Global Sailing Highlight Show World on Water Dec 01.23 Americas Cup Jeddah, 44 Cup Days 1-3, FAREAST

Highlights of what happened globally in the sport of sailing in the last 7 days.
The Red Sea served up stunning conditions again last Tuesday in Jedda Saudi Arabia, with blue skies, sunshine and a solid 14-17 knots of north to north-west airflow, – the predominant wind direction in the region at this time of the year. Crucially, the sea-state was bumpy with localised waves at up to 1.2 metres and an underlying swell off the Jedda Corniche that produced 1.2 to 1.4 metre rolling swells.

This is your weekly Global Sailing Highligths Show, the World on Water, for December 01, 2023.

Leaders, favourites and defending champions, Nico Poons’ Charisma got off to a solid start on the opening day of the 44Cup Calero Marinas, the final event of the 2023 44Cup. The Dutchman’s Monaco-flagged RC44 leads after three races, but by a mere point from Team Nika, with Aleph Racing a further two behind in third. The three teams managed surprisingly consistent performances despite this being one of the most tricky days out on the race course that competitors have faced all year.

Time is everything in the America’s Cup, the clock never stops. so thanks to G A C Pindar for delivering the Ineos Britannia A C 40 race-boat, Athena, on time, to Jeddah. This is how the boats are delivered round the world by G A C Pindar.
Once at the venue, here is the race format for the regatta in Jedda on the Red Sea.

They say in yacht racing that when conditions are light, flukey and difficult to predict, it is all about keeping a cool head and avoiding the big results. Italian sailors are renowned for excelling in this as they are the prevailing conditions around the Italian coast line, so it was little surprise that in the 5-10 knot northerly that was blowing over mountainous Lanzarote, two out of three of today’s winning boats at the 44Cup Calero Marinas had Italian tacticians: Michele Ivaldi on Aleph Racing and Vasco Vascotto on Peninsula Racing.

The fourth day of the FAREAST 28R European Sailing Championship in Limassol presented challenging weather conditions right from the start. In the morning, it became apparent that there wouldn’t be sufficient wind for racing. Following a brief adjournment, a window of opportunity emerged, and a 4-6 knot sailing session took place. During this time, the wind intensity increased, adding an extra layer of complexity to the competition. At the only completed race, Sergei Kostevitch’s Bravo finished first, followed by Par Svardson’s Happy Yachting, with Jonas Svensson on Drake taking the third position.

The 44Cup Calero Marinas, the final event of the 2023 44Cup, has become a two horse race going into the final day. Once again today the star performers among the high performance owner-driver one designs were Aleph Racing and Team Nika, both winning races and, crucially, the only teams to avoid posting any big results. They currently are on 25 and 29 points respectively with the 2023 44Cup’s overall leader Nico Poons’ Charisma third on 35.

The 37th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta, Presented by Neom is about to start. Who will win the last AC40 face-off?
The first A C 40 Americas Cup regatta which was in Spain was won by the New York Yacht Club. It’s a very busy time now in the Red Sea, so can they repeat their win and go 2-up?
After Jedda the next time all the teams meet will be in the big A C 75 boats which require full assets and crew.