Welcome to Cayard Sailing.

Artemis Racing started off 2012 with the preparation of the team's two AC45s for a training session at our Valencia base in the month of February, with the complete sailing team and coaching staff on site.

Meanwhile, the build of the team's first AC72 is well underway in Sweden. This is the culmination of many months of research by Juan K and his talented design team, representing a year and a half of research and design. It will require about 40,000 man hours to complete the AC72 for the permitted launch date of July 1, 2012.

The America's Cup politics and rules clarification processes are in full swing. There has been no slow down in this area over as of late. Emirates Team New Zealand and the Luna Rossa (ITA) joined forces in a collaboration agreement late last year. That agreement has spurred questions with regard to the level of collaboration permissible between two competitors and there have been different representations of the outcomes of various Jury decisions by supporters of the teams. Reminds me of the GOP race here in the States.

2012 will be a defining year for the America's Cup teams. Most of the important activities of the campaigns will take place this year. Once the first AC72s launch in July, each team has a limit of 30 days to spend training. It will be interesting to see the different strategies on how to use these 30 days.

Paul