Terry Hutchinson reports from the Artemis Extreme 40 training camp in Miami

Greetings from Miami. It was another really great day with completely different conditions.

Today was light. Body weight in, no hull flying and LOTS of technique. Like any boat that you can muscle around and be physical in, the light air breeze presents lots of different challenges. You quickly pick up that any abrupt movement has a big impact on performance and feel on the boat. Figuring out how to prioritize the jobs and being smooth is critical.

Sounds simple but after about an hour of butchering our boat handling, coach Nick (Moloney), together with Freddy and Mark came along side. They were trying to be polite about how bad we were but soon put Sean and Andy in the chase boat and Mark and Freddy on the X40. Truby and I did a lap with Mark and Freddy onboard, while Andy and Sean watched closely from the chase boat.

The nine minute lap was worth it's weight in gold as it quickly helped us prioritize on board. For the next two hours we did lap after lap, after lap. It was awesome! The day ended with 45 minutes of starting drills and then a 20 minute sail home rig-tuning.

All in all, a great day. Stand by for more comms. Another light air day is on tap tomorrow and we should be into more traditional sea breezes for the second half of the week.

Terry Hutchinson

RC44 Valencia Cup - Day 2: Preview

Greetings from sunny Valencia where another excellent sailing day is forecast. The 11-strong RC44 fleet will certainly be able to complete the scheduled 7 flights remaining in the match race round robin. The weather forecast is very similar to yesterday's and the sea breeze has already been blowing from 10am. Today, I will be onboard Katusha and then Artemis.

The 11-strong RC44 fleet docked in front of the Veles e Vents building, ready for another splendid day of racing. Valencia, 28 July 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Video: Highlights from day 1 of the RC44 Valencia Cup

Highlights from day 1 of the RC44 Valencia Cup. Valencia, 27 July 2010. Video copyright RC44 Class Association

Video: Onboard the TP52 Quantum Racing in Barcelona

While BMW Oracle is carrying out its TV trials in Valencia, the TP52 fleet is busy racing in Barcelona and among the 11 TP52 yachts that are taking part in the regatta, Quantum has by far the best TV footage. Here's a short clip from the start of a race. It's a pit though we can't hear what Terry Hutchinson and the rest of the crew are saying.

Onboard the TP52 Quantum Racing during the start of a race. Barcelona, 22 July 2010. Video copyright Keith Brash / Quantum TV

Quantum leads TP52 Marseille Trophy with 2 bullets on opening day

[Source: AUDI Medcup] It was a day of sharply contrasting fortunes for past and present Audi MedCup Champions on the Rade Sud today as the Marseille Trophy opened with three races which proved a very different test to last month’s breezy curtain raiser in Cascais, Portugal. Iberdrola won the GP42 Series Practice Race.

As 2008 champions Quantum Racing rekindled their winning mojo with back to back wins in Races 2 and 3 to lead the regatta at the end of the first day, the reigning champions came off the water in ninth of ten and 2007 circuit winners in tenth.

Breezes rarely topped ten knots but it was the changes in strength and direction which made life especially testing for afterguards. Taking the positive benefits of the bend generated by the steep, bluff Marseilleveyre mountains was usual key. But there was no simple strategy, there were many traps, zones of light winds which were best avoided.

Great performance by Terry Hutchinson and the Quantum crew. Marseille, 16 June 2010. Photo copyright Guido Trombetta / AUDI Medcup

With Morgan Larson (USA), who won as tactician for the 2008 champions, returned to the afterguard fold for this regatta, Quantum Racing’s starts were strong and their tactical sailing a good blend of pushing when they needed to and managing the risks in the patchy breezes.

They were able to hold off Synergy (RUS) by only 3 seconds in a thrilling finish to Race 2.

Winning, ahead of Audi A1 powered by All4One in the third race, sees Terry Hutchinson (USA) and the team end the day locked even on 10 points with the very consistent Matador (ARG) whose 3,3,4 for the day is a welcome tonic after their slightly disappointing Portugal Trophy regatta.

Emirates Team New Zealand unfortunately repeated that off-key start that they made to the season’s first races, tenth in the first contest which was won by Bribon.

This time, in the lighter conditions which are not the powerful Kiwi boat’s favourite, they failed to bounce back into the top tier of the fleet during the following two races, but so close are the points in this extremely tight class that they are only four points shy of the top half of the fleet.

