TP 52-Audi Med Cup-Cartegena

I hate to report this to you but we had a very bad day on Artemis. We still managed to finish 5th in the regatta, but the racing today could hardly have been more painful for us.

The conditions were perfect for this final day; 15 knot Easterly breeze, blue skies, moderate swell and the temperature was down to a manageable 30C.

The short story is that we had good starts and we were near the front of the pack in all three races, but never got ourselves into control of any of the races. As such, we ended up getting into the congestion of the “pack” and we got swallowed up every time.

In the first two races, our upwind speed was not good. We had a hard think about it and changed our set up and were going fast again in the last race. We were very fast downwind all day.

So after two poor races, we were really focused on a good result in the last one to finish on a good note. We had a good start at the port end of the line because we wanted to go left. Unfortunately the wind went right, typical for the day. Approaching the top mark on port tack, we had to go behind almost everyone. Just as we were making a good move into 5th on the run, our spinnaker drop line system failed and we sailed past the gate and into last place. We did manage to pass one boat.

Anyway, that is history. We had all things go our way in Barcelona a month ago.

Emirates Team New Zealand won the regatta easily, Matador was second and TeamOrigin third.

For complete results go to www.medcup.org

Paul

/by

TP 52-Audi Med Cup-Cartegena

It was a long day in a strong breeze, so we are all a bit tired.

In 18-23 knot East Northeasterlies, we raced a windward leeward race and followed that up with a two mile coastal race.

Artemis had a good day with a 6, 2 although we did not sail smoothly and made plenty of mistakes.

I made a costly error trying to tack under Bribon at the first windward mark and we had to do two penalty turns. That pretty much put us in last. But a good run and second windward leg meant we rounded the top mark in 3rd which was the result of an excellent effort by all onboard. However, we lost 3 places on the final run of the first race by missing a windshift and we finished 6th. Not horrible, but that is not going to cut it if you are going for the regatta win.

In the coastal race we had a great start and were at the front most of the way. We fell back a bit midway, but kept our focus and passed a few boats to finish strong in 2nd. Emirates Team New Zealand has another gear upwind in the strong winds and the won both races today, so they now lead the regatta comfortably.

The winds were tricky for sure. There were two winds in the first race, as the Northeasterly wind was split around the cape just to the East of the race course. Outside the winds were in the 50’s and inside you could see wind directions around 35. As the transition between the two winds swayed back and forth across the course, so went the positions of the boats.

We did have our usual good speed all day so that definitely has helped us stay in a decent position in this regatta. But we really haven’t sailed that well in this event.

We are now in 4th place overall, just 6.5 points out of 2nd. We are just 3.5 points ahead of Quantum who is in 5th. So, it will be all on tomorrow. Still plenty of opportunity to go up and down.

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

Paul

/by

TP 52-Audi Med Cup-Cartegena

A long day in the heat today. It was 44C (which is about 107F) 10 miles North of here today.

We had a light seabreeze…enough to get three races in. It is 1930 and we are heading back to the hotel.

The Brits on TeamOrigin are on fire so far here with all their finishes in the top 3.

We had two good races; 2nd in the first race and 4th in the third race. In the second race we were over early at the start and had to go back and restart. We caught up to the tailenders at the first mark but only managed to pass one boat by the finish.

All day our speed was good in the 8-11 Southwesterly breeze.

We are currently 5th overall, one point out of fourth. Still a lot of racing left and plenty of opportunity to move up and down.

Tomorrow the committee is talking about one windward leeward race and then the coastal race.

The forecast for tomorrow is for moderately strong Northeasterly winds so that will be welcome by the fleet after these light air, baking contests.

For complete results go to www.medcup.org

Paul

/by

TP52-Audi Med Cup-Cartagena

No wind. Plenty of heat. We’ll try again tomorrow.

www.medcup.org

Paul

/by

TP 52-Audi Med Cup-Cartegena

Two races were held today in 14 knot, Easterly winds off the South coast of Spain. Artemis had an ok day….middle of the fleet in both races.

We made a strategic decision this morning to not get in any close situations, no possible fouls, to just sail clean and see where the chips would fall. It is the first day of a five day event and a 5, 6 are both keepers in this fleet. Where we want to be on Sunday is in a position to win.

Today, the right hand side of the course was very favored upwind due to the Easterly flowing current offshore. The committee did not bias the line to the left so the fleet was bunched up at the committee boat end of the line at the starts. Emirates Team New Zealand is being protested by Matador for an infraction at the start of the second race.

We have the same good boat speed that we had at Barcelona and that is very valuable for the coming days.

We did make a few mistakes, mostly downwind on the first run of each race, that probably cost us two places in each race.

My son Danny is here with me this week. Today he sailed at the “guest” onboard. Most days he gives the guys a hand on the tender. We work out together in the mornings, eat together with the team, sleep in the same room, even watched the movie “Hangover” together last night. It is nice for me to have him around!

It is still 34C or about 94F right now a 1800. Going for a swim.

For complete results go to www.medcup.org

Paul

/by

TP 52-Audi Med Cup-Cartegena

The TP 52 fleet is back in action, this time in Cartegena, Spain. It is very hot here with temperatures right around 100F and with no wind until 1430 today, it was all about boom tents prior to the official practice race.

We had the standard two practice starts followed by a race in 7-9 knots from the Southwest.

Onboard Artemis, we had a very good start, good speed and led the race at every mark and across the finishline. There was a huge current factor on the course, similar to racing in San Francisco in a flood tide.

Tomorrow the real racing begins and the forecast is for more lights winds with plenty of heat. The days will be long if we race the customary three races in these conditions. I am thinking about a bigger hat. Weighing that against the windage that it would cause.

We invited a group of local Opti kids, who had been out watching the race, onboard for the ride in. We did this last year one day and a couple of the kids were the same. It was fun to see them again.

For more info go to www.medcup.org

Paul

/by

RC44 Valencia Cup

The RC 44 Valencia Cup ended with two great races in 12-15 knots of wind on another perfectly sunny day.

Team Aqua put another great performance to win the fleet racing and the overall combined. Torbjorn Tornqvist finished second with his team on Artemis and BMW Oracle 17 was third. Onboard Katusha with Guenaddi Timchenko, we finished 6th in the fleet racing and 6th in the combined. Artemis was second in the combined.

So, it was a very good event for the Artemis Louis Vuitton Trophy team, with strategist Cameron Appleton on Team Aqua, Terry Hutchinson, Noel Drenan, Morgan Trubovich and Andy Fethers on Artemis and Robbie Naismith, Sean Clarkson and myself on Katusha.

Onboard Katusha, Guenaddi did a fantastic job steering in the steep chop and relatively breezy conditions. We have to keep reminding ourselves that he has sailed less than 15 times in his life.

Learning to sail while racing is a fast way to learn but it is also intense. Guenaddi is doing great!

Our next event in the RC 44 will be in Lanzarote in October. This event will be the World Championship for the Class.

The next event for Artemis is the TP 52 Audi Med Cup event in Cartegena, August 24-28.

For complete results go to www.rc44.com

Paul

/by