5.5 Metre class - Ali Baba wins thrilling edition of Scandinavian Gold Cup

All three boats finished today’s first race just six seconds apart. As Artemis (Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne and Trond Solli-Saether) closed the line a couple of metres clear ahead of Ali Baba (Flavio Marazzi, Julie Marazzi and Eline Marazzi), John B (Gavin McKinney, Lars Horn Johannessen and Justin Cunningham) approached from the other direction, sailing much faster at a hotter angle. She sneaked in close to the committee boat to take victory by just two seconds.

Ali Baba and John B now both held two race wins, while Artemis had one, in the Scandinavian Gold Cup’s unique first to three wins format. With the remainder of the fleet having been eliminated after the first three races, only these three boats were competing today, creating a fascinating dynamic on the race course. There can, for instance, be a benefit in using match racing style tactics, yet these must be employed strategically and sparingly to avoid risk of the third-placed boat overtaking the leading pair.

In Race 6 John B and Artemis went to the right after the start, while Ali Baba was slower off the line and split to the left, but that didn’t pay. Artemis showed impressive boat speed and height on this leg and little more than 10 minutes after the start had built an unassailable lead that she extended to the finish.

With all three boats now tied with two race wins each, the final race became an all-or-nothing finale in which the tables turned on the very last windward leg.

The two leaders tacked onto starboard at the start of the final upwind leg, while Ali Baba again split off to the side, this time going to the right. She then hooked into an advantageous wind shift, accompanied by marginally more breeze and by the end of the second beat had converted a 12 length deficit into an equally large lead that she held to the finish.

“We missed out in the first two races today,” says Flavio Marazzi, “and in the last one Kristian was already gone and ahead, so we tried to stay in the game and go extreme. That’s all we could do with the two boats going left. Then the wind went all the way right on the second upwind. Sometimes you are lucky and this was the time we got it right.

“We knew that the wind would shift to the right, but you can never really know when – it was super light, between two and four knots, and almost the Swiss lake conditions I don’t really like. I come here for a breeze to sail in full hiking conditions and that’s what we will hopefully get next week for the world championship.”

This week was the first time Eline and Julie, his 14 and 16 year old daughters, had won a race at a 5.5 Metre regatta, yet alone the whole event. “We didn’t really think that we could ever win,” says Julie. “For us it was like, we started this, we’re going to end it and it’s our first Scandinavian Gold Cup, so we’re just going to pull through till the end and see how it turns out. Winning it is obviously amazing, so we’re very happy.”

Today’s result also means three generations of the Marazzi family have won the trophy – Flavio was crewing for his father when they won it in Sydney some 20 years ago.

The older Evolution and Classic boats have also been competing this week, ahead of next week’s world championship, which is also hosted by the Yacht Club de l’Odet in Benodet, south Brittany.

Two boats in these divisions put in stunning performances to win their six race no discard series with an unbroken run of first places. Another Ali Baba, previously owned by Flavio Marazzi’s father and now sailed by former Olympic Star class sailor Wolf-Eberhard Richter, with Beata Kallkowski and Jorg Grunewald, won the Hankø Evolution Cup. Italian boat Manuela V (Guido Tommasi, Matteo Barison and Andrea Racchelli) also proved unbeatable in the Royal Haag Classic Cup.