2021 44Cup Tour to finish in Lanzarote

The fifth and final of the 2021 44Cup Championship Tour has nine teams entered on November 18-21 in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote. The series scoreboard remains impressively close with Chris Bake’s Team Aqua ahead but holding a slim lead over the chasing pack.

Two points behind in second place is 2019 defending tour champion Igor Lah’s team CEEREF powered by Hrastnik 1860 and in third 2018 tour champion Nico Poons’ Charisma. Both teams won their titles in the previous years with impressive come-from-behind victories in the closing moments and will be looking to do the same in the finale.

Lanzarote’s most established yacht harbor has been a favored winter destination for the RC44 fleet over the years thanks to its winter sun and strong northeasterly trade winds. Organizers Calero Marinas have seen many 44Cup showdowns having hosted six regattas and three World Championships since 2008.

Of the remaining fleet, just eight points separate the top five teams. Hugues Lepic’s fourth-placed Aleph Racing and Torbjorn Tornqvist’s fifth-placed Artemis Racing are within reach of claiming the 2021 title. Aleph’s best result this season has been a win at the Cowes event in the UK, whereas Artemis’ has hit the podium in third twice this year, first at their home event in Marstrand, Sweden and then again at the World Championship in Italy.

Behind them is a tie between Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika and Pavel Kuznetsov’s Atom Tavatuy; if either team is on form next week while the main contenders are not, then the Russian-based crews could reach the overall season’s podium.

New to the fleet in Lanzarote will be British Olympian Giles Scott replacing America’s Cup legend Ed Baird as tactician onboard Peninsula Racing and Valeriya Kovalenko with her team ARTTube who will return with a new boat. Kovalenko formally joins the fleet after a successful debut in Scarlino last month as part of the 44Cup’s black boat project, which allows a guest team to trial race an RC44 at a regatta to get a feel for how good the competitive one-design fleet is.

Series information – Event details – Results

2021 44Cup Schedule
May 19-23 – 44Cup Portoroz, Slovenia
June 30-July 4 – 44Cup Marstrand, Sweden
August 11-15 – 44Cup Cowes, UK
October 7-10 – 44Cup Scarlino, Italy
November 17-21 – 44Cup Calero Marinas, Puerto Calero, Lanzarote

About the RC44 boat
Five-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts conceived the design of the light-displacement, high-performance one-design RC44 with naval architect Andrej Justin in 2005.

Created for top level one design racing in international regattas under strictly controlled Class Rules, the concept and design features of the RC44 are aimed at the amateur helmsmen with professional crews. For its thirteenth season in 2019, the RC44 Championship Tour was rebranded the 44Cup. https://www.44cup.org/

Source: 44Cup