by Paul Cayard
Two races were held today, Thursday, and the competition was once again extremely tight. The conditions were a bit breezier than yesterday with a maximum windspeed in the second race of 25 knots. The wind was also very shifty, with the range from 305 to 005. Being in the middle of the course was not good.
Onboard ARTEMIS we had a good day with an 8 and 3. Our regular helmsman Torbjorn Tornqvist joined us today after missing yesterday due to work commitments. In the first race, we got off to the right side thinking that the typical conditions would prevail following a small frontal passage. But once again, the left was good and we rounded the first mark about 8th. We passed one boat up the second windward leg but unfortunately lost them again on the final run when the gennaker sheet got under the bow in a gybe. Emirates Team New Zealand picked up where they left off yesterday with a win and Quantum being helmed by Adrian Stead finished second. Quantum helmsman Terry Hutchinson suffered a concussion prior to the start of the first race today and won't be sailing tomorrow either. He is ok, but needs to take it easy.
In the second race, we got off to a bad start but headed right once again. And this time, the right was a charm. We got to the first mark in second place right behind All4One with a huge lead on TeamOrigin in third place. Things stayed pretty much even down the first run. The boats were planing in the now 20 knots of wind, which was a lot of fun. Around the gate, one of our mainsheet blocks broke and we were not 100% up the second windward leg. This allowed TeamOrigin to catch up to us a bit. Down the final run, we passed All4One and were looking good for the win on the final gybe into the finish. However, the wind shifted 20 degrees in our favor but it was too much and we had to put the jib up to get to the finish, which let TeamOrigin pass us. We finished third. Still a good race!
So TeamOrigin is leading now with 21 points just 6 points ahead of us on 27. We are in a three-way tie for 5-7th. Still a lot of racing to go and tomorrow’s forecast is for good breeze again.
To watch the racing live go to www.artemisracing.com and for complete results go to www.medcup.org
