OCEANA VIVO'S DEBUT: 69F CUP EUROPE GP1 EVENT, VALENCIA

Oceana Vivo in Valencia. Credit: Marta Rovatti Studihrad.

Oceana Vivo has officially entered the sailing world! The team's season kicked off in Valencia for the first event of the 69F Cup Europe GP series. For those of you who aren't familiar with the 69F class, the series works on a pay-to-play basis, with teams from around the world taking part in events across Europe and the United States. Teams don't have to own a boat, which makes this calibre of sailing a little more accessible. The boats themselves are 6.9m, hydrofoiling monohulls - the most similar boat to the upcoming Americas Cup AC40s, meaning that a lot of teams are using the 69F to trial and train their youth and female sailors. The 69F class draws in talented, young teams and offers high-performance sailing and exciting racing.

For Oceana Vivo's first event, skipper Zac Blomeley was joined by Filippo Binetti on flight control and 69F-newbie Quentin Bes-Green on main trim. Quentin has joined the Oceana Vivo team for the season, whereas Filippo joined the team for this event only, filling in for Bella Fellows who will join Zac and Quentin for the rest of the season. Quentin has had previous experience of high-speed performance racing but had not sailed the 69F, meaning the two days of training were valuable to work on communication on board and get the team up to speed.

Oceana Vivo racing full focus in Valencia. Credit: Marta Rovatti Studihrad.

It's safe to say that the learning curve was a steep one. Having sailed in the class over the last year, it was clear for Zac and Filippo to see how much the standard of the fleet had increased, with lots of teams putting in hours in the boat over the winter. Regardless, Oceana Vivo were not afraid to put themselves in the mix, pushing themselves hard and learning as much as they could from their coach and the boats around them. The enthusiasm and focus of the team was clear to see, and their skill on the water quickly developed, making good progress on race starts, upwind boat speed, and foiling gybes. With some really positive sessions, the team was feeling confident going into the next few days of racing.

It was a baptism of fire into the 69F class with some epic conditions, against some really high level competitors! - Quentin Bes-Green, main trimmer

The next four days required a big step up from the team as the racing was intense and quick, the other teams reflecting their experience and training hours in their results. In the top end conditions that Valencia provided, Oceana Vivo's lack of time in the boat showed, but watching the top of the fleet demonstrate how well the boats can be sailed was only fuel to the fire and pushed the team to work harder.

Oceana Vivo racing with the fleet in Valencia. Credit: Marta Rovatti Studihrad.

Over the days of racing, Oceana Vivo put some good races together, getting a handful of podium results and making definitive progress on their race starts, often finding themselves towards the front of the fleet rounding the first mark. Valencia turned on the heat, providing days of blistering sunshine with strong breeze, but also tested the sailors with some light wind, marginal conditions. This forced Oceana Vivo to quickly develop skills in a range of conditions, evolving their skillset from pumping techniques to get up on the foils in the light breeze, to mastering manoeuvres in the stronger breeze and chop.

We worked really well as a team and improved massively day by day, not a lot more we could ask for! It's the perfect fleet to get involved with for some high level and fast paced racing. - Quentin Bes-Green, main trimmer

Despite Oceana Vivo's progress, the results weren't consistent enough and the team finished the event in 6th place. Results aside, they put together some great races, and will be taking the lessons and positive attitude to their next event. The team are motivated by the high standard of the fleet and will be working hard on improving their onboard communication when Bella joins the team for GP 2.

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Oceana Vivo want to say a huge thank you to Valencia Mar for hosting an incredible event, to photographers Kevin Rio and Marta Rovatti Studihrad for some awesome shots, and to 69F for making Oceana Vivo's first event so enjoyable.

Oceana Vivo will be back in the 69F in Lake Molveno, Italy, from May 29th.

See you there!