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RC44 Tour at Valencia, Spain - Day 3

by Bernard Schopfer

The eleven RC44 fleet arrives inside the Dársena after the practice day for the RC44 Valencia Cup fleet racing

RC 44 Valencia Cup fleet poised for fleet racing

Up to four races a day are planned Friday through Sunday

After bashing about for two days in a match racing regatta held in winds up to 20 knots, today is an off day for the RC 44 Valencia Cup.

In sailor's parlance an off day is a practice day, which means the fleet took to the water this afternoon for a bit of practice ahead of the fleet racing portion of the regatta. Up to four races a day are planned Friday through Sunday.

The fleet races do not allow for the professional helmsmen who drove during the match racing. All helmsmen must be classified as an amateur. In most cases, that means the boat owner is back on the “handle bars.”

“We're looking forward to having Chris (Bake) come in. I know he's very excited to get here,” said Team Aqua professional helmsman Cameron Appleton.

Team Aqua won the match racing half of the event with a 9-1 record, one win ahead of second and third-placed Artemis and BMW ORACLE Racing, respectively.

“He was watching our racing on line yesterday during an important meeting and had to keep asking the others in the room to repeat themselves,” Appleton said.

Another looking ahead to the fleet racing is Ceeref owner Igor Lah. He was aboard his boat for the match racing as tactician, but now gets the chance to put his bow where it doesn't belong.

“I'm really looking forward to the fleet racing. The conditions here are great,” said Lah of Slovenia. “It's a nice breeze and interesting waves, and the level of competition keeps increasing from event to event.”

During today's practice race the event hosted a dozen sailors of the youth program at Real Club Nautico de Valencia. AEZ RC 44 Sailing Team won the first practice race whilst Islas Canarias Puerto Calero was first across the line of the second one following a captivating last run inside Valencia's Dársena.

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