ARTEMIS RACING THROUGH TO PLAYOFFS AFTER DOUBLE VICTORY

Just like in the previous match between the two teams, Artemis Racing managed to get a better start than Oracle Team USA and passed the start line ahead with more speed. At the first upwind mark the advantage was ten seconds and by the next gate the distance had doubled. With good control of their maneuvers and good pace during the rest of the race, the Swedish boat won by 24 seconds. They are still they only team that have beaten the America’s Cup defenders in the regatta so far.

“We are really happy about that start and the timing was perfect”, said Artemis Racing’s Skipper Nathan Outteridge after the race that put his team a big step closer the next stage of the regatta.

The team was surely feeling the pressure heading into the racing today, as they needed to put points on the scoreboard to not risk being knocked out. After winning against Oracle, they watched Emirates Team New Zealand beat Groupama Team France and deny the French team any chance of ending up better than the bottom of the scoreboard. As a result, Artemis Racing secured a spot among the four teams in the Challenger Play Offs Semi-Finals.

Still, there was one more important match to race. This time against Softbank Team Japan.Artemis Racing were once again aggressive in the pre-start and managed to hook their opponents and take control of the match from the start. Even if Dean Barker at the helm of the Japanese campaign made small gains on the second lap, Artemis Racing stayed clear to the finish.

“We have been working hard on our starts and and this time we had more boat speed than they had and I knew that they were early. We went in as quick as we could and got that vital hook”, said Nathan Outteridge adding:

“We have had some tough conversations in the team over the last two days, and we really needed to start sailing better. There has been nothing wrong with the boat but we had to revise some decisions we were making on shore with choosing the right foils. Today we got the configuration right and sailed really well”.

The Round Robin will be concluded tomorrow and Artemis Racing will race against Groupama Team France. The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Play Offs Semi-Finals begin on Sunday.

“It feels really good with two comfortable wins today, and reassuring that we sailed well when the wind picked up like it did today. We did better maneuvers and had better speed and now we can focus on the next stage of the regatta” said Anders Gustafsson (SWE), grinder for Artemis Racing.

Official results - Tuesday 6/02/2017

Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers – 2nd Round Robin

Scoreboard:

1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) – 8p
2. Oracle Team USA (USA) – 7p
3. Land Rover BAR (GBR) – 5p
4. Artemis Racing (SWE) – 4p
5. Softbank Team Japan (JPN) – 3p
6. Groupama Team France (FRA) – 2p

https://www.americascup.com/en/results.html