Future Fibres is pleased to announce that it has become the official standing rigging supplier for the RC 44 Class.

Future Fibres was initially asked to supply two new boats at the beginning of the 2009 season, however, the results were so good that the decision was made to equip the remaining teams with Future Fibres' PBO rigging. The new relationship means state of the art rigging for all the 23 competing boats, whilst still respecting the necessary constraints of the one-design class.

Designed by Russell Coutts and naval architect Andrej Justin, the RC 44 is a light displacement, high performance, one-design sailing boat, created for top level racing in international regattas. The class set out to, and continues to develop a high level and entertaining racing program, while maintaining the single design aspect of the class.

Future Fibres' Tobias Hochreutener commented on the appointment: "The RC 44 is a great boat and an impressive class, which we are obviously pleased to be associated with.  We have already started building a set of new forestays which will be fitted on all the boats in time for the final Dubai RC 44 Gold Cup regatta in November."

Bertrand Favre of the RC 44 Class Association remarked: "We're delighted to be working with the industry's leading composite rigging supplier. Our decision to work with Future Fibres was based on the company´s levels of service and the quality and consistency of their product which is highly valued by both the teams and the Class Association. Overall it's the right move for a class that continues to grow in popularity and reputation."

The Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup, the fifth regatta of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2009, will take place in Portoroz between September 29th and October 3rd.

The RC44 is a light displacement high performance One Design sailing boat. It was designed by four-time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts, together with naval architect Andrej Justin. The RC44 was created for top level racing in international regattas under strictly controlled Class Rules. The concept and the design features of the RC44 are dedicated to the amateur helmsmen racing in fleet racing sailing events.

The objective of the Class is to develop a high level and entertaining racing program and to keep the absolute one design aspect of the RC44 by ensuring that all boats are as identical as possible in terms of construction, shape of hull and appendages, weight and weight distribution, deck layout and equipment, sail plan and performance.

"We wanted to include a degree of complexity so an owner can experience what a top-end race boat is like to sail, and it delivers on that", explains Russell Coutts. "Yet we also wanted it to be easy to own – you can race this boat in summer and if you wish put it away relatively easily in winter."

"While the RC44 have some distinctive America's Cup features, they are light-displacement, high performance racers and designed to sail with eight person crew, or for a professional match racing format they could be sailed by just six crew. When we started to formulate this concept I wanted to create a boat that would be exciting to sail downwind and powerful in light winds because most of the harbour and lake sailing is staged at lighter wind venues.  I also wanted a boat that could be sailed short-handed with a deck layout incorporating many non-standard adjustments.

The trim tab on the keel was an example of that thinking, to reduce keel area and yet still achieve good upwind performance and maneuverability. It adds to the complexity of the boat, but the racing enthusiast will enjoy exploring the different tab angles and the resulting benefits in performance."

With a powerful sail plan, the RC44 is intended strictly for racing, either match racing or day sailing fleet races. The boat is targeted at the day sailor who wishes to sail a high performance one-design class.  It has no comforts for cruising, and with a big open cockpit, a fairly narrow beam and the huge sail plan it produces a lot of excitement. The philosophy was to create something special for the racing sailor – a bit like owning a sports car versus a 4-wheel drive!

The boat features a removable stern scoop with a two-piece mast, both developed to provide for easy transportation, assembly and winter storage.

The class rules and the construction of the boat are being tightly controlled to protect the one-design concept and reduce development costs for participants. For fleet racing it will be an owner driver class with strict limitations on the number of professional crew.