by Paul Cayard
The TP52 Audi MedCup season is set to begin Wednesday. The first of the five event season gets underway here in Cascais, just west of Lisbon, with two windward leeward courses tomorrow. There are 11 teams here competing in what is one of the most competitive professional sailing circuits in sailing.
The list of helmsmen/tacticians is very impressive; TeamOrigin: Ben Ainslie (3 Gold medals), Iain Percy (2 Gold), Luna Rossa: Robert Scheidt (2 Gold, 1 Silver), Torben Grael (5 Olympic medals), All4One: Jochen Schumann (3 Gold), John Cutler (1 Silver), Emirates Team New Zealand; Dean Barker/Ray Davies (America's Cup winners), Quantum; Terry Hutchinson/Adrian Stead and the list goes on. All of the 12 man crews are the best in the game at what they do.
The boats have under gone a few changes since last season due to some rule changes. Bowsprits have replaced spinnaker poles, square top mainsails are in and running backstays are necessary. The crew are down by two to 12 and the keel is a bit heavier and the gennaker is a bit larger. All in all, the boat is more fun to sail. With no discards, the TP52 rewards consistency.
ARTEMIS is ready to go. Torbjorn Tornqvist, our helmsman, isn't able to be here at least tomorrow so I will steer the boat and Cameron Appleton will be the tactician. Hopefully, Torbjorn will join us later in the week.
The forecast for Wednesday is for 15-20 knots of wind in the afternoon from the Northwest. The first start is at 1330.
To follow the racing live, go to www.artemisracing.com and for complete results go to www.medcup.org
