In its most dramatic conclusion ever, the RC44 Match Racing Championship yesterday came down to the very last race of the very last flight, victory ultimately falling the way of Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing.
Match racing at the RC44 Valletta Cup took place in a 10-14 knot southeasterly in the magnificent setting of the Grand Harbour.
All RC44 events begin with a day of match racing, points from which are accumulated across the season.
Going into this final match racing day of 2016, it couldn’t have been tighter on points, with Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika tied in the lead with Artemis Racing.
Bronenosec Sailing Team, Team CEEREF and Team Aqua were all tied, three points behind the front-runners.
Team Nika, the 2015 RC44 world and fleet racing champion, got off to a strong start, dispatching Aleph Racing and Katusha, before picking up a win over Team CEEREF, who suffered a terminal spinnaker halyard tangle while rounding the leeward gate.
However, the Russian team’s winning streak came to an end when it lost its Flight 4 match against Chris Bake’s Team Aqua.
Meanwhile, after being on a bye for race one, Artemis had the better of Bronenosec, Peninsula Petroleum and Charisma.
Going into the final match race of the season, this left the Swedes level with Team Nika.
In the decisive showdown, Artemis Racing led off the start line, maintained its advantage through a tacking duel up the first beat and rounded the top mark ahead, before a spinnaker sheet issue on the downwind allowed Nika to gain the upperhand.
Artemis helmsman Francesco Bruni said: “We had a problem with the old spinnaker sheet having a knot in it. Then we complicated things at the gate and made a bad drop.”
The two boats split at the gate and Artemis picked up a favourable shift that brought them back into the game by the next cross.
Here the experience of the Swedish crew paid, as Nika tactician Ed Baird explained:
“They did a nice job of keeping their speed and then ducked us at the last moment to become the leeward boat.
“Under the new rules we had to tack away and that put them into the lead again.”
From there, Artemis defended well to finish narrowly ahead of Nika and claim the 2016 RC44 Match Racing title.
“It was great to have such a close match with Team Nika in the last race,” Bruni commented.
“It was really intense, really like how match racing should be, very close, lead changes all the time, really good fun. Vladimir and the Team Nika crew did a really, really good job.
“They sailed well until the end.”
Having hoped to follow up his success in 2015 with the match racing title this year, Nika’s owner Proshikin came ashore not in the best of spirits.
“I am so depressed, feeling pain,” he said.
“We made one quite basic mistake when we were ahead. I had to tack lee bow and I didn’t. It could have changed the outcome.
“It was one mistake and he (Bruni) didn’t allow me to make any mistakes.
“Had I not wanted to win so badly, I would have had a lot of fun.”
Team Aqua third
With Team Nika second overall, an outstanding day for Team Aqua – joint top scorer yesterday with Artemis Racing – allowed Chris Bake’s team to claim the third spot on the 2016 RC44 Match Racing Championship podium.
With the wind blowing more across than down Grand Harbour, the start box was shallow and required teams to revise their pre-start manoeuvres, perhaps benefiting the more experienced crews.
As Cameron Appleton, who helmed Team Aqua, observed: “There was a lot more reverse circling and picking your time and a lot more shut-outs at the committee boat just due to the limited space.
“So, it was a whole different pre-start mindset and strategy, but we always had a good gameplan and were able to execute.”
Yesterday was not only the last day of match racing in the 2016 championship series but also for the RC44s going forward with the decision having been made to change to an entirely fleet racing regatta format from next season.
The first of four days of fleet racing at the RC44 Valletta Cup starts today.