RC44 Valencia Cup

We have had two great days of fleet racing here in Valencia in the RC 44 Class. The winds were lighter yesterday but up to 18 knots this afternoon. So far, eight races have been held.

Onboard Katusha with our helmsman Guenaddi, we won a race yesterday and have gotten two 3rd place finishes to go along with it. The fleet is very competitive with frequent place changes during each race. We were planing down wind at 17 knots at times today, so that was quite exciting.

Tomorrow will be the last day and only three races will be held. Currently Team Aqua is leading the fleet racing and Artemis is second. We are in 6th on Katusha.

Paul

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RC 44 Valencia

We just finished the second day of Match Racing here in Valencia. 11 teams are competing. Both days were blessed with strong sea breezes reaching 20 knots and making the racing fast and exciting.

Cameron Appeton, strategist for Artemis TP 52, won the event with 9 wins. This is the second win in a row for Cameron after his win in Copenhagen.

Terry Hutchinson, helmsman for Artemis in the Louis Vuitton Trophy, and his Artemis RC 44 finished second on Artemis with 8 wins

Katusha, with more of us from the Artemis family, finished 6th in a three way tie on 5 wins. Tuesday was a bad day for us coming away with just one win. That was quite frustrating following our big win in Barcelona just 48 hours earlier. Didn’t get to enjoy that one very long!

Today was better for us with 4 wins and 2 losses.

It seems like we finally get sorted out by the last few races of the second day. The one day practice and go is a bit short but that is the way it is if you compete on both the TP 52 and RC 44 circuits.

We had Morgan Gutenkunst’s (bowman) mom on board twice as a guest and we won both of those races so I am sure that was a big thrill for her.

We even had a man overboard situation in one of the races but he hung onto the sheet that he was holding and we were able to drag him back onboard without losing the race. No names will be mentioned here but I think there may be some video of it. He was doing some pretty weirdious body surfing at 14 knots!

Tomorrow is the practice day for the owners driving their boats. There will be a few practice starts beginning at 1300 followed by a practice fleet race.

Racing begins Friday and continues through Sunday.

For complete results go to www.RC44.com

Paul

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Audi MedCup – Barcelona

Another very solid day today for Artemis! We won!

The breeze was late to fill so we knew it would be just one race. We knew it was a “who beats who” with Emirates Team New Zealand as they were just one point behind us. It was for all the marbles.

In the pre-start there was a little extra jockeying for position between us and Emirates Team New Zealand to ensure neither of us got a strong position on the other. Emirates Team New Zealand started to the right and we were to the left, with Quantum just to windward.

Half way up the first windward leg, the wind went 15 degrees right and we were well behind Emirates Team New Zealand. At the first mark we were 8th and Emirates Team New Zealand were 3rd, more than 150 meters ahead of us.

There wasn’t a person out on the water who did not think Team New Zealand had the trophy in their hands as the breeze was now up to 15 knots and they are very fast in that condition.

But the Artemis team was not done. We went ripping down the first run, planing faster than the others and rounded at the bottom gate 5th.

We held our own up the 2nd windward leg despite Emirates Team New Zealand, now just three lengths ahead, tacking on us 3 or 4 times.

We rounded the top mark for the second time and immediately closed in on Prada, they were in our way. We gybed away into clear water and started ripping like no one else. The breeze was now 19 knots and the boat was doing 17 knots.

We gybed back to starboard and closed in on Emirates Team New Zealand. They gybed just in front of us. Prada then tried to gybe on our wind behind. We shot through their lee and up and over Emirates Team New Zealand.

And that was that. We finished the race 2nd and won the event! I have been in a lot of sailboat races and that was one of the top four comebacks I have seen. It was fun to be part of it.

More important than the win was the fact that we got Artemis back on track. Nitro, Battler and Fongo had the trim of the sails sorted. Cameron and Michele had us going the right way. And the guys did what they do, operate like pros.

Thanks also to the Artemis shore team for an outstandingly well prepared boat.

So the event ends and Artemis is a happy team.

We are now on a three hour bus ride to Valencia for the RC44 event which starts Tuesday. I will be sailing on Katusha with some of the Artemis team and Terry Hutchinson, whose Quantum finished 3rd here, will be sailing with more Artemis crew on the RC44 Artemis. Tomorrow we weigh in at 0930 so no celebrating for us.

The next TP52 regatta is in four weeks in Cartegena. We are looking forward to putting Artemis on the start line again.

For complete results go to www.medcup.org

Paul

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Audi MedCup – Barcelona

Barcelona

Another solid day for Artemis with scores of 1, 5, 1 on a very tricky day here in the Med.

A light seabreeze filled in at noon and the first two races were sailed in 11-13 knots from the southeast. The first race went really well as we led from start to finish. We pulled a bit of a rabbit out of the hat on the last run of the second race to go from last to 5th at the finish line. In the last race, we led all the way but near top of the second windward leg, the wind got very light and we got a bit out of phase. Quantum closed to within 1 length of us with Matador just a length behind them. With the sea disproportionatey big, the sailing was tough.

All ended well for Artemis.

So, we have a one point lead over Emirates Team New Zealand and are seven points ahead of Quantum.

The forecast for tomorrow is a moderate seabreeze from the southeast.

For complete results go to www.medcup.org and to watch the racing live go to www.artemisracing.com

Paul

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Audi MedCup – Barcelona

Barcelona

Another solid day for Artemis with scores of 5, 2, 4. The boats is going well and despite being over the start line early in race one, we were very competive all day. The winds were 12-14 from the southwest. In the first two races a big line of cloud came in and the wind shifted to the east. Luckily, this was between races and the race committee had the patience to wait for things to settle even though it was 1800 before race three got going.

In the end, we had no protests last night so we were tied with Emirates Team New Zealand for second, one point behind Quantum after yesterday.

Quantum who led going into the day had a 1, 11, 1 today. Emirates Team New Zealand had scores of 3, 1, 2 and are now leading. Artemis is 2nd, 5 point backs and Quantum is 3rd, 1 point behind us.

It is 2000 and we just hit the dock. A long but good day. A couple of meetings and then we will all be in for a good night’s sleep.

For complete results go to www.medcup.org

Paul

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Audi MedCup – Barcelona

Barcelona

The breeze was in from the East and the racing was on. Artemis had a good day with a 7, 2, 4. But it wasn’t without a lot of fighting with the other boats as the fleet is incredibly even.

Two boats flew protest flags against us in the first race so we will have to defend those if they come to fruition. The jury on the water did not whistle either of the incidents and they were within 2 boat lengths of both, so we felt confident we were ok. But you never know what will happen when you go to the room.

There was a big seaway because the wind had been blowing all night, so there was some technique involved in both upwind and downwind sailing. Our speed on average was very good in these conditions.

Three races are scheduled for tomorrow so another long day. In fact, three races will be scheduled each day as the race committee is trying to get 12 races in.

To watch the racing live, go to www.artemisracing.com and for results go to www.medcup.org

Paul

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TP52 Barcelona

Barcelona

11 TP-52’s are here in Barcelona and were ready to get the first race of this series underway today. Unfortunately, the wind wasn’t so no races were held.

The forecast for tomorrow is a bit better so we are hopeful.

For more information go to www.medcup.org

Paul

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