The Match Racing boiled down to 4 races as there was no wind yesterday and we got started at 1230 today. Likewise, we did not race everyone in the fleet. The fleet was divided into two groups and we did one mini round robin within each group.

On Katusha, we had a good day by winning three of our four races. We had a bad day because in the first race, we were involved in a prestart incident where the umpires decided we were at fault and because the two boats touched we got a scoring penalty of one race and then because there was damage, albeit minor, we got another race taken away. Plus, we had to do the penalty turn during the race.

This was extra frustrating as I believe we were not in the wrong and the tactician of the other boat even came and told me he was very concerned that they were in fact in the wrong.

So there you go, we start four race event with a minus 2 score. Pretty bad. Meanwhile, in another race, one boat T-boned another boat, the hole was bad enough that they were taking on water, and they got the same penalty as us!

I went and talked to the umpires after the racing was completed, asking about such a heavy penalty, 2 races deducted, and they said, “Sorry, it is written that way in the sailing instructions so there is nothing we can do.” You know what, someday we will have a commissioner in our sport, just like in the NFL or the NBA and he will have discretion to make the right call.

But I have to hand it to the Katusha team; we won everything from that first race on and finished realizing we are the same strong team that won the Match Racing in Slovenia 8 weeks ago.

Bob “Peaches” Little did an excellent job for us today in calling the wind and we won the side of the start we wanted in the three races we won. We even shut out Artemis at the committee boat in the last race of the day which was nice.

So, we aren’t happy about our score but we are happy with how we are sailing. And we take that into the fleet racing tomorrow.

I should mention that my long time friend Rod Davis, skippering Cereef, won the day by winning all four of his races. Rod is surely the oldest pro helmsman out here at 53. Thanks Rod for taking that honor and good on you for winning! In fact, as bad as it was for us, we will not be last, I am sure we beat Aqua and Artemis. I don’t know the final results of the day yet but you can check for them on the class site below.

I think I better go have a beer and let this one blow over.

For more information go to www.rc44.com

We had a good day today on Katusha. The forecast was for fresh winds and big seas, so most teams stayed at the dock until 1300. Since our boat is still relatively new, we took the opportunity to get out early, on our own, to check our boat and rig thoroughly from structural point of view. All was good and we had a nice sail from 1100 to 1230.

We came back to the dock, made a few changes to a new mainsail, ate lunch and headed out at 1330 with the other RC 44s for the practice race. As the seaway was large outside the harbor….2 meter waves, Peter Reggio the Race Committee Chairman, decided to have three practice starts inside. What does “inside” mean? It means between The Palm and the shore, so hidden a bit from the waves. This was also a great idea because we were sailing right under all those big buildings I sent you pictures of yesterday. Good spectating and good PR for our sport!

We had Bob Little (“Peaches” as he was nicknamed by his mother) on the helm. Bob is a very good sailor who decided to get a real job a number of years ago. As the fleet racing is an amateur driver competition, Bob enjoyed the opportunity to get some starting practice in. He did a great job working with our bowman Morgan Gutenkunst getting their time-on-distance judgment down.

Then we went outside for the practice race. We had a good start, but struggled to find the groove in the big waves. We got better as the race went on. Downwind was a lot of fun as the boats were surfing the big waves and it was easy to gain and lose a lot of ground downwind. We did not do that well in the end, 6th I think. We have a debrief every day after sailing and we have been very positive about our training whether we win or lose. The key is to keep building our strength as a team. We will learn the tricks of these boats.

We had a nice welcome cocktail tonight and tomorrow is the first day of match racing. The format is a single round robin and since there are 10 teams here each team will have 9 matches. The winner of this part of the competition will be the team with the most points. We should be getting underway with the first flight around 1130 wind permitting. Unfortunately, the forecast is for the wind to lighten up substantially so let’s hope it doesn’t all go away. As you know, we have been sailing in plenty of light air recently.

For more information go to www.rc44.com

Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis controlled the situation today, winning the fleet race ranking ahead of Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back and BMW ORACLE Racing. No Way Back grabs the combined fleet race / match race ranking.

October 3, 2009 – Torbjorn Tornqvist, his tactician Dean Barker and their crew onboard Artemis controlled the situation perfectly today, increasing their lead in the overall ranking in the first race of the day before securing the title in the second. Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back controlled BMW ORACLE Racing throughout the day, grabbing the second place in the overall ranking and the first place in the combined fleet race / match race ranking.

