With the start of the RC44 World Championship today off Scheveningen, the Netherlands lived up to its reputation for being able to offer four seasons in one day. The start of racing was first delayed by an hour waiting for the wind to fill in. Out on the water a massive rain cloud descended on the fleet providing everyone with a thorough soaking. Then, in its aftermath, came wind, sun and the first race. 

Tensions have been mounting all week in the build-up to this highlight of the 44Cup calendar. Sadly this manifested coming into the first top mark rounding when Charisma and Peninsula Racing collided in a port-starboard incident. The impact was substantial, Charisma’s bow penetrating Peninsula Racing’s port side 1m aft of her shrouds causing Peninsula’s mast to topple over, narrowly missing Charisma’s deck - her crew leaping out of the way to avoid the toppling spar. While Charisma’s sacrificial bow was destroyed, she was otherwise undamaged and sailed the next two races. But for Peninsula Racing the damage is too severe for her to continue – a sorry end to the World Championship for John Bassadone and his Gibraltar team. At a subsequent jury hearing Charisma was awarded seven penalty points, the most ever awarded in the history of the 44Cup. 

Ahead RC44 class President Chris Bake’s Team Aqua had managed to sneak in front after a poor start. She nosed in front at the top mark and led from there. Bowman Matt Cassidy explained: “We had a terrible start, but luckily we were the first one to tack out on the port and the fleet held on starboard for a while, so we were able to get out of jail pretty quickly. Then the right side came in strong and we just played it from there. The boat was going well that race – but we had Artemis right on our heels the whole time.” They had benefitted, Cassidy felt, from using their smaller J3 headsail. 

In race two it was the turn of Markus Törnqvist’s GeMera Racing to tackle the first upwind best, helped by a significant left shift that pointed the port tackers at the top mark from around one third of the way up the first beat. Tactician Francesco Bruni recounted: “We led from the beginning. After a very good start on the pin, we stayed a little bit on the left at the beginning, then tacked and the wind just went left and we laid. Then we had good control of the race.”

The Luna Rossa helmsman believed that they should have been top three at the first top mark rounding in the first and third races. But it was not to be: “We took a penalty on the first race for touching the mark. It was a tight situation but it's always very hard to to judge how much the tide is helping you. Then in the last race at the top, we were in the top three and we fouled Charisma and had to do a 360˚ turn, so we were back again in the fleet. But we had a good comeback in fifth, and were very close to third.”

For the final race the wind had dropped to around 10 knots and it was the turn of the defending World Champion, Vladimir Proshikin’s Team Nika, to come out on top. “The first one, I broke the boat. The second one, we were three boat lengths below the line at the start.

 And the third one, it was just right and we were more or less on time,” recounted Proshikin. Once out in front it became easier for Proshikin, tactician Nic Asher and the Team Nika crew. “You do what you find right and play with the waves and with the wind.”

Team Nika arrived home a substantial 1 minutes 15 seconds ahead of the next wave of finishers. Lunging best at the finish line to take second was Igor Lah’s Team Ceeref Vaider with the next four teams arriving within just 14 seconds. 

Overall at the end of the opening day, the top five teams are separated by just three points with Team Ceeref Vaider leading, a point ahead of Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing. 

“It feels nice, I must say, because it was a really tough day,” said Igor Lah. “Everybody was really tense. There’s much more at stake because it's a World Championship and everybody wants to perform.” However with three days to go, leading at this stage means little. 

Team Ceeref Vaider tactician Adrian Stead added: “It's a pretty good race track. In the first race we had the cold front coming over us, so it was pretty cloudy with reduced visibility and it was quite shifty, so when we were trying to find the top mark the second time round it was quite easy to overstand, particularly with current taking us upwind. The current made made the laylines slightly twisted and it closed everyone down downwind. So then it's all on downwind, particularly getting the laylines right into the bottom mark. We had some really good fighting today - there were lots of opportunities downwind.”

However they experienced issues too with the wind gear in the first race and breaking their trim tab on port tack for the final race. 

“It was really unfortunate to see the crash today, so our condolences. I hope we can see the Peninsula guys back out in some shape or form,” Stead concluded. 

Racing continues tomorrow with a first warning signal scheduled for 1200. Similar conditions are expected. Hopefully with less rain.