Artemis: Tricky Venue That Will Demand The Best

February 7, 2015

Artemis Racing team manager Iain Percy says he’s excited about the prospect of racing in Bermuda, which he is calling a tricky venue where “strategy and tactics will be a big factor.”

“I’m really excited about Bermuda,” he says according to the America’s Cup website. “You’ve always had the old adage in the America’s Cup that the fastest boat wins, but this is a tricky venue.

“We’ll all have to wake up. It’s going to be shifty with a wide range of conditions and that’s going to be a new element. Strategy and tactics will be a big factor in this venue.”

The Swedish challenger is focused on getting more training time in on its foiling AC45 from its base in California, with Percy saying: “We’ll be getting out there again as soon as we can when the wind starts to come back (it’s been a very calm winter for wind on San Francisco Bay). We’ve made significant upgrades and developments to it, so we’re looking forward to getting out on the water in the near term.”

“The foiling 45 is a reasonable platform to simulate the AC62. There are scaling issues between the 45 and the 62, but this is a good way to draft the lessons you learn on the the water into the design.

“You can learn a lot about things like foil shapes, stability, systems. It’s hard to know from the computer how controllable certain designs might be, for example. So being able to test them on the foiling AC45 is quite valuable.”

“On the design side we’ve made almost a full change and on the sailing team it’s been about a 50% change and the build and shore team is pretty similar to last time,” Percy explained. “Overall we’ve probably made about a 50% turnover on the team. We have quite a few young guys who have come in with a lot of fresh ideas and enthusiasm and we’ve gelled really well.

“We’re very much growing as one team at Artemis Racing,” he continued. “The people who have joined us are all very open. We’ve brought in people who like an idea, not just their own ideas, which has been great.

“We have very good collaboration between the sailors and designers and builders, with everyone working together and talking through ideas. It’s been rewarding to have everyone – sailors, designers, builders – understand the trade-offs we need to evaluate before we lock in our design plans.”

“Personally, I love Bermuda,” Percy added. “I’ve sailed there several times and the hospitality you get from the locals is overwhelming,” he says.

“I know how excited everyone is about us coming there. For me, the best events are where the locals get behind it and enjoy it. So I think that’s going to make it very special. It’s going to be a very exciting America’s Cup.”

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  1. DOCK YARD DOG says:

    A Trophy does not mean a thing if you don’t have a good time and we are here to make sure you all do.