Day 4 Fleet Racing - RC44 Austria Cup 2012

Four to the floor - Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12

Artemis Shine To Take Glory At RC44 Austria Cup

There was a complete change of season on Lake Traunsee today for the final race of the RC44 Austria Cup, the intermittent rain and unseasonal cold giving way to sunshine. But this came at the expense of wind. After a long wait, finally a sea breeze filled in from the north (opposite of the last two days), allowing the RC44s to rally on the start line for a gun at 1500 (local), the latest allowed under the Sailing Instructions.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

Keen to please the home crowd, René Mangold’s AEZ RC44 Team was first out on to the water as spectator craft swarmed around the Austrian boat with her alloy car wheel manufacturer sponsor. Clearly this time on the water helped the home team. They pulled into the lead up the first beat and despite many opportunities to lose it, clung on to take their second win of the event much to the delight of local fans.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

Markus Weiser, the Austrian team’s German tactician and a renowned lake specialist, explained: “We had a really good start at the committee boat and had a clear lane to take us to the shore on the right. We just played the first upwind well and had a nice lead of seven boat lengths at the first upwind mark.” Downwind Weiser said it was a case of playing the shifts. “Today we just caught the shifts right – it’s much easier when you’re ahead.”

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

With Chris Bake’s Team Aqua finishing third, today’s win was enough to propel AEZ RC44 Team up to third place overall: a proud moment for skipper/owner René Mangold, being the first time he has reached on the podium during his long tenure in the RC44 class, and happening in front of a home crowd.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

“It’s a really good feeling – we’re so satisfied,” Mangold said. “Our project started when the first event started here. It’s great to have all the other teams here, but it is more important for us to have a home team and with this success – leading on the first day, then a crash on the second and then to win the last race – it’s a great moment. In the five years we have been here, three times we have been last, one year we were second from last and now we are on the podium! It’s really good.”

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

Today the tacticians were put to the test more than ever. While the Austrians did well by the shore, the French Aleph Sailing Team, with leading match racer Mathieu Richard calling the shots, put in their strongest start of the regatta and did well on the left side, falling into second place as she converged with those on the starboard layline into the top mark. Unfortunately this was not to last. The decision to gybe set after rounding the top mark, taking them into the shore, proved costly and from second they plummeted to second last at the leeward gate. Meanwhile the opposite was true for the Italians on Massimo Barranco’s AFX Capital Racing Team who rounded the top mark second last pulling up to fifth on the run by staying offshore.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

Meanwhile Artemis sailed a very different race. Starting today with a commanding 11 point lead, they had the RC44’s Austria Cup almost sealed, but not quite. For Torbjorn Tornqvist’s team, it was a case of keeping their noses clean.

“We knew there was only going to be one race and as long as we weren’t last and didn’t foul someone and get a contact penalty point, we were going to be fine,” explained Artemis tactician Morgan Larson. “But then Luigi [PRO Peter Reggio] put the black flag up which threw another curved ball in there, because an OCS with a black flag is 13 points and we were 11 points clear…”

Coming home eighth was enough to secure the Swedish team overall victory at the RC44 Austria Cup by nine points. Although they won the RC44 World Championship in 2011, this was Artemis’ first circuit event win since 2009.

“It was practically impossible to lose it today, so maybe we were a little bit unfocused – we were just being very careful not to be over the line and we were a bit too courteous perhaps!” said an elated Tornqvist. “I think we were quite lucky to win by such a large margin – it feels good. Traunsee is not somewhere you just come and do well, you have to sail here a couple of times to know how the shifts work so I think Morgan’s experience and knowledge of the lake, coming back this year, has really helped. We have good team work and good boat speed.”

In the overall season championship after three events , Chris Bake’s Team Aqua continues to lead having ended up fourth here in Austria, while Artemis is now three points astern in second.

“It has been real challenging,” said Team Aqua’s tactician Cameron Appleton. “The guys have been doing a great job, but on the tactical/positioning side it has been super hard. One puff here and there can be the difference between if you make a cross or you don’t. After that your race will unfold.”

