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TP 52- Audi MedCup-Cagliari

Paul Cayard
Thursday, July 23, 2009

Photo©Stefano Gattini_Studio Borlenghi/Audi MedCup
Day 3 TP52 – Artemis and Emirates Team New Zealand

We had a great day on the Artemis today. It was the Coastal Race today, a 30 mile course around the Gulf of Cagliari and we managed to take the checkered flag.

Team New Zealand finished second and Matador 5th after leading around the first windward leeward. We are now second to TNZ by 3.5 points. The Coastal Races have a 1.5 factor on the finishing position.

After not a great start, we found a clear lane to the left which we thought may be the favored side. However, we decided to come back to the right a bit before Team New Zealand and Quantum who were winning the left side. This turned out to be a key move and the wind was better on the right. We crossed those that went right early and rounded the first windward mark third behind Matador and Bigimist.

Down the first run we managed to wiggle our way round the turning mark just ahead of Bigamist who then slowed down the fleet a bit as they were not ready with their masthead Genoa. Matador, solidly in first, sailed a straight line to the next point of land while the rest of us were a bit leery of a possible hole right on the Cape, held high. Sure enough, Matador sailed into a hole and we took over the lead and never let it go.

We have been working every night analyzing our performance and trying to improve. Matador is the fastest of the fleet here in these lighter breezes and she is virtually a sistership to Artemis. I think we made a little improvement in the power we are getting out of the rig and sails and this helped us today. Going to the performance meeting now so I will know for sure then.

Five more races to go and tomorrow’s forecast is quite light; 10 knots and under. These light races are very taxing as the wind is fluky and can’t be read so easily. A lot of racing to go and many points can be quickly lost in this very competitive fleet.

Michele Ivaldi (ITA) navigator Artemis (SWE):
“These are the typical conditions that we designed the boat for. The boat is exactly the same as Marseille, we have a couple of new sails. Here a matter of a metre or a metre and half at the windward mark can make all the difference, you can be second or you can be ninth.”
“Paul is more analytical. He is more focussed on the numbers. We have established a good work on analysing the performance every day. Russell is a lot more instinctive.
Rusell’s style is very different and he talks a lot to Torbjorn, he has taught him a lot and made Torbjorn learn a lot, it is always great with Russell on board. Paul tends to let them (the crew) do the speed work themselves and talks a little less with Torbjorn.”
“Today, keeping it simple was the call. Key was a good first beat, and we were able to pass to leeward of Bigamist when they gybed on us. After that it was a horse track.”
“For the mid point of the season Team New Zealand is really, really strong. They have great starts all the time and so they almost have probability to be in the top five at each top mark. Really strong in tactics, and really good boat handling. But today is the mid-point of the season and so nothing is over and we won’t be giving up any points.”
“We feel great. We had a good analysis and de-brief after Marseille, we worked on the weaknesses and it seems to have worked.”

Ray Davies (NZL), tactician Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):

“We had a great day, we are very happy with how the day went. There was a bit of fortune involved as well but we sailed well as well, so it was a bit of both. We had a very good first downwind leg and passed a couple of boats at the bottom of the run and that set us up well for the soldier’s course after that. And Matador were launched but they got a bit close to the headland. They were probably five lengths closer to the headland. Obviously once we saw them getting very soft we were able to sail higher. They had hardly wind and we still had eight knots. We caught up to within a boat length at the mid race gate windward mark and then they slipped away again on the long downwind. It was a bit of leader’s race
We have extended on our overall position and Artemis are through into second, and we are putting more points on Matador and Quantum on that race.
It is a balance between the long game but it’s nice to win regattas along the way and that’s what we are aiming to do here.

Steve Hayles (GBR) navigator Matador (ARG):

“We messed it up. We had a really good start and then just got too close to the headland. A little bit, you can argue we were the victims of being in the lead, but we did mess it up.”

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Rainbow II pictured mid-ocean, being driven hard and with a bone in her teeth, in the 1967 Whangarei – Noumea Race -  Unknown Photographer

From ‘All this and Sailing, Too’

“I have never been more impressed by sheer racing and sailing ability in a crew than when I went on a race with them in the Solent With Chris steering and Roy Dickson calling the wind shifts, the crew’s ability to take advantage of every slant, beating through the fleet in Cowes roads, was an experience I shall never forget It was true New Zealand style sailing, of which we have seen continuing evidence.”

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