Health & Fitness
Louis Vuitton Cup News: Artemis Surprise the Italians again
Artemis Racing Still Gaining Ground
Prada Luna Rossa Press
Wednesday August 7th, San Francisco: partially cloudy skies, 10-12 knots of shifty wind from South West, flat sea, flood tide 2 knots. Race start at 13.15 local time.
Today Luna Rossa Challenge defeated Swedish team Artemis Racing for the second time in the second match of the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals.
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Luna Rossa entered the start box on starboard and won the first dial-up, positioning herself in the middle of the pre-start area. At the gun both teams were substantially paired with the Swedish team on leeward, but Luna Rossa immediately rolled over Artemis Racing and rounded the reaching mark ahead, taking the lead right away.
Thanks to a well-executed first foiling jibe Luna Rossa took a solid advantage increasing her lead throughout the downwind leg and rounding the gate with 1 minute and 25 seconds advantage over Artemis Racing. On the first windward leg Luna Rossa tacked inshore immediately and, thanks to a precise tactic choice, gained more advantage on her opponent and rounded the upwind gate with a lead of 1 minute and 50 seconds.
Find out what's happening in Alamedawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
On the second downwind leg a slight increase in wind speed allowed Luna Rossa to foil with greater ease and to show superior boat speed and handling.
During the second windward leg, after a first tack towards the shore, Luna Rossa sailed in the centre of the course and was slowed down by sudden lulls and very shifty wind conditions, while Artemis Racing sailing inshore was favoured by a 15-degree left shift that allowed her to close the gap on Luna Rossa.
The Italian team however quickly recovered and found fresh and more stable winds on the second run, steadily increasing the lead on the Swedish team. At the finishing line the lead on Artemis Racing had reached 2 minutes and 6 seconds and Luna Rossa scored her second point in the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals.
At the end of the race Skipper Max Sirena commented: “We won another important point in this semifinal; however what was encouraging for us was the superior level in boat acceleration and crew performance compared to our opponents, even in very light and shifty wind conditions.”
Luna Rossa completed the 15.41 -nautical mile course in 54 minutes, 26 seconds, maintaining an average speed of 21.96 knots and reaching a maximum speed of 37.12 knots. Artemis Racing held an average speed of 21.09 knots and reached a maximum speed of 34.49 knots.
“Hero of the day” is Chris Draper: he has always steered the boat to its maximum performance even in the most difficult conditions.
Luna Rossa Challenge is going to face again Artemis Racing on Friday August 9th, for the third match of the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals.
Today’s crew was: Max Sirena (skipper and pitman), Francesco Bruni (tactician), David Carr (pitman/grinder), Pierluigi de Felice (trimmer), Giles Scott (primary grinder), Chris Draper (helmsman), Xabi Fernandez (wing trimmer), Nick Hutton (bowman), Lele Marino (wing grinder), Marco Montis (freestyler) and Wade Morgan (hydraulic
Next race is Friday August 9 2013 . Seating and Tickets available here .
