Artemis Racing is preparing its two AC45s for an upcoming training session in Valencia. In November, we bought a second AC45 in order to create a competitive environment in-house. The two AC45s will enable us to train in the same manner as Oracle Racing currently trains, and as will Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) and Luna Rossa later this month. We will have our complete sailing team and coaching staff on site by the end of January. The America’s Cup World Series resumes in April in Italy.

At the same time, our first AC72 is well underway in Sweden, the culmination of many months of research by Juan K and his talented team.

Over the holidays, there was a lot of activity with the Jury. Most importantly, the Jury ruled on the collaboration agreement between ETNZ and Luna Rossa. The ruling, which was in response to questions raised by Oracle Racing, maintains some significant limits on the Kiwi agreement.

Terry Hutchinson and some of the Artemis Racing crew have just returned from Key West Race Week. They were racing with Doug DeVos on his TP52 Quantum Racing and won the their Class. I am sure it was fun for the boys to get out on a track that they know so well and mix it up with the great fleet down there.

2012 will be a defining year for the AC teams. Most of the important activities of the campaigns will take place this year. The first AC72s will launch on July 1st and each team has a limit of 30 days to spend training. It will be interesting to see the different strategies on how to use the 30 days.

Paul