MAG Racing in training - Crew having fun. Image copyright Kinga Przybylska.
by Jessica Gray
The RC44 class will reconvene in Cagliari Sardinia next week for the RC44 Cagliari Cup, (29 June – 3 July) the third round of the 2011 RC44 Championship Tour. Following on from the impressive debuts of the most recent Tour newcomers, Aleph Sailing Team (FRA) and Team Nika (RUS), in Austria, two further new teams from Poland and another from Russia are set to join the Tour in Sardinia, taking the total fleet to 15 boats.
MAG Racing (POL), is owned the by Krzysztof Krempec, the President of fire protection systems specialists the Mercor group. Krempec is an accomplished sailor with over 30 years sailing experience, he has won the Polish 505 Championship twice, before stepping into the X-35 class where he won the Polish Championship three times.
His tactician is former ISAF Match Racing World Championship-winning crewmember (Jablonski Sailing Team), Piotr Przybylski. The team steps into the boat vacated by Poland’s previous RC44 contenders Organika, which competed on the 2007 and 2008 Tour.
As one of the latest addition to the RC44 ranks, Team Manager Arkadiusz Ornowski insists MAG Racing is realistic about their early ambitions. “Sardinia will be our first event, and the first step on what we hope will be a long journey in the RC44 class. We are looking forward to being as competitive as we can with the other teams but we do not expect to produce miracles straight away."
“Four of us are veterans from the Organika RC44 campaigns, we have America’s Cup experience on board and there is a mixture of experience from other one design class boats too. The amateur sailors we have in the team are of a very good pedigree including Mr Krempec, who has been a successful sailor in his recreation time. The RC44 is a great one-design boat and the competition is strong so we are really looking forward to starting.”
Mag Racing will be joined by RUS-7 Sail Racing Team powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com, the fourth team to represent Russia in the 2011 Tour. Lead by Kirill Podolsky (RUS), another seasoned sailor, the team will be drawing from their experience racing together in the Audi Med Cup, TP52 Championship.
The team has purchased Chris Bake’s old Team Aqua, the boat that finished third at the opening event of the 2011 season in San Diego. Podolsky will be joined by a crew of professionals and amateurs, who have sailed together over the past ten years since they started to participate in world-class competitions in 2001. The team started racing in an IMX 45, competing as part of the European team at the Rolex Commodores Cup in 2004. They then progressed to a Grand Soleil 42 before purchasing their first TP52 in 2005, racing in all Audi MedCup and World Championship events for the 2008-2009 seasons.
“Our team has always sought to participate in regattas at a high level. We have been watching the development of the RC44 class closely and have been looking at joining the fleet for a while. We think the RC44 is a unique class that combines the elite professional racers along with the owners and amateur sailors, all with very high quality regattas, organised in varied and interesting waters.” Explained Serge Kotsiouba, Project Manager for RUS-7 Sail Racing Team powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com
MAG Racing in training. Image copyright Pawel Bielecki.
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)
MAG Racing (POL)
Owner – Krzysztof Krempec (POL)
Professional Skipper - Piotr Przybylski (POL)
No Way Back (NED)
Owner – Pieter Heerema (NED)
Professional Skipper – Mark Mendelblatt (USA)
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)
RUS-7 Sail Racing Team powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com (RUS)
Owner – Kirill Podolsky (RUS)
Professional Skipper – Sergei Chevtsov (RUS)
RC44 Team CEEREF (SLO)
Owner – Igor Lah (SLO)
Professional Skipper – Michele 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 Nika (RUS)
Owner - Vladimir Prosikhin (RUS)
Professional Skipper- Tomislav Basic (SLO)
2011 RC44 Championship Tour Ranking
(After two events)
1 ORACLE Racing (USA)
2 Team Aqua (GBR)
3 Katusha (RUS)
4 RC44 Team Ceeref (SLO)
5 No Way Back (NED)
6 Ironbound (USA)
7 Artemis Racing (SWE)
8 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP)
9 Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team (GBR)
10 Aleph Sailing Team (FRA)
11 Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS)
12 AEZ RC44 Sailing Team (AUS)
13 Team Nika (RUS)
RC44