Team Origin's dreadful performance continued in the opening day of the Marseille Trophy. Marseille, 16 June 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / Team Origin

Quotes:

Terry Hutchinson, skipper Quantum Racing (USA): “It’s been a great day, actually one of the best days we’ve had in a lot on Quantum Racing. In the first race what happened is that it got a little light and funky, and everything we did was a little bit off, but we made it up in the next two. The wind was shifty, tricky and puffy, and very hard to read, actually that was the hardest part in the first race, was trying to see the wind. It was a tricky day.”

Guillermo Parada (ARG), helmsman Matador (ARG): "I think the clue today was to sail conservative, we could have done some gainings and passed some boats, but we've decided no to take any risks instead. But we are happy about the way we sailed, though this is only the beginning, but better to start like this than other ways."

“ We had overall a good day, we had a first very good race and a second very good race and in the middle the second race didn't go that well, it's very shifty and tricky and in the second race we had a clear idea of what we wanted to do but at the end we didn't do it and we ended up second last so it's a good example on how close everything is so we had a second, a second last and a second over.”

Christian Scherrer (SWI), trimmer Audi A1 powered ALL4ONE (GER): "We had overall a good day, we had a first very good race and a second very good race and in the middle the second race didn't go that well, it's very shifty and tricky and in the second race we had a clear idea of what we wanted to do but at the end we didn't do it and we ended up second last so it's a good example on how close everything is so we had a second, a second last and a second overall good but we are a bit unhappy about the second race."

Emirates Team New Zealand started the Marseille Trophy on a wrong foot. They couldn't have sailed worse than that. Marseille, 16 June 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / Team Origin

Gonzalo Araujo (ESP), helmsman Bribón (ESP): “Today we had our ups and downs. Very good beginning, we had a very good start in the first one, we went towards the left, which was the good side and from there on the race has been quite easy, plus we had a good pace, although we had to watch Matador who was following close. In the second one we had an early start and the truth is that it has been a hard race from the beginning, there was a moment we could have catch up, but we didn’t and the last race the same, a bad start, and we were forced to the right so we had no chance to pass. We know that if we sail a perfectly we can win races, but it’s hard.”

Dean Barker (NZL), helmsman Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL): “It was shifty, puffy and big holes and we certainly did not sail particularly well. It is always hard to focus on any one thing we did wrong, but we did not get to the best side of the course at the right time. I think that basically the other boats sailed better than us today. There is nothing too much to get stressed about, we just need to have a good consistent day tomorrow, and get some consistency into it. If there is a weakness with the boat it is in this, light and lumpy.”

Marseille Trophy TP52 Series - Overall – Day 1

1. Quantum Racing (USA), 8+1+1=10 points
2. Matador (ARG), 3+3+4= 10
3. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), 2+9+2= 13
4. Cristabella (GBR), 6+4+3= 13
5. Bribón (ESP), 1+8+8= 17
6. Synergy (RUS), 9+2+6= 17
7. TeamOrigin (GBR), 4+7+7= 18
8. Luna Rossa (ITA), 5+5+10= 20
9. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 10+6+5= 21
10. Artemis (SWE), 7+12(RAF)+9= 28
11. Bigamist 7 (POR), 12(DNC)+12(DNC)+12(DNC)= 36

Artemis leads LV Trophy in Maddalena, undefeated

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] The Swedish team Artemis, skippered by Paul Cayard and steered by Terry Hutchinson, won another race at the Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena today to preserve an unbroken record of four wins and no losses.

Their nearest competition after five days of competition between ten international teams is the French/German All4One. They have three points but with six races sailed, they also have three losses. Five teams are equal third, each with two points.

Superb sailing conditions on the Golfo di Arzachena off the Sardinian island of La Maddalena saw five races completed but, with half of the opening round robin now completed, many of the top names of America’s Cup competition remain at the bottom of a topsy-turvy results table.

The Terry Hutchinson - Paul Cayard duo is working wonders on Artemis. La Maddalena, 26 May 2010. Photo copyright Bob Grieser/ousideimages.co.nz/Louis Vuitton Trophy

“It’s only four races so far. These races are very, very difficult. They are tight and we’re working hard on keeping with the ‘winning by a boat-length theory’ which puts a lot of internal pressure on the boat but so far its still moving along,” said Artemis helmsman Terry Hutchinson, after defeating fellow American Ed Baird who is skippering and steering the Italian Luna Rossa.

