Team Nika crowned 44Cup champions for a second year as Gemera enjoys a perfect day

TEAM NIKA CROWNED 44CUP CHAMPIONS FOR A SECOND YEAR AS GEMERA ENJOYS A PERFECT DAY

After three days of 15 knot winds building to 20+, the final day of the 44Cup Marina Jandía instead began in a brutal 25+ knots but ended in 8 knots, keeping the RC44 teams busy with sails and settings adjustments for the season’s final three races. This week conditions off the south of Fuerteventura have been some of the best of the season for the high performance owner driver one designs with supreme surfing conditions provided by the Atlantic waves.

Marcus Törnqvist’s GeMera Racing was the paragon of consistency this week, never scoring lower than a fifth in the 10 boat fleet. Today she provided a master class, winning all three races, to finish on just 31 points after 12 races. In fact the Swedish team had the regatta sewn up with a race to spare (the first time a 44Cup team has achieved this since Charisma last year in Marstrand) and the first to achieve a perfect scoreline in a day since Charisma in Cascais in 2022.

GeMera Racing tactician Francesco Bruni commented: “It was just a magic day: We had three great starts and after that we were nicely in control in every race and we had great boat speed. We made small improvements – we still had something in our pocket, a few tune-ups to the sails, etc. We are very, very happy. It’s been a team effort the whole season, learning slowly, starting from Nanny Cay and getting better event after event. I’m super happy.”

This is the first event GeMera Racing has won since joining the 44Cup in Nanny Cay at the start of this season and receiving their brand new RC44 in Porto Cervo in May.

Bruni continued: “I must thank the owner, Markus Törnqvist who made sure that we had all the tools we needed to win… We have a very special group – a lot of young Swedes on board. Kyle Langford on the main has done a fantastic job, always finding that little extra speed, with David Gilmour trimming. We have a very experienced bowman in Nick Hutton and Neil Hunter as a grinder – a solid part of the team. And then our young Swedes: Ida [Svensson] is fantastic, she learned a lot and Hugo [Christenson] made an impressive step-up during the season.”

Scoring the second best today was John Bassadone’s Peninsula Racing, posting a 2-3-5.

In the bigger picture Team Nika’s 6-4-2 today maintained her second place and with her principal rival Hugues Lepic’s Aleph Racing posting deep results today, Vladimir Prosikhin’s team was able to secure her second consecutive 44Cup season victory with a fine scoreline 1-1-1-2 (5) ahead of Aleph Racing on 11 and GeMera Racing on 12.

At the prizegiving in Marina Jandía Prosikhin praised the organisers: “Conditions were fantastic: very different, heavy wind, big waves – everything. And the organisation is above compliments.” Until this event, Team Nika was decidedly the stand-out team of the 44Cup but over the last few days GeMera has proved they have upped the level yet again. “This regatta we were sandwiched between two Swedish boats. And the youngsters [on GeMera] finally won a regatta. They actually finished the regatta with 31 points which is very impressive. Congratulations to them.”

Team Nika began this event with a four point cushion over Aleph Racing. As a result, Prosikhin said that their job this week was easier than when they won the championship last year: “We had to finish no worse than fifth. Unfortunately we were not very lucky in this regatta because we lost all the photo finishes and made unforced mistakes as well. Yes, we were second, but look at the gap – 31 points (for GeMera) to us on 45. Climbing up from fifth to second was not easy. But scoring five points overall across the season in four races is something.”

Team Nika’s British tactician Nic Asher agreed: “We weren’t at our best, but we did what we needed to do and it was nice to finish second.”

Also in Team Nika are James ‘Skip’ Baxter on main trim; Pierluigi De Felice on headsail trim; Harry Hall as offside trimmer; Pietro Mantovani in the pit; Taavi Taveter grinding, Federica Salva as floater and Jeremy Lomas on the bow, supported by coach Tomaz Copi plus Arsa Stevanov, Matej Gvar and Mitja Margon on the shore team.

Behind Team Nika, Peninsula Racing and the powerful Swedes (in addition to GeMera, Torbjörn Törnqvist’s Artemis Racing finished third overall this week) the remaining teams had to pick over the scraps today. Delighted from their fifth place in today’s first race was Jan Scholtes’ Warp 5. “We had a great start and had some luck, of course. We got a nice shift, but also we went to the right side of the track where the waves were not as high,” he confided. “Then we were able to go a little higher and faster than the other guys. Downwind, I’m finally getting in touch with it. So, it was great. It takes time to get into the swing with the RC44 – boat handling is absolutely super important and the others don’t leave you a millimetre even.”

RC44 Class President Chris Bake, whose Team Aqua finished fifth here, felt that the year had gone well. “It’s been a hugely consolidating season. We’ve had 12 boats again and that’s really made it very dynamic. Getting some new boats built has given new life to the class and has brought it a lot more attention. We need to consolidate that position and see what happens going into next year re the total number of boats. But we’re clearly going to have 10+ boats and we’ve got some boats in reserve so we can welcome new people into class.

“All the professionals say that despite the age of the RC44 [now an advanced teenager], with all the upgrades that we’ve done, the boat remains hugely competitive and this continues to be one of the most dynamic classes out there. With the right team and some practice, you can see new teams coming in like GeMera, who have managed to be very competitive. That’s a huge testament to not only the skill of the sailors, but also to the boat too. All in all it is very positive.”

Details of the 2026 44Cup circuit will be made available shortly.