by Paul Cayard
It was one of the better sailing days we've had here in La Maddalena. Just as Chris Bedford who provides the weather forecast for ARTEMIS predicted, the wind started to build mid-morning. In the first race of the day, Emirates Team New Zealand were spot on with their timing for the pin end at the start and Mascalzone Latino were over the line early. Both teams sailed a good race, but there was no contest and the Kiwis put another point on the board to tie with ARTEMIS.
Next up was our race against ALL4ONE who had 5 wins to date. So this was an important one for us as a win for ALL4ONE would mean they would move into first overall. Jochen Schumann's Franco-German team have been steadily moving up the leader board this event so we knew that this would be a close race. We had an excellent start, winning the right hand side and maintained our lead for two-thirds of the race. As we sailed up the second windward leg, both boats were on port tack with ARTEMIS to windward with a 2 length lead. The wind was going right as we sailed side by side and in fact, had gone 20 degrees right when ALL4ONE decided to tack onto starboard. I made the call to tack on them and keep the left, thinking the wind would come back to the left following the big right shift. But the pressure was better on the right and they overtook us. Essentially, my bad decision gave ALL4ONE the race right there as they crossed us at the next intersection and built their lead to finish 15 seconds ahead. That's life as the tactician...big calls that have a big effect on the outcome.
The event now moves into the quarter finals. Next up is Synergy vs Mascalzone Latino for the best two out of three races, followed by Emirates Team New Zealand vs AZZURRA. Time permitting, ARTEMIS will race TeamOrigin after these matches. It's shaping up to be another long day.
Artemis
Louis Vuitton Trophy
