RC 44 Austria

Gmunden, Austria

A very light wind day today on Lake Traunsee. There was no wind until 1400 and then it was very light and unstable. We had one bad race, one mediocre race. We dropped to 5th place overall. Oracle is still leading, but two good races by Aqua have pulled them to within 5 points.

There are no particular highlights to share with you other than to say that the wind was very difficult to pick and the fleet was reshuffling positions all the time. There were periods when the leaders fell into holes of no wind and the others came from behind and sailed right around them.

Tomorrow’s forecast is a bit better than today but not much. 4-6 knots of wind is on the menu. Last start tomorrow is 1500.

For complete results go to www.rc44.com

Paul

/by

RC 44 Austria

A tough day today on Katusha and we are now fourth overall. Three races were held and Oracle had great scores in the second two of the three so is well in front now. I did not sail well today as tactician and got pretty frustrated by it all. Our helmsperson for this regatta is Sarah Gundersen and on top of steering the boat well, she is doing a good job of keep my attitude upbeat through all that happens out there.

The first race of the day was a classic Lake Traunsee. Wind shifts of 180 degrees, flat calms and puffs of 6 knots and in the end only 6 boats finished within the required 10 minutes of the winner. We were not one of the first seven boats, neither was Oracle. Team Aqua sailed well and won this classic.

In the second and third races it seems we had a bit of a bullseye on our backs and we got tacked on pretty hard. We had to live in thin lanes the whole time and this made our races pretty difficult. We finished 8th and 7th respectfully.

So after 7 races, Oracle is leading with 19 points, Team Aqua is second with 24, No Way Back is third with 29 and we are 4th with 37 and the US boat Ironbound is 5th with 38.

The forecast for tomorrow is not special so it could be more racing like the first one today.

For complete results go to www.rc44.com

Paul

/by

RC 44 Austria

A good day today for Katusha and not quite as good for Artemis. Three fleet races were held today on Lake Traunsee in light and very shifty conditions. Oracle Racing had the best day followed by Katusha and then the new Russian team of Nika.

It is a place where you are never out of the race if you are behind and you never have the race in the bag if leading. 50 degree shifts are the norm on the track. Velocity changes from 4-8 knots of wind speed. 13 boats so plenty of traffic. It is intense and very dynamic racing.

For complete results go to www.RC44.com

Paul

/by

RC44-Austria

Today was match racing on Lake Traunsee. Five flights were held in 7-10 knots of wind.

We had an ok day on Katusha with a score of two wins, two losses that felt very frustrating as we were winning the two we lost.

Our first race against Puerto Callero we led the entire way. In our second race, against ORACLE, the start was slightly to their favor but they could not tack and cross us. As they approached on port, we dialed them down and they got penalized. We then squandered the lead and they got enough distance on us to do their penalty turn at the finish line.

Race 3 was against our team mates on Artemis. The start was fairly even but we were able to get out ahead enough to tack and cross them and that was about it.

In our last race, we had a slight collision in the prestart with Cereef, them to windward, our shroud against the leech of their main. Both boats flew flags but no penalty was issued. From there it was close to the top mark. At the top mark, Cereef on the inside luffed us head to wind and we both parked. As they bore away we followed and had a better set and rolled them. They gybed and parked. We stretched, and gybed once our air was clear. Their side was hugely favored and they crossed ahead the next time. The course was onesided for the second lap and that was that.

Artemis had a very good day with owner Tornjorn Tornqvist steering his boat to a 2 win and 3 loss day. That a nice result for him. More owners are starting to steer their boats in the match racing now which is good.

The wind died at 345pm and that was it for the day.

Aqua won the day with 5 wins.

For complete results go to www.rc44.com

/by

D-35 Lake Geneva

First, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s from Artemis Racing!

Light air today on Lake Geneva and only one race was held.

Onboard Artemis Racing we had our worst race finishing 6th. Alinghi was 5th and C.E.R. was 4th. Velti Group won the race in the 7 knots of wind which dropped to 3 knots by the finish.

The final standing for the event are:

1. C.E.R. 11 points

2. Alinghi 12 points

3. Artemis 14 points

Not bad for our first event. We are happy with that and look forward to a fun season.

We were not fast upwind in the conditions today but we observed some things the others were doing so we look forward to trying them in two weeks at the Grand Prix de Crans.

I am off to Austria tonight to joining the Katusha team at the RC44 Championship Tour event there. Training tomorrow and a “long distance” race on Tuesday, Match Racing Wednesday and Fleet Racing Thursday through Sunday.

For complete results go to: www.vulcaintrophy.ch

Paul

/by

D-35 Lake Geneva

Another good day for Artemis today. Four races were held for the fleet of 10 identical catamarans and our scores were 4, 1, 3, 5 and were are now 2nd overall on 9 points, equal with Alinghi. The young team on C.E.R. is leading with 7 points after performing very consistently at the top in all four races.

There is too much action to recount it all but the last windward mark of the last race saw plenty of action as 5 boats arrived at the windward mark at the same time and plenty of protests followed. A few did penalty turns, and one hit the mark. We were clear of that which was fortunate.

We had some big come backs in two of the races which is always fun.

The 8 knot northerly wind was just enough to make the racing exciting in these very fast Cats. The boats go upwind with Code 0 at 11 knots and downwind under gennaker at 15 knots. Amazing really.

Tomorrow is the last day and the forecast is once again for light winds.

