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