“There is still a lot that we can do and a lot that I can do. Our learning curve with the team is still fairly vertical. Looking at the big picture, our goal is to be here in 12 days time on Sunday.”

In their race against Luna Rossa, Artemis got off the start line bow-forward with more speed.

“It was a really good job of boat handling on our boat,” Hutchinson said. “The guys in the middle of the boat and the bow did really nice choreographed work. I think Luna Rossa stalled a little bit in an effort to shut the door on us as they went for their speed build. We had really nice time and distance and when they stalled it made our slingshot pretty handy.”

Flight Three, Race One: Mascalzone Latino def Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 00:08– Mascalzone Latino earned a thrilling come-from-behind win in this match on the final run to the finish. Skipper Gavin Brady and his team did a masterful job of positioning their boat on the first gybe of the run and were able to roll over the top of Synergy. Karol Jablonski, the skipper on the Russian boat, was then too aggressive in attempting to protect his position and the Umpires penalised him for sailing above his proper course. Game over.

Flight Thirteen, Race One: Emirates Team New Zealand def Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 00:04– The Kiwis made a bold move out to the right hand side of the race course on the first beat while Synergy played the left. When they converged before the top mark, it was Emirates holding a narrow lead. With the boats nearly overlapped approaching the top mark, Kiwi skipper Dean Barker threw a hard luff at the trailing Synergy, gaining a few extra metres in the process.

Ray Davies, Emirates Team NZ tactician, briefly comments on the race today against Synergy. La Maddalena, 26 May 2010. Video copyright Emirates Team NZ

Emirates Team NZ sails to victory against Synergy. La Maddalena, 26 May 2010. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team NZ

Flight Seventeen, Race One: BMW Oracle Racing def All4One, 00:17 –Sébastien Col on All4One got the best of this start, bow out James Spithill steering Oracle. Spithill hung in and got an edge but Col took him all the way to the port layline and they rounded the top mark bow to stern with the French/German boat leading. One gybe on the run and Spithill rolled his opponent approaching the lee mark in a flurry of gybes and unanswered protest flags.

Flight Twentyone, Race One: Artemis def Luna Rossa, 00:35 – Terry Hutchinson pulled off a perfect start at speed but the Italian boat steered by Ed Baird went on the attack with 17 tacks up the short weather leg to round the top mark close astern, with a time difference of just five seconds. The next three legs were a minefield of shifts and holes but Artemis prevailed.

One more victory for BMW Oracle. La Maddalena, 26 May 2010. Photo copyright Bob Grieser/ousideimages.co.nz/Louis Vuitton Trophy

Flight Two, Race Two: All4One def Luna Rossa, 35 seconds – Sébastien Col driving All4One paid a heavy price to win the right hand side of the race course with two slow tacks near the starting line. But the wisdom of that sacrifice became clear two-thirds of the way up the race track when All4One, with starboard tack advantage, was just able to prevent Luna Rossa from crossing clear ahead.

The international jury will tonight hear a request for redress filed by All4One against the race committee. The French/German team is questioning the setup of the leeward mark in the race they lost to BMW Oracle Racing Team.

Provisional win-loss leaderboard after Wednesday racing
1. Artemis, 4-0, 4 points
=2. All4One, 3-3, 3 points

=3. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, 3-1, 2 points *

=3. Emirates Team New Zealand, 2-1, 2 points

=3. Azzurra, 2-2, 2 points

=3. Synergy Russian Sailing Team, 2-2, 2 points
=3. TEAMORIGIN, 2-3, 2 points
=8. BMW Oracle Racing Team, 1-3, 1 point
=8. Luna Rossa, 1-5, 1 point

=10. ALEPH Sailing Team, 2-2, -2 points *

* Penalties deducted by Jury/Umpires

Tight at the top of the AUDI Medcup Portugal Trophy

[Source: AUDI Medcup] TeamOrigin (GBR) go into Race 6 of the Portugal Trophy Cascais regatta with a lead of two points over Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) who are on equal points with Synergy (RUS). In the GP42 Series, Puerto Calero (ESP) leads after winning boath races on day 1.

