America's Cup- Swedish team splashes AC45 in Auckland

by Sail-World and Artemis Racing on 19 Mar 2011
The third America's Cup team to launch an AC45, Artemis Racing (SWE), splashed their new boat in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour today, Saturday.

The official statement issued by Artemis Racing reads:

Today’s christening of the Artemis Racing AC45 marked an important milestone in the Swedish team’s Challenge for the 34th America’s Cup. The team, together with friends and family, gathered in the Viaduct to officially launch the team’s AC45. Helmsman Terry Hutchinson welcomed everyone and applauded the full team effort to get the Artemis Racing AC45 on the water before Kylie Jameson christened the catamaran.

Hutchinson and the crew left the dock immediately to begin Artemis Racing’s first two-week trial of the wing sailed AC45. Meanwhile back in Valencia, the design team is hard at work under the direction of Principal Designer Juan Kouyoumdjian.

'It’s been all hands on deck for the last couple of weeks in order to get the AC45 ready to sail today. Now it’s time to go sailing. We have an experienced crew in Auckland for this test session and are looking forward to gaining proficiency in sailing this new class of boat,' said Paul Cayard, CEO of Artemis Racing.

Artemis Racing will be evaluating and analysing all aspects of the AC45’s performance over the course of the next two weeks. Also out on the water will be fellow America’s Cup Challenger Emirates Team New Zealand and the Defender, ORACLE Racing who have also taken delivery of their AC45s.

Built by Core Builders in Warkworth (NZ), the AC45 is the pre-cursor to the AC72 catamarans, which will be raced for the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013. The teams will compete in eight America’s Cup World Series regattas with the AC45 between July 2011 and May 2012.

The next regatta for Artemis Racing is the Extreme Sailing Series Regatta in Qingdao, China from 15-17 April.