Louis Vuitton Trophy-La Maddalena

La Maddalena, Sardinia – Today was Artemis’ first race in the Louis Vuitton Trophy – La Maddalena. We were up against the Brits in TeamOrigin. No race is easy out here. After a long delay, our warning signal was finally given at 1445 with the wind at just 6 knots from the Northeast. We won the race, which is a nice way to start the two week competition.

TeamOrigin had an unfortunate incident in the pre-start, getting a lobster pot caught on their keel. Our helmsman Terry Hutchinson did a good job staying clear of TeamOrigin and the trailing line then putting us right on the line at the favored right hand side. TeamOrigin was about 2 lengths behind us off the line. From there, we sailed a solid race with good crew work keeping the tactics as simple as possible in the rather light conditions.

Onboard today we had a special guest, Leonardo Ferragamo, a passionate sailor himself, and a friend of mine for many years. Leonardo is also the owner of the prestigious company Nautor’s Swan, builders of some of the most beautiful yachts in the world.

Due to the lights winds, we are a bit behind with the schedule at the end of day two with 4 of 23 flights completed. Out in front is Betrand Pace’s team ALEPH with two wins, having beaten both TeamOrigin and America’s Cup holders BMW Oracle Racing. Luna Rossa also had their first race today and beat Mascalzone Latino Audi Team.

There are still many races to go in the first part of Round Robin 1.

Paul

For live race action go to www.artemisracing.com and for complete results go to www.louisvuittontrophy.com