Quantum Racing (USA) will still race today without skipper-helm Terry Hutchinson (USA) with tactician Adrian Stead (GBR) standing in as helm again. Hutchinson is under observation for his head knock which he sustained before racing yesterday but is expected to return for Saturday’s coastal race.

In the GP 42 class two wins yesterday for defending champions Puerto Calero (ESP) means they go into their third race with a two points lead.

The wind forecast for the day promises winds slightly lighter than yesterday, 13-20 knots from the North West.

Follow the leader... Cascais, 13 May 2010. Photo copyright Ainhoa Sanchez / AUDI Medcup

Ten teams and ten favourites ready to compete for the RC 44 Austria Cup

[Source: RC44 Class Association] The RC 44 Austria Cup will take place on April 29 – May 4. The level of the Tour is such that it is impossible to name a favourite.

The second regatta of the RC 44 Championship Tour 2010 will begin on Thursday, April 29, on Lake Traunsee, in Austria. James Spithill, Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison make their come back on the circuit; they will sail against Ray Davies, Paul Cayard, Rod Davis, Markus Wieser, Terry Hutchinson, Cameron Appleton, Christian Binder and many more of the world’s best sailors… Tough job for the bookmakers!

Recent winner of the America’s Cup at the helm of BMW ORACLE Racing, James « Jimmy » Spithill is the skipper of a new team called RC 44 Challenge. His crew is made up of a combination of America’s Cup sailors - such as John Kostecki - and genuine amateurs, as required by the Class rules. RC 44 Challenge will with no doubt immediately become one of the favourites of the event. “I am really looking forward to returning to the RC 44 Class”, says Spithill. “It attracts the world’s best sailors from both match racing and fleet racing, plus the boats are incredibly rewarding to sail and certainly one of the reasons I’m back. We have a fantastic team. John Kostecki will be tactician and Joey Newton trimming, both who raced on the BOR 90 trimaran.”

Other new faces involved in the RC 44 Austria Cup include Harm Müller Spreer, who will be Team Sea Dubai’s fleet race helmsman. Owner of the well known TP 52 Platoon, Harm Müller Spreer is a successful Dragon sailor; he became European champion in 2004, finished second at the 2005 worlds and is a triple Gold Cup winner.

Russell Coutts is also back on the circuit for the first time since last year’s Portoroz Cup. Larry Ellison will steer BMW ORACLE Racing during the fleet races whilst Coutts will be at the helm on Thursday and Friday for the match race.

Finally, Team Austria, the local team headed by René Mangold, will be keen to perform in front of its public. The Austrians managed to win two fleet races in Dubai earlier in the season. “We have improved a lot but we need more continuity”, comments Christian Binder, the team’s match race helmsman and tactician.

The teams involved in the RC 44 Austria Cup (fleet race / match race helmsman):

Team No Way Back (Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies)
Artemis (Torbjorn Tornqvist / Terry Hutchinson)
CEEREF (Igor Lah / Rod Davis)
BMW ORACLE Racing (Larry Ellison / Russell Coutts)
Team Aqua (Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton)
Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (Daniel Calero / José Maria Ponce)
Katusha (Paul Cayard)
Team Sea Dubai (Harm Muller Spreer / Markus Wieser)
Team Austria (René Mangold / Christian Binder)
RC 44 Challenge (Ian Vickers / James Spithill)

Artemis wins the RC44 Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy

[Source: Artemis Racing] It was a consistent week on the water for Torbjorn Tornqvist’s team onboard RC44 ARTEMIS at the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy in Dubai. Following on from ARTEMIS’ success in 2009, having won the fleet racing element of the RC44 Championship Tour, the team put in a solid performance in both the fleet and match racing this past week to win overall.

Having recently joined the team as helmsman, this was Terry Hutchinson’s (USA) first RC44 regatta with ARTEMIS. Hutchinson’s one design racing experience was evident as ARTEMIS lined up against eight top teams in the RC44 Class to tie for second with No Way Back (DEN) in the match racing.

Artemis to overall wins the RC44 Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Dubai, 27 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

As the week went on and the fleet racing commenced, ARTEMIS continued to perform with owner Torbjorn Tornqvist at the helm and Hutchinson on tactics. Commenting on the conditions on day two of the fleet racing with winds gusting to 25 knots Tornqvist said: “The wind was strong but we were within the limits of the boat and I never worried. We had no failures and could concentrate entirely on our racing."

