Sailing World on Water Aug 18.23 RC 44 Cup Days 1-3, NYYC AC40s, , Clarisse Crémer, World Sailing

Highlights of what happened globally in the sport of sailing in the last 7 days.
With near gale force winds forecast for the afternoon, to stay on schedule, racing, for the high performance owner-driver RC 44 one designs on Day 3, the penultimate day of their World Championship, was brought forward by two hours. In the southwesterly breeze, the race area was set up between Hill Head and the Brambles Bank, in the northeastern quadrant of the central Solent, by the Royal Yacht Squadron’s expert race management.

This is your weekly Global Sailing Highlights show, the World on Water, August 18, 2023.

The New York Yacht Clubs’ American Magic, brought their AC40’s out today for two-boat testing on a pitch-perfect America’s Cup course in stunning summer conditions.
Tom Slingsby noted that the Class foil was slower than their foil so they tested both whilst they had the different foils on either side of the boat.

There was a strong Start for Team Aqua at the 44 Cup, Cowes World Championship, with two bullets from three races, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua took an early lead after day one. In the first two races, Team Aqua led around every mark. In the opener, after a pin end start, she squeaked ahead of defending 44 Cup Cowes Champions, Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing coming into the top mark (the French held on to second but then received two penalty points for a start line collision).

French sailor Clarisse Crémer is embarking on one of the most exciting challenges of her career: competing in the next Vondée Globe, in November 2024.
After Banque Populaire dropped her sponsorship in January 2023 – which left Crémer without a team or a boat, and put her Vondée Globe dreams on hold – she will now be joined by new title sponsor, L’OCCITANE on Provence, for a return to sailing, following the birth of her baby daughter last November.
Crémer started her sailing career whilst at university and went on to finish second in her first solo race, the 2017 Mini Transat. She moved onto the Figaro class before joining her previous sailing team in 2019 to take on her first Vondée Globe in 2020 – where she achieved the best performance by a female skipper in the history of the race.

Micky Beckett of Great Britain overcame a black flag disqualification in the first race to extend his lead in the Ilca 7, thanks to a second in the final race of the day.
However, it was Olympic champion Matt Wearn of Australia who was the big mover, with a first and a third, to move into second overall, albeit still 15 points behind Beckett.
However, a strong start to competition in the gold fleet, Wearn will hope to match his exploits at the Paris Test Event when a strong finish saw him overhaul Beckett for victory.

Heiko Kröger, sealed gold in the 2.4m Norlin OD, with a day to spare, at the Allianz Sailing World Championships, while Olivier Ducruix and Ange Margaron, also secured top spot in the R S Venture Connect.
Kröger has won all but two races so far in The Hague, with the German ensuring he will finish top of the podium with a bullet, and two second-place finishes on Monday.

In typical 44Cup style, racing at the World Championship for the leading owner driver one design circuit concluded with two boats tied in the top spot with third place just one point behind with two days of racing left

Tracy Edwards M B E, and D P World, the sponsor of The Maiden Factor World Tour, have seen a new opportunity to further their objectives and announced that Maiden and her all-female crew will enter the 2023, Ocean Globe Race. In 1989 Maiden, Great Britain, and Tracy Edwards made history. She entered the first ever all-female crew. She was met with disbelief, raising more than a few eyebrows in what was then a male-dominated sport. Yet, this, “tin full of tarts”, as the late yachting journalist Bob Fisher infamously nicknamed Maiden, gave the boys a run for their money, winning two legs in the Southern Ocean and leading their class!