AC World Series Newport - Artemis on to semi-finals

by Artemis Racing on 29 Jun 2012 The opening day of competition at the America’s Cup World Series got underway in Newport at midday today. The conditions were light and shifty, until the sea breeze filled in, providing close racing for the eight international teams.

In the first fleet race of the series, Artemis struggled to get clear on the line, but had a good first run. Then on the second upwind leg, the breeze went hard right, which was another knock for the team. But Skipper Terry Hutchinson (USA) and the crew stuck with it and battled back to slide into fourth place, narrowly ahead of Energy Team.

Artemis then went directly into the match racing, lining up against Liock Peyron’s Energy Team. Peyron suffered penalties in both of the two pre-starts. A port-starboard infraction in the first pre-start, then in race two Energy did a good job holding off Artemis off, but was a bit aggressive and collided with Artemis to put themselves over early. In both races, Artemis stretched their lead to win 2-0 over Energy Team.

'It was a great team day. The guys sailed really well,' said Terry. 'We had a bit of luck in really trying conditions.'

Racing continues tomorrow. Artemis will line up against Oracle Team USA Spithill in the Match Racing semi-finals for the best two out of three races, followed by a fleet Artemis website