Marazzi on ARMIN STROM Sailing Team duels Luna Rossa and other America’s Cup teams in a high-level sailing week in Austria

Former Olympic sailor Flavio Marazzi and his brand new Armin Strom Sailing Team just ended an exciting and game-changing week in Traunsee Lake. The Austrian venue played host  to the opening  event of the 2014 Great Cup season which saw new world-class teams and ground-breaking boats.  Marazzi’s crew and the other owners-drivers in fact had the privilege of battling it out with America’s Cup teams by sharing the four existing boats with famous professionals and foiling-expert sailors such as Chris Draper and Francesco Bruni (Luna Rossa), Tom Slingsby (AEZ), Paul Campbell James (Team UK), Sebastien Col (Seb Col Racing) and Jes-Gram Hansen/Rasmus Kostner (Sail Racing).

Together with Keith Swinton (AUS), Diego Stefani (URU) and Tudur Owen (GBR), Flavio Marazzi raced in the GC32 Austria Cup for the first time with the newly-upgraded GC32, now capable  of stable sailing with both hulls out of the water starting from only 6 knots of wind. The ability to foil is now something particularly eye-catching and that’s the reason of the success of this event. Thousands of people watched from the lake shore and spectators boats, admiring the boats whose carbon-fiber hulls and sails levitated above water while their new T-rudders and the L-foils ripped through the water.
Unfortunately, the far from ideal conditions kept the Armin Strom crew from performing to their full potential. As Flavio Marazzi commented, “the wind was extremely light during the first three days: in that situation the boat could be not as stable as one would expect. However, that doesn’t really matter: the most important aspect of the Austrian race was the opportunity to race among a fleet of great America's Cup professional sailors. It has been a very qualifying experience that allowed us to sail at a very high level. This is exactly what this class needs: more fun and a higher level of competitors. These professionals also have the merit of showing us a better understanding in the boat's setup, a stronger ability in starting procedures and in switching from foiling to non-foiling mode. After all, it was a great event and we look forward to keeping the same level along the season, possibly with at least six teams, and finding stabler breeze since the next appointment is in Geneva later this week”.
The event was won by Luna Rossa, followed by Team C3R, AEZ and Sail Racing. Armin Strom Sailing Team closed the GC32 Austria Cup in sixth position, with a close battle at the end with Sebastien Col, fifth overall, which trailed Marazzi until the very last race. Spax took seventh place and RSM DTM Hungary eighth.