On the final day of the Al Maktoum Trophy the conditions were challenging and ARTEMIS battled with Chris Bake’s Team Aqua who won the fleet racing, while ARTEMIS placed second, translating to an overall win of the regatta for the team.

"It is a solid start to the season for Artemis. Our hope was for a podium finish so to leave Dubai at the top of the podium is an extra bonus. That said, it is a long season and we need to focus on the big picture recognizing there are great teams competing and it will be the consistent ones that prevail. For now we are happy, but will show up at the next RC44 regatta in Austria focused on improving," said Terry Hutchinson.

The crew onboard the RC44 ARTEMIS included: Torbjorn Tornqvist (Owner/Helmsman), Terry Hutchinson (Tactician), Kevin Hall (Navigator), Sean Clarkson (Main), Craig Monk (Grinder), Morgan Trubovich (Trimmer), Andrew Palfrey (Trimmer), Jared Hendersen (Pit), Andy Fethers (Bow) and Mark Newbrook (Floater).

Torbjorn Tornqvist helms Artemis to overall win in the RC44 Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Dubai, 27 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

From Dubai, the team travels to Auckland for the Louis Vuitton Trophy where ARTEMIS will line up against seven of the world’s top teams for two weeks of match racing in America’s Cup Class boats. The next RC44 regatta for the team will be the Austria Cup from April 20 – May 4.

The RC 44 Championship Tour ahead of a new and exciting season

[Source: RC 44 Championship Tour] The fourth edition of the RC 44 Championship Tour will begin in Dubai on February 22 with the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Terry Hutchinson and Adam Minoprio join the Class for this event.

The RC 44 Class Association announces a new and exciting program, as well as updated rules for the fourth edition of its Championship Tour.

The season will start in two weeks in Dubai with the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy (February 22 - 27). The fleet will then be transported to central Europe for the Austria Cup (29 April - 4 May), the Copenhagen Cup (8 - 3 June) and a fourth venue to be confirmed soon. The Championship Tour will then move back to the Atlantic Ocean for the RC 44 Puerto Calero Islas Canarias Cup, which will also be the RC 44 World Championship (11 - 16 October), before the season showdown (7 - 12 December).

The teams involved in the Championship Tour 2010 include Team No Way Back (Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies), Artemis (Torbjorn Tornqvist / Terry Hutchinson), CEEREF (Igor Lah / Rod Davis), BMW ORACLE Racing (Larry Ellison / Russell Coutts), Team Aqua (Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton), Organika (Maciej Nawrocki / Karol Jablonski), Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (José Juan and Daniel Calero / José Maria Ponce), Katusha (Paul Cayard), Team Sea Dubai (Raimondo Tonelli / Markus Wieser), Team Austria (René Mangold / Christian Binder) and Team Jelik (Frank Pong). The RC 44 Championship Tour is one of the world’s top sailing events, and other teams are expected to join the Class throughout the season.

Several rules have been updated in order to increase the appeal of the Class. For example, the events will now begin with the match race event on day 1 & 2. The third day will be a fleet race practice day as well as a spare day to conclude the match race if necessary. The fleet regatta will take place on day 4, 5 and 6. The long distance regatta is maintained; however it will only take place if an interesting race course is available. As for the points, they will not count double as was the case in the previous years. An official RC 44 World Championship will also take place for the first time in Lanzarote; it will break the possible ties in the annual rankings.

Organised by Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy will be the season opener on February 22 – 27. The regatta will reassemble nine out of the ten RC 44’s who competed in last year’s Gold Cup. Amongst the favourites, Pieter Heerema and Ray Davies (Team No Way Back) will be keen to confirm the title they conquered during the Gold Cup 2009. As for Terry Hutchinson, who joins the RC 44 Class for the first time on board Artemis, he will be keen to match the brilliant results obtained by Dean Barker last year with this team.

Unable to attend the event due to the America’s Cup, Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts will be replaced by Mike Perris (fleet race helmsman) and Adam Minoprio (match race helmsman). Needless to say that Ceeref, the winner of the SLAM Cup 2009 – the match race season title - will have an interesting challenge against the winner of last year’s World Match Race Tour Adam Minoprio and that the comparison will be interesting.

