Aleph Sailing Team's new RC44. Image copyright Aleph Sailing Team.
by Jessica Gray
The 2011 RC44 Championship Tour moves to Lake Traunsee in Austria on the 10th May, where a second new team will join the Tour.
The French Aleph Sailing Team owned by Mr Hugues Lepic, will make their RC44 debut at the RC44 Austria Cup, the second event of the season, having purchased the RC44 formerly known as ‘17’. The boat has a good pedigree finishing third overall in the 2010 Tour and winning the 2010 World Championships in Lanzarote, under the guidance of America’s Cup winning helmsman James Spithill.
Lepic, head of the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in Europe is looking forward to the challenge ahead. “The RC44 circuit combines very high level match racing with owner-driver fleet racing. The boat is fast and technically interesting; the class is dynamic and the racing very challenging.”
The team’s pro skipper and match racing helm for the season will be World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) runner-up, Mathieu Richard and a number of his WMRT crew-members. The full crew are all French nationals. “Our team combines strong match racing experience through Mathieu and his team with good one-design fleet racing experience. Austria will be an interesting event to benchmark ourselves against more experienced teams in the circuit,” said Lepic after the new team spent time pre-event training in Cogolin, France.
Aleph Sailing Team crew list:
Mr Hugues Lepic (FRA)– Owner / Helmsman
Mathieu Richard (FRA) – Match Racing Helm/Tactician
Greg Evrard (FRA)– Main trimmer
Thierry Briend (FRA)– Jib and Spinnaker Trimmer
Yannick Simon (FRA) - Bow
Olivier Herledant (FRA) - Pit
Nicolas Dore (FRA)- Floater
Jean Baptiste Marcon (FRA)– Grinder
Xavier Leroy (FRA)- Grinder
Axel Trehin (FRA) - 8th man in match racing
List of entrants - RC44 Austria Cup
AEZ RC44 Sailing Team (AUT)
Owner – Rene Mangold (AUT)
Professional Skipper – Christian Binder (AUT)
Aleph Sailing Team (FRA)
Owner - Hugues Lepic (FRA)
Professional Skipper - Mathieu Richard (FRA)
Artemis Racing (SWE)
Owner - Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE)
Professional Skipper – Morgan Larson (USA)
Ironbound (USA)
Owner – David Murphy (USA)
Professional Skipper – Peter Evans (NZL)
Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP)
Owner – Daniel Calero (ESP)
Professional Skipper - Jose Maria Ponce (ESP)
Katusha (RUS)
Professional Skipper – Paul Cayard (USA)
Team Nika's first event will be the Austria Cup. Image copyright Team Nika.
Team Nika (RUS)
Owner - Vladimir Prosikhin (RUS)
Professional Skipper- Tomislav Basic (SLO)
No Way Back (NED)
Owner – Pieter Heerema (NED)
Professional Skipper – Rod Dawson (NZL)
ORACLE Racing (USA)
Owner – Larry Ellison (USA)
Substitute Driver- Steve Howe (USA)
Professional Skipper – Russell Coutts (NZL)
Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team (GBR)
Owner – John Bassadone (GBR)
Professional Skipper - Iñaki Castañer (ESP)
RC44 Team CEEREF (SLO)
Owner – Igor Lah (SLO)
Professional Skipper –Michelle Ivaldi (ITA)
Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS)
Owner – Valentin Zavadnikov (RUS)
Professional Skipper – Evgeniy Neugodnikov (RUS)
Team Aqua (GBR)
Owner - Chris Bake (CAN)
Professional Skipper - Cameron Appleton (NZL)
Team Aqua's new boat will race for the first time at the RC44 Austria Cup. Image copyright RC44 Class Association.2011 RC44 Championship Tour Ranking
(Standing after one event)
Fleet Race
1st Katusha (RUS)
2nd ORACLE Racing (USA)
3rd Team Aqua (GBR)
4th Artemis Racing (SWE)
5th RC44 Team CEEREF (SLO)
6th Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP)
7th Ironbound (USA)
8th Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS)
9th AEZ RC44 Sailing Team (AUT)
10th Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team (GBR)
11th No Way Back (NED)
RC44