The four boats who were leading the provisional ranking ahead of today’s races started the first race at the pin end of the line and headed for the left of the course. All other teams went right and benefited from a slightly better angle. Sailing fast and well, Artemis just managed to squeeze in and take the lead whilst BMW ORACLE Racing – sailing no more than one boat length behind Artemis – had no other choice but to bear away to give way to the other boats, finally rounding the top mark last!

The wind was quite irregular, provoking many changes within the fleet. No Way Back played the shifts well, grabbing the second place ahead of Team Aqua and Ceeref whilst BMW ORACLE Racing only managed to climb back up to the seventh place.

The Swedish team, with Torbjorn Tornqvist at the helm and Dean Barker calling the shots, won the DHL long distance race and dominated the day. The conditions were absolutely fantastic, with up to 20 knots of wind and a great sunshine.

October 2, 2009 – The double points DHL Trophy took place this morning in perfect conditions, with up to 20 knots of wind and a great sunshine. Artemis started the race at the Committee end of the line and tacked immediately, heading for the right of the course when all the other teams carried on to the left. The decision was right and Artemis reached the windward mark first.

The teams then sailed towards the medieval town of Piran, following the beautiful Slovenian coast. Some tried to cut the course by sailing close to the shore, whereas the local teams Ceeref and Modri Gaj knew that there would be windless patches under the cliffs and made a good move sailing further out. A confused sea and gusts of wind blowing up to twenty knots welcomed the teams past the cape of Piran. The eleven strong fleet then sailed upwind towards the next mark, in Isola. A wild spinnaker ride towards the arrival line – back in Portoroz – followed, giving the helmsmen the opportunity to test their skills. Artemis never got threatened during this ride, extending their lead and winning comfortably, ahead of Pieter Heerema’s No Way Back and Igor Lah’s Ceeref, quite unhappy in this regatta until this good result.

Two windward – leeward races followed the DHL Trophy. BMW ORACLE Racing, who seems to be the only team capable of challenging Artemis’ leadership in the fleet regatta, won the first one and finished second of the next whilst Artemis did the opposite. The second race turned out to be a match between the two boats, followed at a respectable distance by Chris Bake’s Team Aqua and Igor Lah’s Ceeref. The third race seemed to be one too much for some of the exhausted crews. The last windward mark rounding turned to carnage, with Aqua broaching, Ceeref twisting its spinnaker around the headstay, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero unable to bear away due to a blocked halyard and several other mishaps. Leading the fleet, No Way Back, BMW ORACLE Racing and Artemis extended their lead, Artemis managing to overtake both during the last beat to win the race.

Today’s races allowed some of the new teams in the Class to have their moment of glory. Sailing well in the breeze, Team Austria managed to challenge the best teams on several occasions, finishing the DHL Trophy in sixth – their best result so far. Also alternating the worse with the best, Modri Gaj finished seventh of the long distance regatta and sixth of the last race – after sailing in fourth for most of the regatta.

The last races will take place tomorrow. There are only fourteen points between the top three boats and everything remains possible.

They said:

Torbjorn Tornqvist, owner and helmsman, Artemis: “This is our best performance so far this year. The deciding factor for us is our great speed; we also perform very well as a team. All the little details make a difference. We had two great races against Russell.”

Noel Drennan, crewmember, BMW ORACLE Racing: “The DHL race was fantastic and we then sailed two beautiful races against Artemis. We were third during most of the long distance regatta but then we made a mistake at the last jibe, in Piran, loosing two places to Cayard and Ceeref. We are feeling much more comfortable again in the fleet races. We won the fleet regatta in Cagliari at the beginning of the year and then had some difficulties, but we are back at the top.”

Michael Reardon, helmsman, Modri Gaj: “The sailing was absolutely awesome; it?s a fantastic experience. I am pretty happy with our day and I feel that we are improving fast. We made great calls on the shifts and sailed quite well. Basically, the team was great and the only mistakes we did were mine.”

Pieter Taselaar, helmsman, Team Katusha: “I absolutely loved today. The boats are very exciting in those conditions, both up and downwind. We were doing 20 knots, it was awesome. The sensations are quite comparable to the Melges 32 but it is more technical, especially upwind. Paul Cayard gave me great advice. I had never sailed with him before; he is very calm, he explains a lot and helps us anticipate the next moves. I love sailing with him.”

Yousef Lahej, helmsman, Team Sea Dubai: “I am not happy with our results but the day was great. We had never sailed in such a breeze before and it was very difficult. In Dubai, we only get 14 knots of wind at best. The positive thing is that now we have done this. We have learned a lot. It was really cool downwind; we were surfing at full speed.”

Ren