15 April 2012
ACWS - NAPLES Wrap up
Artemis Racing win Match Racing Championships
There was a lot on the table this morning at the America’s Cup World
Series – Naples, with the Match Racing Semi-Finals and Championship
race, followed by speed trials and the grand finale fleet race of the
event. Despite the rain, thousands of spectators lined the shore to
watch the racing.
Having defeated Emirates Team New Zealand and secured a slot in the
semi-finals, Artemis lined up against Luna Rossa – Swordfish with Paul
Campbell-James (GBR) at the helm in the first match race of the day.
Terry Hutchinson’s years of match racing experience shone through as
the Swedish team defended then stretched their lead around the race
course to win by 14 seconds.
Soon thereafter, Luna Rossa – Piranha defeated ORACLE Racing Bundock to
move into the finals against Artemis Racing. An excellent start by
Terry Hutchinson put the team out in front of Chris Draper and the
Italians from the outset. Draper worked hard to try to close the gap
on the Swedish team. Despite wide splits on at least two occasions,
Hutchinson stuck to his game plan and led the team to victory to win
the Match Racing Championships.
Winning the ACWS – Naples Match Racing Championships puts Artemis
Racing at the top of the overall leaderboard after four ACWS events
with 33 points, while ORACLE Racing Spithill and Emirates Team News
Zealand are tied for second place both with 30 points.
The speed trials immediately followed and once again Artemis was on the
top of their game for the 500m sprint, with an average speed of 20.42
knots, placing the team just two one hundredths of a second behind
ORACLE Racing Bundock.
The grand finale ensued and the heavens opened. In about four knots of
wind, the most important race of the event got underway. Luna Rossa
-Piranha closed out Emirates Team New Zealand at the start and it was
Team China who led to the first two marks. Artemis Racing gradually
worked its way through the pack in the extremely light air conditions.
Luna Rossa – Piranha put in an impressive performance to win the race,
with ORACLE Racing – Spithill second and Artemis less than two boat
lengths behind in 3rd.
“It was a great effort on the part of the entire team to get the boat
to the spot we are in after our disastrous first day racing here in
Naples. The guys onboard did a fantastic job. In the next few months,
we won’t have two boats to train with until San Francisco later this
summer, but we will be focused on the much larger wing when we get back
to Valencia. This a good base line to set for ourselves,” said
Hutchinson.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on the match racing in the last six weeks
back in Valencia. So it was good to see all the hard work that we put
in pay off. These events are a great to test the metal of our team in
the match racing, but there is a lot more work ahead of us. It is a
long road to the America’s Cup,” continued Hutchinson.
For Artemis Racing, it’s back to Valencia where design, development,
testing and training for the 34^th America’s Cup continues. The next
stop on the America's Cup World Series tour is Venice from 17-20 May.
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Fotos: *GUILAIN GRENIER |ORACLE Racing team photographer*
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