D35 Sogeti Cup

Geneva, Switzerland

I did not realize that yesterday’s Geneve-Rolle-Geneve was a stand alone race and counts in the season championship as a regatta, same value as the first two regattas were we finished 3rd and 5th respectively. So after yesterday’s 2nd place, Artemis Racing was tied for first place in the season with Foncia and Velti Group. That was pleasant news but there is still a long way to go for the season.

Today was the first day of the Sogeti Cup. The wind was very light on Lake Geneva and only two races were held. Onboard Artemis Racing we managed a 2, 7 and are in 3rd place on the leader board for the Sogeti Cup, 2 points behind Okalys and Velti Group.

The winds were 6 knots max and mostly 3-4 knots. Still the D35s sail at twice the wind speed so the racing is fast and fun. Torbjorn continues to enjoy the catamaran sailing and is learning fast.

Tomorrow racing continues at 1300.

For complete results go to www.vulcaintrophy.com

Paul

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D-35 Geneve-Rolle-Geneve

Geneva

Great day for Artemis Racing today on Lake Geneva. With Torbjorn Tornqvist at the helm, we finished second in the 28 mile “offshore” race known as the “Geneve-Rolle-Geneve”. 300 boats participated in the classic which has taken place for more than 60 years. The starting line was 1 mile long and divided into three parts to spread the fleet.

There was less than 2 knots of wind at the start and the fleet made slow progress during the first hour. Foncia, with Michele Desjoyeaux at the helm, took the lead early and never relinquished it. Lady Cat of Donna Bertarelli was up at the front for the first half of the race along with Julius.

But it was the run back to Geneva that proved to be decisive. Yvan Ravussin, headsail trimmer onboard Artemis Racing, called for sticking close to the western shore on the return and this prove to be a winning move. Yvan has lived and raced his whole life on Lake Geneva and knows the winds as well as anyone. Yvan is also the world speed record holder for sailing as part of the Banque Popular crew that set the record of 908 miles in 24 hours a few years ago while setting the transatlantic record at 3 days 15 hours.

On the run back, the wind built to 11 knots and we were hitting 21 knots of boat speed. Torbjorn’s was not able to hide his grin and that was before we passed 8 boats to finish second! Todays race had a 1.5 factor which is nice.

Tomorrow and Monday, racing continues in front of Geneva with windward leeward courses, up to four races per day.

For complete results go to www.vulcaintrophy.com

Paul

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Realstone Cup – D-35

Crans, Switzerland

A pessimistic forecast gave way to the best day of wind here in Crans for the Realstone Cup. Foncia, who finished 8th I believe in the first event two weeks ago, won this event easily.

4 races were held today in winds varying from south to north and 3 knots to 15 knots. Thats racing on these lakes.

Onboard Artemis Racing our finishes for the weekend were 5, 5, 6, 3, 4. Very consistent but just not high enough up for the win. We finished 4th equal with Alinghi but lost the tie breaker to finish 5th overall. The placing’s were very tight at the end. At one point, just prior to the 3rd race, the wind came up to a solid 15 16 knots. I got my first taste of being scared in this boat. Bearing away is a scary moment as the leeward bow wants to dig in and cartwheel the boat. We avoided that but it was “hot” as the French onboard say.

We are continuing to get to know our boat, SWE 12, and the class. We have a little problem upwind against the fleet but we are very fast downwind. We will work to improve our upwind speed.

For complete results go to www.vulcaintrophy.com

Back to SF tomorrow morning for some meetings with ACRM and the other AC competitors.

Paul

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Realstone Cup – D-35

Crans, Switzerland

Today was the first day of racing for the D-35 fleet in the second event of the season, the Realstone Grand Prix d Crans. Unfortunately the wind was almost non existent but we did manage to have one race in very light conditions of 6 knots dropping to 4 at the finish. Onboard Artemis Racing with Torbjorn Tornqvist at the helm, we managed a 5th place out of 10 teams competing. Pretty good for Torbjorn’s first multihull race! He was very happy with that and it is great to see him getting involved first hand in multihull racing since the Cup will be in Cats and he is obviously very passionate and committed to our America’s Cup campaign.

Alinghi continued their strong performance from the last event with a win today while the winners from two weeks ago, C.E.R finished just behind us in 6th today.

The forecast for tomorrow isn’t very good…light winds with the addition of rain possible.

For complete results go to www.vulcaintrophy.com

I spent last week in Valencia with our team. We had some very good sailor/design team meetings discussing the design of our AC72, deck layouts, etc. Terry Hutchinson and his crew of Rodney Ardern, Morgan Trubovich are on their way to Istanbul today for the Extreme 40 event there next week. Julien Cressant, who is sailing with us here in Switzerland on the D-35, will join them Monday to complete the X-40 crew.

Lots going on….always.

Paul

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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

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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

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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

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