Little Brother Isn’t So Little Anymore

The International C-Class Catamaran Championship (ICCCC), the premier event in C class catamaran racing, is commonly known as the “Little America’s Cup”. The ICCCC, modeled similarly around a match race challenge format like its big brother, was typically the more progressive of the two events.

But now that the 34th America’s Cup has tapped into foiling, wing-powered catamarans, maybe the little brother isn’t so little anymore.

As the 34th America’s Cup concludes in San Francisco, the 26th edition of the Little America’s Cup will begin in Falmouth, UK. Ten teams will compete on September 22-28 in the foiling, wing-powered 25-foot C-Class catamaran.

Fresh from his victory in the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, Franck Cammas (FRA) has returned to his multihull roots, and will vie for the title.

“Besides the fixed wing, we’ve done a lot of work on the appendages and notably the foils, which enable us to fly,” explained Cammas. “On small boats, it’s hard to stay balanced when you’re in the air, as you have a lot less inertia than the AC72s in the America’s Cup. As such we’ve done a lot of testing and sea trials.”

Sailing aboard the finalised version of Groupama C since early September, Cammas and Louis Viat won’t have had a lot of time to familiarise themselves with their new steed. “We’d obviously have liked to have had more time to train. Some of our rivals, particularly the Hydros team and that of Canaan, the reigning champion, have done more sailing than us. We’ll wait and see what happens, but either way I’m very happy with the work our team has done. Groupama C is a fine boat and she’s quick.”

The ten entries:
1. Patient Lady, France with Gurvan Bontemps and Gwenolé Gahinet
2. Groupama C, France with Franck Cammas and Louis Viat
3. Hydros, Suisse with Jérémie Lagarrigue and Billy Besson
4. Hydros, Suisse with Mischa Heemskerk and Tentij
5. Canaan, Canada with Fred Eaton and Magnus Clark
6. Canaan, Canada with Billy Gooderham and Christian Pavey
7. Invictus, UK with Norman Wijker and Tom Phipps
8. Team Cascais, Portugal
9. Cogito, USA with Steve Clark and Oliver Moore
10. Aethon, USA with Lars Guck and Max Kramers

Complete report – ICCC website