[singlepic=1856,300,204,,left]RC44 Championship Tour – Lago Traunsee – Sono presenti in rappresentanza di otto nazioni i nove RC44 che da domani daranno vita alla terza tappa del circuito internazionale loro riservato. In programma sul lago Traunsee, le regate valide ai fini dell’RC44 Austria Cup si apriranno con una due giorni di match race, cui seguiranno una serie di prove di flotta e la lunga utile ad assegnare il Trofeo DHL.
Se possibile la entry list è più ricca che mai: alla classe si sono uniti infatti campioni come Paul Cayard (Team Ceeref), Ray Davies (No Way Back) e Rod Davis (BMW Oracle Racing). Questi si uniranno agli abituali frequentatori del mondo RC44: Dean Barker, tra i favoriti con Artemis, Cameron Appleton e Markus Wieser.
Nel corso della conferenza stampa di presentazione, Paul Cayard, che nell’occasione sostituisce Sebastien Col, impegnato in Germania nella seconda tappa del circuito internazionale di match race, ha dichiarato: “Questo posto è stupendo: penso davvero che potrei viverci. Sono due anni che non disputo un match race: ci sarà di divertirsi, visto il livello elevatissimo degli equipaggi”.
Le previsioni parlano di condizioni impegnative: da ovest, infatti, dovrebbe entrare una bassa pressione.
RC44 Championship Tour, Austria Cup, entry list
Team Aqua, Chris Bake-Cameron Appleton
Team Ceeref, Igor Lah-Paul Cayard
Sea Dubai, DIMC, Markus Wieser
BMW Oracle Racing, Larry Ellison-Russell Coutts
Team Organika, Maciej Nawrocki-Karol Jablonski
Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, José Juan Calero-Jose Maria Ponce
Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist-Dean Barker
No Way Back, Pieter Heerema-Ray Davies
Team Austria, Christian Binder-René Mangold
TIME FOR ACTION FOR THE RC44 CLASS ON LAKE TRAUNSEE
[RC44 Press Release] Representing eight nations, the nine RC44’s involved in the RC 44 Austria Cup did two practice starts in a very light breeze today, preparing for the beginning of the competition scheduled tomorrow at 11.30 am. Last year Gmunden (Austria) hosted the Championship Tour for the first time and it proved one of the Circuit’s most memorable regattas. The world’s best sailors involved in the Tour were unanimously impressed by the scenery, the greenness of the forests that overlook the lake and the highness of the surrounding mountains.
One year later the RC 44 fleet is back with a highly competitive fleet that includes some new names such as Paul Cayard (Ceeref), Ray Davies (No Way Back) and Rod Davis (BMW Oracle Racing). The Class’ other “usual suspects” such as Dean Barker, Cameron Appleton, Daniel Calero or Markus Wieser have also been spotted walking up & down the pontoons over the past few days, preparing for another exciting regatta in this challenging circuit.
Speaking this morning during the event’s opening press conference – held at the stunning Seeschloss Orth (Lake Traunsee’s emblematic castle) – both Dean Barker and Ray Davies mentioned how refreshing it is for them to sail on a mountain lake. “Usually when I go to this sort of resort it is in New Zealand’s southern Island and I am going skiing”, said Barker. “It is a nice change.” Paul Cayard went as far as saying that “this is such a beautiful place that I could very well consider living here”.
Unbeaten in match race in Cagliari last month, Dean Barker and Artemis are the favourites of the series although Ceeref still leads the overall ranking. Paul Cayard replaces Sébastien Col for this event, and he clearly hopes to maintain his team on top of the leader board. “I haven’t competed in a match since almost two years, and this is a welcome “refreshing course” for me. The fleet is obviously highly competitive, but I am definitely here to try to win.”
Christian Binder, skipper of the local team Austria, explained that his team is still fairly new. “We are learning every day”, he said. “But we have been working hard and we had some good training sessions over the past weeks. We definitely hope to get a good result”.
The weather forecast for the coming days is not good and a low pressure from the West is expected.
RC44 Championship Tour, Austria Cup, entry list
Team Aqua, Chris Bake-Cameron Appleton
Team Ceeref, Igor Lah-Paul Cayard
Sea Dubai, DIMC, Markus Wieser
BMW Oracle Racing, Larry Ellison-Russell Coutts
Team Organika, Maciej Nawrocki-Karol Jablonski
Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, José Juan Calero-Jose Maria Ponce
Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist-Dean Barker
No Way Back, Pieter Heerema-Ray Davies
Team Austria, Christian Binder-René Mangold
