America's Cup World Series and Cowes Week - Hectic for Artemis Racing

by Paul Cayard on 8 Aug 2011 America’s Cup World Series spectators were not disappointed today they gathered along the shore to watch the fastest boats, sailed by the world’s best sailors, here in Cascais, Portugal.

With winds of up to 20 knots and clear blue skies, the setting was perfect for a long fleet race, followed by three speed trials for the AC45s. The crew of five onboard Artemis Racing worked intensely, with minimal recovery time, throughout the 45 minute race.

'We battled today,' said Skipper Terry Hutchinson. 'We didn’t get the best start in the fleet race, which put us in a difficult spot. It was a day of getting whipped! These are the days that we’ll learn from as we move forward.'

ORACLE Racing Coutts won today’s fleet race, stealing victory from Emirates Team New Zealand after a member of the crew fell overboard. The Kiwis did their best to hang on, but Coutts managed to grind down the shorthanded New Zealand crew just a few hundred meters from the finish, giving the American team victory in the race and second place overall, with Sweden’s Artemis Racing in third spot for the ACWS preliminaries.

After hauling out the AC45 (which is a full team effort) the sailing team debriefed and caught up with teammates in Cowes before heading to tonight’s crew barbeque. Racing continues on Wednesday.

Extreme Sailing Series – Cowes.

Meanwhile, day two of the Extreme Sailing Series in Cowes was also action packed. In the team’s first race of the day, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild ploughed into Artemis Racing resulting in severe damage to both boats, which meant the end of racing for both teams for the day.

Artemis Racing, helmed by Santiago Lange, tacked in for the top mark on to starboard in front of Groupe Edmond to Rothschild, who were on port. Artemis Racing went through the tack and helmsman Pierre Pennec attempted to bear away around her stern, but the boats crashed – two of the French crew were thrown into the water.

Helmsman Santiago Lange was taken to hospital for stitches in his hand. The team is currently assessing the damage to determine when the Artemis Racing Extreme 40 will be back on the race course and preparing for tomorrow morning's protest hearing.



Artemis Racing website
America's Cup website
Extreme Sailing Series website