As ever, the all-carbon fibre RC44 shows no signs of aging, is enthusiastically campaigned by its loyal owner group and over the years has been regularly upgraded to keep pace with the latest technology. It is one of the few yachts capable of racing well in 5 knots or 25, meaning fewer lost sailing days. Go-faster features such as its light weight, a trim tab for improved pointing ability, an articulating bowsprit, etc make the RC44 competitive with larger, more modern keelboats. A one design with scrupulous, regular measurement means RC44 racing is amongst the fairest, while restricting running costs.
The defining spirit of the 44Cup brings together the worlds of sailing and business, allowing amateur owner drivers to race high performance one-design yachts against some of the world’s best sailors, competing in some of the most beautiful and diverse sailing venues around the world.
Reading like a who’s who of sailing’s greatest achievers, from America’s Cup legends to Olympic champions, the top names to have embraced the RC44 include:
• Two times British Olympic gold medallist and Artemis Racing’s America’s Cup Team Manager, Iain Percy
• 2000 America’s Cup winner and winner of the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 RC44 Championship Tour, Cameron Appleton
• Italian sailing legend with two MedCup, 20 World, 11 European and 23 Italian titles under his belt, Vasco Vascotto
• Helm of 2007 winning America’s Cup team, Ed Baird
• 2000 America’s Cup winner and winner of the 2007 and 2013 Louis Vuitton Cup, Dean Barker
• 2010 and 2013 America’s Cup winning skipper, James Spithill
• Seven-time sailing World Champion, a seven-time America's Cup veteran and two-time Olympian, Paul Cayard
• Australian Olympic gold medallist and tactician for Oracle Team USA’s winning America’s Cup team, Tom Slingsby
• US SAILING's 2008 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year and TP52 World Champion, Terry Hutchinson
• Emirates Team New Zealand tactician Ray Davies
And that’s before we mention Class co–designer, five times America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts.
THE RESULT?
A tour in which no-one is prepared to concede an inch, with skippers pushing the boats and their crews to the boundaries of their extensive capabilities and events that are often not decided until supercharged final days of racing.
It is breath-taking to be a part of and a spectacle to witness. As Russell Coutts says, “It has developed into a high-level racing circuit and the standard of competition has grown year-on-year. Each regatta just gets more and more competitive. It is probably fair to say it’s exceeded my expectations and the potential is there to even improve things further.”
Winner of the 2018 tour Nico Poons explains: "The competition in the 44 is so tough and the level is so high, that, when you win, it fills you with more pride than the other classes I've tried before."
Chris Bake, owner of Team Aqua and winner of the past four consecutive 44Cup tours, added: “We can race it well in 5 knots or 25 knots. It has all the tweaky things like the trim tab that we can thank Russell for. For owner-drivers it is thrilling to sail and a delight and - at times - a challenge, to steer. But best of all you get to experience grand prix racing at its highest level, sailing with some of the world’s top crew, but with costs controlled: It is a strict one design, numbers of pro sailors and new sails are limited, plus the boat was designed to fit into a standard 40ft container for easy shipping.”
LOGISTICALLY SPEAKING.....
As well as the strict one-design class rules, it was important the RC44 was a non-complicated boat to own and could be raced in the summer and put away relatively easily in the winter.
The RC44 Class has constantly strived to help owners by developing innovative solutions to facilitate the logistics and minimise costs.
As John Bassadone, owner of Peninsula Petroleum, enthused, “Definitely the logistics makes everything a lot easier; the whole way the boat is set-up is very clean and very easy,” while Artemis Racing head Torbjorn Tornqvist added, “The boat is exciting, there is nothing out there that can compare and the concept of moving it around means that the budget is reasonable.”
So how do they do it?
Shipping of the RC44s, team and class containers between event venues, as well as all the logistics involved with this, are handled centrally and seamlessly by the class. This spares teams the worry and considerable hassle of undertaking this themselves as well as saving substantial costs.
In fact the transportation of the RC44s was also addressed in a more fundamental way from the very outset. When conceiving the class and its circuit, Russell Coutts envisaged RC44 racing regularly taking place on different continents. To date the circuit has ventured afar afield as the US West Coast, Caribbean and Middle East.
As a result, another advantage of the boat having a sacrificial bow and stern, plus a two-piece mast, is that, despite being 44ft long, it can fit into a standard 40ft flat rack container. This enables the RC44 to be shipped for around one third of the price it would typically cost to go assembled as deck cargo. It also permits more cost-effective long term winter storage.
Its ingenuity does not stop there. Its unique flat rack container is also cleverly designed so that the RC44 can be assembled and taken apart without the need for a crane or a forklift truck: Four vertical beams plug into the flat rack and, with these acting as leverage points, the hull can be elevated by 4m. The keel foil is then dropped on to the bulb, bolted in and the hull dropped on to the foil and attached. Key to this is the construction of the keel foil being entirely in carbon fibre (rather than a steel strut with a carbon or steel fairing). As a result it weighs just 120kg and can be muscled into position by three people.
Typically assembling a RC44 takes three to four days while its breakdown takes two.
THE 44CUP ROLL OF HONOUR
2007 – Team Aqua
Owner: Chris Bake (GBR)
Professional Skipper: Cameron Appleton (NZL)
2008 - Team Banco Espirito Santo
Owner: Patrick de Barros (POR)
Professional Skipper: Russell Coutts (NZL)
2009 – No Way Back
Owner: Pieter Heerema (NED)
Professional Skipper: Ray Davies (NZL)
2010 – BMW ORACLE Racing
Owner: Larry Ellison (USA)
Professional Skipper: Russell Coutts (NZL)
2011 - Team Aqua
Owner: Chris Bake (GBR)
Professional Skipper: Cameron Appleton (NZL)
2012 - Team Aqua
Owner: Chris Bake (GBR)
Professional Skipper: Cameron Appleton (NZL)
2013 - Team Aqua
Owner: Chris Bake (GBR)
Professional Skipper: Cameron Appleton (NZL)
2014 - Team Aqua
Owner: Chris Bake (GBR)
Professional Skipper: Cameron Appleton (NZL)
2015 - Team Nika
Owner: Vladimir Prosikhin (BUL)
Professional Skipper: Terry Hutchinson (USA)
2016 - Team CEEREF
Owner: Igor Lah (SLO)
Professional Skipper: Adrian Stead (GBR)
2017 - Team CEEREF
Owner: Igor Lah (SLO)
Professional Skipper: Adrian Stead (GBR)
2018 - Charisma
Owner: Nico Poons (NED)
Professional Skipper: Ray Davies (NZL)
2019 - Team CEEREF
Owner: Igor Lah (SLO)
Professional Skipper: Adrian Stead (GBR)
2021 - Team Aqua
Owner: Chris Bake (GBR)
Professional Skipper: Cameron Appleton (NZL)
2022 - Charisma
Owner: Nico Poons (NED)
Professional Skipper: Hamish Pepper (NZL)
2023 - Charisma
Owner: Nico Poons (NED)
Professional Skipper: Hamish Pepper (NZL)
2024 - Team Nika
Owner: Vladimir Prosikhin (BUL)
Professional Skipper: Nic Asher (GBR)