Valentin Zavadnikov, co-owner of Synergy Russian Sailing Team, was pleased that they remain in the lead of the match racing, assisted by their America’s Cup winning, former Match Racing World Champion tactician, Ed Baird. “It is a nice place first of all here and a nice place for us. We started very well with the match racing and we know this place, we were here last year, although it is a bit colder here this year. Three days ago I had ALL my clothes on! But first place in the match race is a great result for us. We did three weeks of training in the Canary Islands – and now we are first. It is not too bad.”

Next up for the RC44s, over 18-22 July, is the event in Marstrand, Sweden on Torbjorn Tornqvist’s home waters. “I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “This year we will visit at the height of the season, so I think it will be spectacular, with thousands of people watching.”

RC44 Austria Cup 2012 Ranking
(After eight races sailed)

1 Artemis Racing 9 2 1 1 8 1 1 8 (2*) – 33
2 RC44 Team CEEREF 3 5 7 3 9 4 5 6 – 42
3 AEZ RC44 Team 6 1 10 7 7 3 8 1 – 43
4 Team Aqua 8 4 5 8 3 8 4 3 (1*) – 44
5 Katusha 5 12 9 9 2 6 2 2 – 47
6 Synergy Russian Sailing Team 2 7 12 5 12 2 7 4 – 51
7 No Way Back 1 8 6 11 5 11 3 10 – 55
8 Aleph Sailing Team 11 3 8 6 6 5 9 9 – 57
9 Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team 7 9 3 4 10 9 6 11 – 59
10 Team Nika 12 6 2 10 1 7 10 12 – 60
11 AFX Capital Racing 4 11 4 2 11 10 12 7 – 61
12 RUS7 Sail Racing Team powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com 10 10 11 12 4 12 11 5 (3*) – 78
*Penalty Points

RC44 Media

Day 3 Fleet Racing - RC44 Austria Cup 2012

Artemis Acing It In Austria - RC44 Austria Cup - Day Four

Morgan Larson is soon to be crowned ‘King of the Lake’ after Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis picked up another two wins in today’s two races on Lake Traunsee to take the overall lead at the RC44 Austria Cup.

Artemis Photo: MartinezStudio.es 

The day started with grey, overcast skies with prolonged rain shutting off the wind. The twelve RC44s were held ashore and the start postponed by an hour, before racing got underway at 1230 CET in 10 knots from the south.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es 

In the southerly ‘oberwind’, as it is known locally, the eastern shore of Lake Traunsee was the place to be. The team making the most of this would edge into the lead as they were lifted along the shore after they tacked, also enjoying better pressure and clean air. In today’s two races that team was Artemis.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es 

But first you had to get there, as Larson summarised: “Luigi [Peter Reggio] set out a nice starting line and it made it a challenge of whether you started at the favoured end or whether you started at the unfavoured end and got to the shore sooner, always with a little predicament at the shore as the boats were all calling for room.”

Photo: MartinezStudio.es 

In the first race Artemis started towards the committee boat end of the line and Larson said they had enough pressure to block everyone out. In the second race they started at the pin end, the shortest distance to the shore line to lead at the first cross and then made massive gains to dominated the rest of the fleet.

In both races Russian boats came home second. In the first, Valentin Zavadnikov’s Synergy Russian Sailing Team edged out local favourites, Rene Mangold’s AEZ RC44 Team at the second weather mark rounding, while in the second, with the wind having dropped to 7-8 knots, it was Gennadi Timchenko’s Katusha, with Anders Myralf helming, that also did well by the shore on the first beat to trail Artemis around the course.

Katusha Photo: MartinezStudio.es 

“We have been struggling half way through the races,” admitted Katusha’s tactician, Kiwi America’s Cup legend Brad Butterworth. “Today the lake was a bit more consistent and we had two pretty good starts and the boats that got into the shore first won out big and that was Artemis and us. Overall we are pretty happy with the day. We have moved up the leaderboard a bit and we are enjoying it.”

As Artemis disappeared, the first race proved dramatic for those behind. Coming ashore after racing Peninsula Petroleum owner John Bassadone was kicking himself for having been OCS. “We were at the pin with no pressure and bags of room, but perhaps too bow down, maybe we accelerated a bit too much. We managed to recover a couple of places, but we really needed a good result in that race.”

Coming into the first top mark rounding behind Artemis, there was a pile up as RUS-7 Sail Racing Team powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com came in on the port layline and slammed into AEZ RC44 Sailing Team, T-boning the Austrian boat’s sacrificial transom scoop, putting a major hole in her side.

