America's Cup - Artemis Racing shifts into dog-fighting mode
by Artemis Racing and Sail-World on 25 Apr 2017
Artemis Racing was the top performer in Practice Session 3 April 10-12, 2017 Artemis Racing
The third round of America's Cup ACC practice racing got underway in Bermuda on Monday, April 24.
Artemis Racing skipper Nathan Outteridge says Match Racing skills have always been a big part of a successful campaign and the team at Artemis Racing is now working hard at improving its “dog fighting” tactics.
With under five weeks left until the start of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Series, there are a lot of speculations around how the racing in Bermuda will look. The World Series events were all fleet racing, but now the focus of the team’s preparations have shifted completely to match racing. “For most people it probably doesn’t mean a lot but it is a completely different game now”, said Nathan Outteridge, Skipper of Artemis Racing.
“Now you can’t just go around the course sailing conservatively, trying to get seconds and thirds and hoping that’s going to be enough to win the event. Now you are either going to win or lose a race”.
According to Outteridge, the start is the most important part of a match race. He describes the pre-start as a “dog fight” where you are trying to get the best position when the gun goes off, trying to put your opponent in a tricky spot or working hard just to get an even start.
“We have been working hard on that and with a couple more weeks to the start of the America’s Cup, the pre-start is the biggest area where we need to improve. Usually when we get round the first mark first, we feel pretty confident”, says Outteridge who was at the helm of Artemis Racing’s AC50 when they made it through Practice Series 3 undefeated.
Looking ahead at the coming week, and to the event itself, the Australian skipper says the racing will become more intense and exciting as the stakes get higher.
“You will see higher risk sailing, because when you are behind you have to throw in the more difficult manoeuvres to get back into the race. Match racing is a very different type of racing but we are looking forward to that challenge and we feel like we are making good progress.”
Racing will conclude on Friday, with a mixture of light to medium conditions expected throughout the week.
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/153252