RC44 Copenhagen Cup, Day 4. Sea Dubai take sixth place in the fleet racing after four fleet races with just four points separating them from No Way Back who are in the lead.
Eight races are scheduled to complete the regatta and the races today were memorable for the boats changing positions constantly in choppy seas, strong currents and erratic wind patterns. The skippers and crews have a lot to learn about this fantastic racing area as quickly as possible.
Poor visibility, rain and no wind meant a long morning for the teams in the RC44 Copenhagen Cup race village on day four of the regatta having completed two days of match racing and a practice race day. Once on the water the conditions made for exciting, compelling and unpredictable racing from start to finish.
A GPS tracking system fitted on to the boats allowed the racing to be followed at close quarters and it clearly highlighted the tricky environment that the location dealt the teams. ‘Today was my first time to helm the RC44 in the open sea,’ said the Sea Dubai skipper, Harm Muller Spreer, ‘and it was quite different, this area is also quite different. It was difficult to see whether to take the left or right to get better pressure and in the last race our start was absolutely perfect but we chose the wrong side and lost the valuable places. It was fantastic racing though and I’m looking forward to tomorrow having learnt a lot today.’
During the fleet racing it is the amateur skippers turn to helm with the pro skipper as tactician and this is one of the unique facets of this interesting and successful class. The Sea Dubai branded boat is sponsored by Emirates Airline, Edox Swiss Watches, Marinepool clothing and provides an excellent platform to promote the brands, Dubai and the UAE in the venues across the Middle East, Europe and the USA. The team is a mixture of German, American, English, Irish, Japanese, Spanish and Danish pro and amateur sailors who have campaigned with the owners, Dubai International Marine Club, to promote Dubai as a water sports venue and the project has played a huge part in bringing high profile events to the Emirate such as the Louis Vuitton Trophy, Dubai this November.
Racing resumes at 1130 on day five with stronger winds and sunshine predicted.
Fleet race, provisional results after four races:
Ranking, name of team, helmsman, results, points (no discard)
1) Team No Way Back, Pieter Heerema, 10, 1, 4, 1 – 16 points
2) CEEREF, Igor Lah, 5, 2, 7, 3 – 17 points
3) Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist, 3, 5, 8, 2 – 18 points
4) Team Aqua, Chris Bake, 2, 3, 9, 5 – 19 points
5) BMW ORACLE Racing, Larry Ellison, 8, 6, 2, 4 – 20 points
6) Team Sea Dubai, Harm Muller Spreer, 7, 4, 3, 6 – 20 points
7) Katusha, Guennadi Timtchenko, 6, 8, 1, 8 – 23 points
8) 17, Anders Myralf 4, 7, 6, 7 – 24 points