The Algebris 69F Cup 2023 is about to kick off with the ValenciaMar Sailing Week in Valencia, the home of the unforgettable 2007 America's Cup. Everything is ready in the Spanish marina, and after two warm up days, the seven teams racing from tomorrow to Sunday April 30, have shed the dust off their wetsuits and are ready to go too.
There are five nations represented among the seven teams, France, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Antigua. The 2022 69F Youth Foiling Gold Cup vice champions are here from France, Groupe Atlantic with Clement Cron at the helm, and Louise Chambet, Valentin Sipan and Jessica Berthoud onboard, coached by French sailing legend Pierre Mas. Katana Sailing is also back in the water after a successful 2022 season, with helmsman Alex de Weck and Jann Schupbach from Switzerland and Ivan Aranguren from Argentina; the other Swiss boat is CER – Ville de Geneve with Nelson Mettraux, Morgan and Jeanlou Lauber, Guillaume Rol. Two teams are from Italy, Marga, with helmsman Alessandra Angelini, Francesco Rubagotti, Duccio Colombi and Matteo Pilati; and Flying Nikka, with skipper Alessio Razeto, Lorenzo Defelice and Andrea Fornaro. An Italian sailor is also onboard the UK team Oceana Vivo, Filippo Binetti, at the helm Zac Blomeley with fellow British Quentin Bes-Green; and two Italian sailors are with the Antiguan Rum Rummers, Filippo Amonti and Alice Cialfi will help the skipper Rocco Falcone.
"It is amazing to be in Valencia, with this sunshine and beautiful conditions – just a bit wavy maybe", says Jessica Berthoud, flight controller on Groupe Atlantic. "We are super stoked to be back on the 69F here in ValenciaMar, it is just epic to sail this boat, the feelings are great, the team is good, we are definitely ready for this event".
"It is a pleasure to be back in Valencia for the first GP, it is sunny and windy, it is challenging and it is what we like", commented Morgan Lauber, CER – Ville de Geneve helmsman. "We are quite ready for the race, we have been training here for a few months and we are ready to start with the official racing, we just need to fix some tweaks to be perfectly on target, but cannot wait to be on the water and compete with the rest of the fleet".
The schedule is for a midday start tomorrow, April 27th, with a maximum six races per day until Sunday April 30th when the winner of the first Grand Prix of the 2023 Algebris 69F Cup, the ValenciaMar Sailing Week. After this week five more events will follow, with the first one being Lake Molveno from May 29th to June 3rd, a hidden gem still partially unknown among the sailing world, with amazing conditions especially for foiling.