The 2024 44 Cup Worlds in Brunnen, Switzerland, sets sail tomorrow for the nine high performance one design fleet of owner-driver RC44s. The competition is taking place in the magnificent alpine setting of Lake Uri (Lake Lucerne), encircled by towering mountains, in what is considered the oldest part of Switzerland.
Of the ten teams competing, six are previous RC44 World Champions, since the class’ first World Championship was claimed by Oracle Racing in 2010, the same year Larry Ellison’s team won the America’s Cup.
So who are favourites this year?
Team Nika is certainly one. Vladimir Prosikhin’s currently leads the 2024 44Cup season and is the only RC44 team to have won the World Championship title three times (2015, 2017 and 2018), albeit, as Prosikhin muses, “that was a long time ago…”
Most underplay it, but there is no doubt that the World Championship is the most important event of the year and owners and teams put even more effort into attempting to win it than usual. “It is special – every regatta is important, but this one is the ‘most’ important,” continues Prosikhin. “All of the teams have new sails, so they are equal and are very well prepared. It will be a real game – it is certainly my big event for the whole year.”
An unknown, says Prosikhin, is Lake Uri. “It will be tricky and unpredictable because lake conditions are very variable and make for completely different sailing: You don’t normally sail VMG– you have to find the right place and corners, so I believe tactics will be very important. It will be the world championship of tacticians – not the driver, so not my responsibility!”
Nico Poons’ Charisma comes into this event having won the past two World Championships and the 2023 44Cup season overall. At the start of 2024 they changed tactician to American Andy Horton and after two lacklustre events in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote and Baiona, Spain, the Monaco-based Dutchman’s team finally returned to form, winning in Marstrand, Sweden at the beginning of July.
Can they replicate that? “That’s why I am here,” quips Poons, who would love to make it his RC44 World Championship record a hat-trick. “We see this as the main event of the year, but the whole season is the most important.”
Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing (World Champion in 2011), also seems to be back on song. This season the Swedish team was runner-up in Marstrand, but won in Baiona – their first RC44 event victory since 2016. Aided by Kiwi tactician Hamish Pepper, Artemis Racing is currently second overall in the 2024 44Cup Championship.
Just one point and two points behind Artemis Racing in the 2024 44Cup respectively, are Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref Vaider and Hugh Lepic’s Aleph Racing, in third and fourth. One of the circuit’s most consistent teams, Ceeref was RC44 World Champion in both 2013 and 2016. Aleph Racing has never won a 44Cup World Championship but is more than capable – she claimed the 44Cup Calero Marinas at the end of the 2023. Here, Aleph Racing owner Lepic has been replaced on the helm again by Pietro Loro Piana (who helmed the French RC44 in both Puerto Calero and Baiona).
John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing and Chris Bake’s Team Aqua both have new boats for this event and may struggle to get them adequately up to speed, especially with Bake having had to stand down from helming due to a snapped Achilles tendon.
Daniel Calero and his Calero Sailing Team have the 44Cup’s ‘black boat’ – designed for teams wishing to get into the class – for a third time this season, following their own event in Lanzarote and in Baiona this season.
The dark horse here is Black Star Sailing Team of event host Christian Zuerrer. Of all the teams, his is the most well prepped when it comes to local knowledge, the team having trained on Lake Uri extensively in the past on their flying GC32 catamaran. “I wish all the sailors good luck and fair winds,” says Zuerrer, wearing his organiser’s hat.
Meanwhile in the build-up to the start of competition at 1200 tomorrow, the teams have been trying to figure out the weather and how the wind works on Lake Uri.
Offside trimmer on Black Star Sailing Team Grégoire Siegwart has some experience having previously raced a National Championship here in the Olympic 470 doublehanded dinghy.
“Today we had the classic thermal breeze and for the rest of the week will be sunny, so I am confident we will have some good racing before Sunday which is more uncertain and we might have some rain.”
Like Zuerrer, he is proud to be racing on home waters. “We don’t have many sailing world championships here – this is one of the biggest sailing events that has been organised in Switzerland. It is nice to bring these boats and all these great sailors here on our lake. Switzerland has a reputation of having no wind so fingers crossed we will have some wind this week so we can show the world that Switzerland is a nice sailing spot.”
