ARTEMIS RACING SHOW EARLY PROMISE IN OMAN

The America’s Cup has landed in Muscat, Oman, for the first Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series event of 2016.

With three races planned for Saturday, and three double point races for Sunday, the weekend could have a major impact on the overall series leaderboard.

Team Manager, Iain Percy, speaking ahead of practice racing this morning commented, “We’re really excited to get back onto the AC45F, and I expect a steep learning curve over the next couple of days. We’ve been spending a lot of time in Bermuda with our technical programme, sailing different boats, and we’re looking forward to getting out racing”.

Commenting on the venue, “I’ve sailed in Oman before but in a 44’ monohull, so it’s going to be a new experience with the catamarans. Oman is traditionally a very light wind venue with its own challenges.  I’m sure we’ll see a lot of position changes during each race, it’s going to really test the sailors and the tactical skill of the teams”.

Friday’s practice racing saw light winds (5-7 kts), and it was Artemis Racing, winner of the last event in Bermuda, who showed the early promise, winning both fleet races and a match race against ORACLE TEAM USA. They will be hoping to continue the good form into the weekend.

Artemis Racing Skipper, Nathan Outteridge, who arrived late on Thursday evening after suffering an ankle injury last week, said “Winning in Bermuda was a huge confidence boost, and it’s great to continue that form into Oman, in completely different conditions. It’s early days though, and with lots of points up for grabs this weekend, it’s important that we remain focused and start fresh tomorrow”.

Commenting on his injury, Nathan continued, “The injury didn’t happen during training, it’s just one of those unfortunate things. I stayed a few extra days in Bermuda to receive treatment and arrived late last night. It felt good today, and I’m looking forward to racing this weekend”.

Racing is scheduled to begin at 14:10 local time on Saturday and Sunday. The forecast is for light conditions (8-10 kts) across the weekend.

The races will be broadcast live on TV4 Play (link) and TV4 Sport in Sweden. The full ‘where to watch’ guide is available here.

 

Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Leaderboard after three events:

 

  1. Emirates Team New Zealand  122

  2. ORACLE TEAM USA                  112

  3. Land Rover BAR                       109

  4. Artemis Racing                         105

  5. SoftBank Team Japan              100

  6. Groupama Team France          82

 

Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Schedule 2016:

 

  • Muscat, Oman (Feb 27-28)

  • New York, USA (May 7-8)

  • Chicago, USA (June 11-12)

  • Portsmouth, UK (July 23-24)

  • Toulon, France (Sept 10-11)