For complete results go to; www.vulcaintrophy.ch

Paul

/by

D-35 Grand Prix Beau Rivage Palace

Geneva,

Today was the first race in the D-35 fleet for Artemis Racing and we won it.

The wind did not arrive until 1400 so there was just one 20 mile “long distance race” finishing at Societe Nautique de Genève. The wind was 8-10 knots from the east and we were doing 18 knots downwind under gennaker.

The D-35 is a one design, 35 foot catamaran, raced on Lake Geneva. It is very well endowed with sail area, which is needed in the normally light winds of Lake Geneva. There is a fleet of 12 identical boats containing some great sailors like Michele Desjoyeaux on Foncia, Ernesto Bertarelli on Alinghi.

The D-35 is the “Ferrari” of sailing on Lake Geneva. With Artemis Racing Chairman Torbjorn Tornqvist’s decision to enter the America’s Cup, sailing the D-35 in his home town has real appeal.

There are 7 events in the season, the Beau Rivage being the first. The “big” event is the Bol d’Or June 18, in which boats of all types and sizes race around the entire lake. The Bol d’Or is about 100 miles in with the light and fickle winds of the lake, it often is an over night race.

Racing continues tomorrow and Sunday.

For complete results go to www.vulcaintrophy.ch

Paul

/by

AC-45 Auckland

A great day for Artemis Racing on the water here in New Zealand. Match racing in 15 knots from the East was on the menu and the team won three out of the four races to ‘win’ the day.

The racing a very demanding physically for the five crew onboard. The average heart rate for wing trimmer Sean Clarkson is 150 with peaks at 180 during the 30 minute heat.

No capsizes or collisions today, but it was very close racing.

There is just one maneuver in the three minute prestart but the lead/push game for the final minute and a half is very similar to what we are used to from monohulls.

Our team of 25 people from Artemis Racing have been working very hard for eight weeks on this AC45. AC45 Project Manager Phil Jameson has done an excellent job in preparing the boat not just for these trials but for the World Series which starts in August in Portugal.

I have been in Auckland for three days with the team and I am very pleased with how the entire team is working together.

Tonight I am heading back to California and onto Valencia Sunday where another 40 people are doing great work on designing and building our AC72 which will launch early next year.

This America’s Cup is a very busy one indeed! No one is lacking something to do.

Paul Cayard

/by

Pierre Cayard-Boat builder

-San Bruno, CA

My dad has recently retrieved my first boat, an El Toro that he built for me in our garage in San Francisco, when I was 8 years old. The link takes you to an article written by Eric Simonsen and some great shots. The plan is for my dad to restore the boat to original and it will be presented to the National Sailing Hall of Fame Museum in Annapolis later this year where it will reside with other U.S. sailing memorabilia.

Very cool for my dad to reconnect with something that he built with his hands and his heart 43 years ago!

http://www.pressure-drop.us/forums/showthread.php?1641-Reclaiming-History-Pierre-Cayard-reunited-with-his-hand-built-El-Toro

/by

Update from Valencia

Valencia,

I am in the middle of a two week stint in Valencia, Spain working mostly with the Artemis Racing technical team which is based here. Juan Kouyoumdjian (Juan K) has his office here with about 20 engineers and since Juan is our lead designer, we built a lot of our structure around Valencia. We are also going to build our wings here and do our first sailing in the new AC72 Class from a sailing base here.

While technology is great these days with email, Skype and Gotomeeting, etc., there is no substitute for being somewhere in person. One of the features of this America’s Cup is what I call “decentralization”. Our technical team is here in Valencia, there will be boatbuilding in Sweden, the sailing team is all over the world…(currently in New Zealand), the America’s Cup itself will take place in San Francisco, thus creating an environment that produces synergy for the team is a big challenge in and of itself. It was all much easier when everyone just moved to one venue for three years as in the “old days” of the Cup. So I travel a lot…what’s new.

Apart from all the scientific part, we are currently working on locating our sailing base. There are a few venues we are investigating and it is interesting trying to imagine what we will and will not be able to do with this boat where you can’t drop the sails to come into the dock. Running down the “cattle shoot” of the America’s Cup harbor here in a nice summer southeasterly sea breeze, at 30 knots because there is no way “ease the main” to slow the thing down, could be a little more exciting than we want. BMW ORACLE was based in the commercial port a year ago when they had there 185 foot winged triamaran. That is not really an option for us but there are other choices.

The Artemis Racing sailing team is in Auckland (another ex AC city) training in our new AC45 catamaran. This new boat will race 8 events over the next year in the America’s Cup World Series. The ACWS is a world tour that will take place every year with the Cup boats. We are starting with these 45 footers as no one has the 72’s ready yet. The 72’s will debut on the World Series in August of 2012 in San Francisco. The idea of the World Series is to feature the America’s Cup boats and sailors on a regular basis. Then once every three years, there will by the America’s Cup itself, thereby preserving the uniqueness of that event.

On a personal note, I have been trying to track down my first sailboat which my father built for me, in the garage of our house in San Francisco, in 1967. I finally found it being well looked after by a couple living just outside of Sacramento, in the Sierra foothills. They were willing to part with the boat and yesterday, my parents drove up there an picked it up. The US National Sailing Hall of Fame wants the boat so my Dad will refinish it, to museum quality and then we will present it to the museum later this year. I am excited for my Dad as it is a nice way to memorialize what a great thing he did for his 8 year old son.

Paul

/by