November 18, 2019
RC44 Cup 2019: an unexpected end
The victory of the Slovenian Ceeref on November 17 ended the thirteenth season of the monotype class RC44 – 44Cup. Vladimir Prosikhin, who claimed victory in the Nika season, was content only with bronze, and Battleship spent the best stage of the year.
According to the laws of the genre, the final stage of 44Cup, which took place on November 13-17 at Palma de Mallorca, pleased with incredible stress and an unpredictable result. The ingredients were difficult weather and uncharacteristic mistakes for class veterans, which, in the end, became the main cause of shifts in the standings.
At first glance, the results show that all nine participants simply did not have enough time to put everything in its place. In the final table 44Cup Palma, there are three tie-breaks at once, both in the top lines and in the middle of the fleet. The first day of the race was lost due to the storm, and in the following days the unstable wind did not allow to catch up. As a result, the stage on Palm became the most “unproductive” for the entire season – only eight races in the standings, without the possibility of throwing these results out of the final table of the season.
During the three days when the teams were on the water, the leader changed three times, and before the final day seven out of nine teams could claim medals.
By the start of 44Cup Palma, the Nika world champions and the reigning world champions, Team Aqua veterans were the leader in the standings of the season by one point three times, while future Ceeref winners were five points behind. But the experience and composure of the winners of the seasons 2016 and 2017 Ceeref helped the team, after an unsuccessful start, even out the results and with four victories in the stage beat the competitors on the way to the gold of the season.
Fascinated by their duel, Aqua and Nika left other opponents aside and lost. Both teams held an extremely unsuccessful stage, and, more importantly, scored the same number of points, dividing the sixth line. Accordingly, in the season table, the rivals were in a tie-break, and the British team, which had two victories at the stages of the season, and who won silver, got the advantage, while “Nika” was content with bronze.
“It turned out, of course, an interesting regatta, but not for us. For us, it turned out to be the most difficult in the last five years, ”says Vladimir Prosikhin, the helmsman of the Niki. – All the problems that could have happened have happened: we were mistaken, we picked the wrong sails, the wind didn’t come in our favor. And, nevertheless, it’s probably worth rejoicing that we remained on the podium with a medal at the end of the season. ”
In turn, the “Battleship”, according to the helmsman Kirill Frolov, held the best stage of this difficult season for the team on Palm. “Good speed, good starts and reaching the first brand,” says Frolov. – But there were also troubles. "Two penalty points on the first day for a collision with Artemis, and today in the first race, when they were in the top five, the tank was washed overboard – while they lifted, they came last."
Unlike the previous stages, the Battleship showed an almost stable result – five finishes in the top three in eight races. It is not surprising that the team stayed in the leading group throughout the 44Cup Palma days, but lost the long-awaited Swedish tie-break Artemis medal.
“Tavatuy” by Pavel Kuznetsov held the stage on the Palm unstable, with four parishes in the top five. Twice the team was close to victory, but lack of experience prevented the implementation of potentially beneficial situations.
Press Service of the Yacht Club of St. Petersburg
44Cup Palma Results –
https://www.44cup.org/results#tab-5
44Cup Season 2019 Results –
https://www.44cup.org/results/annual
231 November 18, 2019 # 9691
Chief Editor
2019CupRC44unexpected
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