Emirates Team NZ leads LV Trophy

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] By virtue of its second win in as many races Emirates Team New Zealand today grabbed the early lead at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur.

Team New Zealand leads overall with 2 points. Sweden’s Artemis and Great Britain’s TeamOrigin each have 1 point on 1-0 records.

Led by skipper Dean Barker, the venerable Team New Zealand defeated ALL4ONE in today’s first match. The combined French/German team, led by skipper and strategist Jochen Schümann of Germany, was forced to withdraw at the beginning of the second upwind leg when the webbing holding the mainsail aloft failed. Team New Zealand finished the race uncontested to score the point.


“We rounded the bottom mark and straight after the webbing on the mainsail broke,” said Spaniard Jordi Calafat, who mans the traveller for ALL4ONE. “I went up the rig hoping to fix it, but here was nothing to do. It’s very disappointing.”

The day’s second match, between Sweden’s Artemis and TFS – Pages Jaunes was similarly one-sided.

TFS – Pages Jaunes skipper Bertrand Pacé gifted an early lead to Artemis, led by Americans Paul Cayard (strategist) and Terry Hutchinson (helmsman), when he had to restart after being on the course side at the start gun.

TFS – Pages Jaunes then sailed into a windless hole on the left side of the first leg. The crew’s boatspeed dropped to 6 knots while Artemis sailed away at 9 knots. Artemis led by 75 seconds at the first mark and was never threatened over the next three legs. The nascent team won by 2 minutes, 17 seconds.

“It’s the first time we all sailed together as a crew,” said Cayard. “But Terry, myself, Morgan (Larson, tactician) and Kevin (Hall, navigator) all raced together with AmericaOne in 2000. We’re in different roles here and just getting used to each other.”

Aside from the three leaders, none of the other five teams has scored a point at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur. Two teams, Azzurra and BMW ORACLE Racing, haven’t completed a match yet while the three others, ALL4ONE (0-1), Synergy (0-1) and TFS – Pages Jaunes (0-2), are winless.


“We are a new crew, there are a lot of guys onboard new to these boats,” said Mathieu Richard, strategist for TFS – Pages Jaunes. “We made a mistake at the start today when we tacked to port in the pre-start. We were too close to the committee boat and had to luff up to avoid it. But it was not anchored and it was hard to judge where it was.”

The racing schedule has been thrown into disarray due to the unsettled weather pattern. Once again today, a light offshore wind in the morning succumbed to an onshore flow in the afternoon. But the afternoon breeze never built strong enough to allow for racing and, like yesterday, only two matches were completed.

“The conditions are tricky because the wind has been so light,” said Ray Davies, the tactician for Emirates Team New Zealand. “This can be a very variable place. With the potential for the mistral wind on either side, it creates very different conditions. But it’s what we expected.”

Event organisers hope to get back on schedule tomorrow with eight matches planned. The effort will be aided by the return of ITA-90 and ITA-99, the yachts on loan from Mascalzone Latino. ITA-99 was damaged in a practise accident last Friday, which put the pair out of commission for the weekend. But ITA-99 is now repaired, so tomorrow’s racing will have four boats on the water.

Video: Ben Ainslie and Terry Hutchinson talk on the eve of the LV Trophy

A few hours are left until the start of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice, the inaugural event of the World Sailing Teams Association. Four matches are scheduled for the opening day, on two yachts, GBR-75, loaned from Team Origin, and FRA-93, loaned from FRA-93.

The wind tomorrow is expected to blow up to 15 knots in the morning before increasing to 25 knots or more in the afternoon. That might put an early halt to racing as the organisers are concerned with the sea state and the damage the AC sloops could incur from shock loading.

Terry Hutchinson talks about Artemis. Nice, 6 November 2009. Video copyright BTS Broadcast

In addition, the event schedule was thrown into flux when ITA-99, one of two sloops on loan from Italy’s Mascalzone Latino team, was damaged during practice. The combined French/German team ALL4ONE was sailing ITA-99 when it clipped the transom of the race committee boat. The mishap put a two-meter cut in the starboard side of the hull. Twenty members of the Mascalzone shore team are on site and some have been working on the repair all day. The yacht could return to action as soon as Monday.