AEZ Crew Photo: MartinezStudio.es 

AEZ tactician Markus Weiser recounted: “They were just not getting the bow down and they misjudged the situation – at first they wanted to tack to leeward and then they tried to bear away and just hit our stern and they went fully through the scoop – the bow touched the cockpit, so it was big damage.” The impact was above the waterline so between races the Austrian crew was able to tape it up and continue, while Kirill Podolsky’s team received a three point penalty for the incident.

Apart from this, AEZ RC44 Sailing Team had a good day with a 3-8, raising them to fourth overall.

“We have issues getting out of the starting line,” admitted Weiser. “We wanted to go left in both races but we couldn’t – we got squeezed and had to tack out, but we got a little right shift and we came back okay. If you couldn’t go left all the way to the shore line, then the race was gone.”

2011 champions Team Aqua managed to hold on to third place posting an 8-4, despite being penalised for a port-starboard incident on the opening beat of the first race. “I thought I could make it, but I was probably a bit closer than I should have been,” admitted owner Chris Bake.
Generally Bake felt they were making good starts and had good speed, but they just got a few unlucky breaks. “We couldn’t quite join up some of the gusts we needed to. In the first start we got pinned on the left shoulder and couldn’t make the cross. For the rest of the race we had decent boat speed and we held on to our position well, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a good day.”

Still holding second overall is Igor Lah’s RC44 Team CEEREF. “There was definately a pattern in the race track which Artemis nailed pretty well with two great races,” said CEEREF’s tactician, Michele Ivaldi. “We came twice in the top five, which should be the goal for every race, to try to be consistent. Igor drove really well and the guys onboard kept the boat fast all the time, so it was a good day for us.”

According to Ivaldi, tomorrow should be warmer with less cloud cover. If this comes true then it is possible the northerly sea breeze might establish, but this won’t be well into the afternoon.
While Artemis is the runaway leader, there will be an almighty fight for the podium with just seven points separating third from 10th.

RC44 Austria Cup 2012 Ranking
(After seven races sailed)

1 Artemis Racing 9 2 1 1 8 1 1 (2*) – 25
2 RC44 Team CEEREF 3 5 7 3 9 4 5 – 36
3 Team Aqua8 4 5 8 3 8 4 (1*) – 41
4 AEZ RC44 Team 6 1 10 7 7 3 8 – 42
5 No Way Back 1 8 6 11 5 11 3 – 45
6 Katusha 5 12 9 9 2 6 2 – 45
7 Synergy Russian Sailing Team 2 7 12 5 12 2 7 – 47
8 Team Nika12 6 2 10 1 7 10 – 48
9 Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team 7 9 3 4 10 9 6 – 48
10 Aleph Sailing Team 11 3 8 6 6 5 9 – 48
11 AFX Capital Racing 4 11 4 2 11 10 12 – 54
12 RUS7 Sail Racing Team powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com 10 10 11 12 4 12 11 (3*) – 73

*Penalty Points

RC44 Media

Artemis Takes Control - RC44 Austria Cup - Day Three

If yesterday the RC44 Austria Cup’s star performer was the local crew on Rene Mangold’s AEZ RC 44 Team, today’s second round of fleet racing belonged to Torbjorn Tornqvist and the crew of Artemis.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

Racing started on time at 1130 local, with 8-10 knots funnelling up snowy peak-lined Lake Traunsee from the south. This held long enough for Principle Race Officer Peter Reggio to bang off three races, before a giant wind shift established the wind in the west. A fourth race was later started but stopped half way up the first beat as the wind disappeared.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

In race one today, Massimo Barranco’s Italian team on AFX Capital Racing Team led around the top mark, but on the first run there was a dramatic turnaround as Artemis split from the leaders choosing a course nearer the shore and, benefitting from both improved shift and pressure, soared from seventh place into first, rounding the leeward gate 10 boat lengths ahead of second placedAFX. From here, Torbjorn Tornqvist’s team extended leaving Vladimir Prosikhin’s Nika, John Bassadone’s Gibraltar team on Peninsula Petroleum and AFX, to fight it out for second, eventually finishing in that order.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

Artemis tactician Morgan Larsen admitted that they had got a little lucky. “It came and went – the deciding part was when we took a little risk and got away from the group. The shift went our way, but it was a 50-50 toss-up – it just seemed that getting away from the other boats was valuable.”

