by Paul Cayard
Today was planned to be a big day for ARTEMIS, with two races scheduled. First was to be Emirates Team New Zealand followed by ALL4ONE in the third and fourth matches of the day. When our turn finally came round at 1700 this afternoon, there were issues with one of the mainsails, which led to more of a delay and in the end meant no race for us.
In the first match of the day, the Russian team SYNERGY put on an impressive performance against America’s Cup holders BMW Oracle Racing. In a tightly contested battle on the first upwind leg, Skipper James Spithill managed to take the Russians past the mark but SYNERGY fought back to roll the Americans on the downwind and led for the rest of the race, winning by 21 seconds.
For the next race the wind picked up, BMW Oracle stayed onboard and prepared to race Emirates Team New Zealand. James Spithill and his crew claimed their second win of the regatta in a tense race with two critical penalties, one for the American’s in the pre-start which was then offset on the final downwind leg when the umpires penalized ETNZ for too much forestay tension.
Tomorrow’s schedule has just been issued and Artemis will have two matches tomorrow, first against AZZURRA followed by ALL4ONE.
Tonight is the Louis Vuitton Crew Party, something we all look forward to during these events.
Artemis Racing
Louis Vuitton Trophy
