Day 4 Fleet Racing - RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup

Artemis RC44 wins in Virgin Gorda as Team Nika clinches 2015 title Artemis Racing today won the fleet racing at the RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup, with a four point margin over Peninsula Petroleum, having led from the outset of the four day regatta. While this was close, the outcome of the 2015 RC44 Fleet Racing Championship was far closer, only decided in the last seconds of the final race, followed by some intense mathematics and the breaking of a tie. For Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Swedish team this win represented a late charge this season, achieving their first RC44 regatta victory since the Austria Cup in 2012. The 2015 Fleet Racing season for the one design 44ft race boats ended up a two horse race between Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika and Vladimir Liubomirov’s Bronenosec Sailing Team. The two teams had either won or come second in the two previous events and, in the championship, Team Nika was one slender one point ahead of her rival going into the RC44 Virgin Gorda Cup. Ahead of the final races today, Bronenosec was lying third, one place ahead of Team Nika, but needed another boat to finish the regatta between her and Team Nika to win the Championship. Initially this seemed all but impossible, but with the leaders doing badly in the first of day’s three races, by today’s last race overtaking second placed Peninsula Petroleum had became a real prospect for Bronenosec. In fact they had comfortably achieved this going into the final leg of the last race when a squall bringing with it torrential rain and 30 knots turned the leaderboard on its head. Because of this Peninsula Petroleum maintained second and while this left Bronenosec and Team Nika tied on points at the top of the 2015 leaderboard, Team Nika won on tiebreak – the closest ever finish to an RC44 championship.