conditions in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

The III Spanish Navy Cruiser Trophy ended after an exciting day in which the wind, which blew at 10-12 knots, gave a break to the fleet. The sea, however, with waves of up to three meters, forced the crews to give their best in order to sail through the racecourse.

Adrián Hoteles in RI 0-1, Adidas Tenerife in RI 2, Chance V in RI 3, and Nenúfar Segundo and Gran Cocotero in Club 1 y 2, respectively, were the final winners, after the last race of the event was completed, an 11 mile coastal course for the RI 0-3 and a 8.43 one for the Club class.

The day’s races were followed from the racecourse by a large number of fans who went on board the boat owned by Líneas Salmón, provided by the organization so that they could watch the competition on site. The strong waves did not intimidate the public, who crowded the boat in the two trips that it made from the north dock of the Naval Base to the competition area.

In RI 1, Adrián Hoteles, with Daniel Adrián at the helm, snatched victory from Alejandro Barrera’s Puerto Calero. Both boats arrived to the last day of competition on equal points, so the triumph was decided in the last race. Puerto Calero made the most of the greater speed of its boat to try to leave its rival behind, but as Daniel Adrián said after the race, Adrián Hoteles “sailed as best as it could trying to do things right”. The first to cross the finish line was Puerto Calero, but after corrected time it was Adrián Hoteles that finally took victory; its crew was celebrating the triumph at the dock of the Nautical of Gran Canaria when it received the news.

Alfonso Lasso’s Adidas Tenerife won in RI 2, despite Lucio Pérez’s Macaco, winner of the 2010 Navy Trophy, making things difficult for them after winning the race, but the two first places taken by Lasso on the first day made them claim final victory.

In RI 3, Ricardo Seco’s Chance V confirmed Saturday’s great performance, and after taking  Playas de Fuerteventura and Jilorio by surprise and claiming victory, it again displayed its superiority and, thanks to a great crew work, it won the coastal race and overall victory.There were no changes in the Club class with respect to day one and Nenúfar Segundo and Gran Cocotero again dominated the second race, taking final victory in Club 1 and 2, respectively.

The III Spanish Navy Cruiser Trophy ended with a prize giving ceremony that took place in the Terraza Kopa, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Attending the event were, among others, Salvador Delgado Moreno, Admiral and Commander of the Canary Islands Navy Force, and the mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Juan José Cardona.

The prize giving ceremony closed this sports event which, together with the events of the Naval Week, has helped, as was the Spanish Navy’s intention, to bring the sea and the nautical activities closer to the citizens of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.