In race two, Artemis’ victory was decidedly less clear-cut. She didn’t get the best start and at the first weather mark rounding, Nika was first, ahead of Hughes Lepic’s Aleph Sailing Team and Igor Lah’s Ceeref, the Swedish team again in the fleet’s bottom half. The Italians on AFX made the best of the run to take the lead ahead of Ceeref and Nika. Artemis picked up places on the second beat and was in third at the second top mark rounding, but it was close. The final run was a dramatic surf-fest, the boats on the edge and flying.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

As tactician Morgan Larsen described it: “Just at the finish we got one little right shift and Torbjorn [Tornqvist] got the boat on the plane, when it was marginal planing conditions, and we got an extra 3 knots of speed.” Artemis nosed ahead of AFX to take her second consecutive victory.

Tornqvist later paid tribute to his tactician: “Morgan did a fantastic job calling the wind shifts which were quite substantial. With the big shifts it was about positioning and he is very good at that and it paid off today.”

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

In the third race, Nika got off to a perfect start at the pin and then led the boats short tacking up the shore line to round the top mark with a three to four boatlength advantage over the Steve Howe-helmed Katusha, making it a Russian 1-2. Vladimar Prosikhin’s team extended down the run, but were caught on the next beat by Katusha, the two boats holding a huge margin over those chasing. On this occasion, Prosikhin and his crew were more fortunate than their Italian rivals had been in the previous race and fended off Katusha to take the win.

Photo: MartinezStudio.es

“We are very happy about that,” said Prosikhin, who is marking his first anniversary in the RC44 class at this regatta. “After Katusha caught us it was just a game to stay ahead and be patient and not to make any sharp moves. Thankfully it was okay and we succeeded. Here you can lose, because if the wind dies the boats behind can pass you. This year the weather is completely crazy. Still the better boats go well.”

As opposed to their performance yesterday, Prosikhin, who heralds from St Petersburg, Russia, said in today’s third race they made “virtually no mistakes”.

Having led overall at the end of racing yesterday, the local heroes on the Austrian AEZ RC44 Team have dropped to sixth after a disappointing 10-7-7 today, not helped by their first race when they were over early and then penalised at the top mark rounding for deploying their bowsprit too early. Skipper René Mangold explained: “The wind was shifting a lot and sometimes we had luck and sometimes not and in the end we were in the middle of the fleet. Every day starts from zero. Yesterday we had a good day and today it was Artemis’ turn and tomorrow maybe it will be another team.”

Despite their results, there were huge cheers from the AEZ team’s fans on the spectator craft whenever they crossed the finish line.

After a strong start to the day, pulling up to fourth after today’s second race, John Bassadore’s crew on Peninsula Petroleum have dropped to eighth after coming home 10th in the final race.

Tactician Vasco Vascotto explained: “The last race of yesterday and the last race of today were a nightmare for us because we were in very good shape – in fourth and fourth – and then we finished ninth and tenth just when the rain came on to the course. It is a little frustrating, but we need to realise that this is a lake and maybe in the future maybe we’ll be a little more lucky.”

Tomorrow the organisers are once again trying to get three races in with the first warning signal scheduled for 11.30 local time (09.30 UTC).

RC44 Austria Cup 2012 Ranking

1 Artemis Racing  9 2 1 1 8 (2*) – 23
2 RC44 Team CEEREF 3 5 7 3 9 – 27
3 Team Aqua 8 4 5 8 3 (1*)- 29
4 Team Nika 12 6 2 10 1 – 31
5 No Way Back 1 8 6 11 5 – 31
6 AEZ RC44 Team 6 1 10 7 7 – 31
7 AFX Capital Racing 4 11 4 2 11 – 32
8 Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team 7 9 3 4 10 – 33
9Aleph Sailing Team 11 3 8 6 6 -34

10 Katusha 5 12 9 9 2 – 37
11 Synergy Russian Sailing Team 2 7 12 5 12 – 38
12 RUS7 Sail Racing Team powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com 10 10 11 12 4 – 47
*Penalty Points

RC44 Media

Day 1 Fleet Racing - RC44 Austria Cup 2012