Artemis Racing shuts the door on Aleph’s Fairytale run at the Americas Cup World Series Match Racing Championship
San Diego, California, 17/11/2011 – Artemis Racing
has advanced into the Semi Final of the AC World Series Match Racing
Championship in San Diego, beating a red-hot Aleph team to join the
final four. The last match of the day was a cat and mouse affair, the
result in doubt until the very end, but finally, Artemis Racing
prevailed.
© 2011 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget
“It was never over, until it was over,” said a relieved Terry
Hutchinson, the skipper of the Swedish boat after racing. “It was dicey
out there… We had to hang tough. It’s a testament to the team that we
were able to get through.”
“We did a good job in both starts, had a nice lead, but it really
didn’t count for much,” agreed Artemis tactician Iain Percy, speaking
about the conditions. “You don’t always get dealt a good hand.”
The day dawned with a thick fog enveloping San Diego Bay but it had
burned off by mid-morning, allowing a light 7-10 knot sea breeze to
build. By early afternoon however, the fog settled in again, dropping
the temperature and keeping the wind light and shifty in the bay.
Aleph skipper Pierre Pennec led his crew into battle five times on
Thursday (although only four counted), bullying his way through the
fleet from the lowest seeded pair. After dispatching China Team, Team
Korea and ORACLE Racing Coutts, Aleph ran out of magic in the match
against Terry Hutchinson and Artemis.
The final result was heartbreaking for Aleph, who saw the first attempt
at the match against Artemis Racing abandoned just as Pennec and crew
had overcome an early penalty to take the lead. An external technical
issue had caused the race course boundaries to disappear, affecting the
race on the water and giving the Race Committee no choice but to abandon
the contest.
In the second start sequence for the match, Hutchinson and crew were
again able to put a penalty on to Aleph in the pre-start, gaining an
early advantage they would need to fight to protect all the way around
the course. The final race was sailed in extremely light, variable and
shifty winds, meaning the early lead Artemis Racing had built was never
safe. In fact, on the final upwind, Aleph drew even during one cross,
passing just inches behind, but Hutchinson held his nerve, and protected
his narrow advantage to the finish.
“We were leading in the first match before it was abandoned,” said an
exhausted Pennec, after completing his full dance card of races. “In the
second start we had a penalty, but we did well with the windshifts to
match them right up to the last mark, so it was a good day for us. I
really wanted to beat Artemis, but it’s normal (they’re a strong team,
higher ranked).”
By losing the opening match to Aleph, China Team finishes in ninth
place. The other teams to fall today, Green Comm Racing, Team Korea,
ORACLE Racing Coutts and Aleph will race again on Saturday for places
eight through five. On Friday, the four Semi Finalists will race in
‘best of three’ matches.
Results – San Diego Match Racing Championship – Qualifying Matches
Q1. Aleph beat China Team
Q2. ORACLE Racing Coutts beat Green Comm Racing
Q3. Aleph beat Team Korea
Q4. Aleph beat ORACLE Racing Coutts
Q5. Artemis Racing beat Aleph
Artemis Racing qualifies for the Semi Finals joining Energy Team,
Emirates Team New Zealand, and ORACLE Racing Spithill each of whom
previously qualified via the seeding races on Wednesday.
Friday’s Semi Final Matches (first to two)
SF1. Emirates Team New Zealand vs. ORACLE Racing Spithill
SF2. Energy Team vs. Artemis Racing
How to follow:
Online, the America’s Cup website, www.americascup.com has all the
news, features, images and results from San Diego, including a webcam
from the team bases. Starting with the championship races from November
16-20, the event YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/americascup will have
live and on-demand streaming coverage of all racing. And for the first
time, there will also be live streaming to iOS mobile devices through
the America’s Cup YouTube channel.
The America’s Cup Village, which features food, merchandise, exhibits
and entertainment is housed on North Harbor Drive, between Broadway and
Navy Piers. From November 16-20, the AC Village will feature live music
each evening.
The races of the America’s Cup World Series will take place just off
Broadway and Navy Piers, within the tight confines of San Diego Bay.
Spectators will be able to take advantage of a number of good shore-side
viewing points, including a public spectator area at the end of
Broadway Pier. In the AC Village there will be live video with expert
commentary on the big screen from Wednesday through Sunday. Entrance to
the AC Village is a suggested donation of $10 to help support ocean
conservation efforts.
Racing at the America’s Cup World Series – San Diego is scheduled to start with a warning signal at 1:05 pm each race day.