10.09.20^11
ACWS Plymouth - Let the racing begin!
10 September 2011_
The second America’s Cup World Series event got underway this afternoon as
thousands of spectators lined the shoreline to watch the excitement on
Plymouth Sound.
Artemis Racing’s Skipper Terry Hutchinson made the call before going out on
the water that today’s x-factor would be Mother Nature, but the conditions
turned out to be better than the forecast.
Racing started just after 1400 BST under grey skies with gusts up to 30
knots. But by the time Race 3 got underway, the wind had dropped to 15-20
knots and there was even a bit of sunshine to greet the fans and
competitors. It was a full afternoon for the nine teams with three fleet
races, followed by the speed trial.
The gusty conditions also made the mark roundings particularly exciting.
“There was one point when I was worried were going over, but we managed to
sit the boat down however, we were only 100mm from the mark!” said Skipper
Terry Hutchinson.
Artemis Racing sailed consistently in the fleet races with good starts to
finish 3^rd, 2^nd and 2^nd. The Swedish team finished up the day in second
overall with 26 points, just two points behind Emirates Team New Zealand and
tied with ORACLE Racing Spithill (26 points), but ahead of the US team on
count back.
Commenting on today’s racing Terry Hutchinson said; “We’re happy with our
results today and our boat handling. The guys did a great job of battling
out there. They are working really hard. It was also awesome to see all
the spectators on the Plymouth Hoe.”
The team to beat in the speed trials was ORACLE Racing Coutts who set the
record at 45.35 km/hr, while Artemis Racing finished up fifth overall.
“We struggled with the speed trials in Cascais and have been working on our
set up and release positioning over the last few days. Judging by today, we
still have some work to do.”
Racing continues at 1300BST tomorrow.
© Sander van der Borch/Artemis Racing
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