The matches for Saturday are as follows:

Match 1: Synergy (GBR-75) vs Team Origin (FRA-93)
Match 2: Team French Spirit-Pages Jaunes (FRA-93) vs Emirates Team NZ (GBR-75)
Match 3: Azzurra (GBR-75) vs BMW Oracle (FRA-93)
Match 4 Artemis (FRA-93) vs ALL4ONE (GBR-75)

Don't forget to tune in to Valencia Sailing in order to watch live the Virtual Eye and commentary from the races, starting tomorrow Saturday, November 7th.

Our friends at BTS Broadcast caught up today with Terry Hutchinson, helmsman on Artemis, and Ben Ainslie, helmsman on Team Origin, who talked about their team's goals and expectations in this regatta.

Ben Ainslie talks about Team Origin. Nice, 6 November 2009. Video copyright BTS Broadcast

Terry Hutchinson to helm Artemis in Nice LV Trophy; Paul Cayard skipper

[Source: Artemis] Having just completed a successful season in the TP52 Class, Torbjorn Tornqvist’s team Artemis (SWE) is in the final stages of preparation for the Louis Vuitton Trophy to be held in Nice from November 7-22.

Artemis’ entry in the Louis Vuitton Trophy is the latest challenge for Tornqvist’s experienced team. In addition to its 2009 podium finishes at the TP52 Worlds and on the Audi MedCup circuit, Artemis is currently second overall on the RC44 Class circuit, that will conclude with RC44 Gold Cup from 25-29 November in Dubai (UAE).

“We’ve built a solid team and have enjoyed racing in the TP52 and RC44 classes to date. We are now looking forward to the Louis Vuitton Trophy – it is an excellent opportunity for Artemis to compete against the world’s best sailing teams,” said Torbjorn Tornqvist, Founder and CEO of Artemis.

Under the direction of legend Paul Cayard (USA) and Team Manager Jared Henderson (NZL), the team is comprised of sailors with extensive America’s Cup experience, including Terry Hutchinson and Morgan Larson (USA) who have joined Artemis as helmsman and tactician respectively.

Following on from the success of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, which took place in Auckland earlier this year, the World Sailing Teams Association and Louis Vuitton are organising five regattas around the world in the next 12 months. The first will be the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice where eight teams will match race in a knock-out format.

“Artemis has been on a continuous path of growth in the sport of sailing over the past four years. The Louis Vuitton Trophy is a new challenge for our team. We have a lot of respect for all the teams that we will face in Nice and look forward to the opportunity to race against them,” said Paul Cayard.

Representing the Royal Swedish Yacht Club, Artemis will compete in Nice against the following teams: ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), Azzurra (ITA), BMW ORACLE Racing (USA), Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS), TeamOrigin (GBR) and Team French Spirit (FRA).

The Artemis crew for the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice includes: Paul Cayard (skipper/ strategist), Jared Henderson (team manager/pit), Terry Hutchinson (helmsman), Morgan Larson (tactician), Andy Fethers (bow), Phil Jameson (mid bow), David Brooke (mast), Craig Monk (grinder), Matthew Welling (grinder), Robbie Naismith (trimmer), Morgan Trubovich (trimmer), Ian Baker (grinder), Marco Constant (trimmer), Sean Clarkson (traveler), Kevin Hall (navigator), Magnus Augustson (grinder) and Rodney Daniel (runners).

Quantum leads TP52 Worlds on tricky opening day

[Source: TP52 World Championship] The autumn evening sun was already dipping low in the sky as Quantum Racing (USA) took the winning gun for the second of two races today at the TP52 World Championships off Palma, Mallorca. Their win, paired with a fifth from the first heat ensures the current world champions lead overall by a single point.

Even if the sea breeze took its time to build and only peaked with short spells offering 11 knots and mostly averaged around 6-8 knots, it proved a tricky afternoon over which the usual Palma tactical conventions did not always hold true, and consistency in the ten boat fleet across these first two windward-leeward races proved elusive.

After two races Quantum Racing (USA) lead the Russian team on Synergy who took a second and fifth and are matched on the same seven points tally by Alberto Roemmers’ current Copa del Rey champions on Matador (ARG) who took a third and a fourth.

Real Club Nautico de Palma member John Cook on the helm of Cristabella - which last year won the Copa del Rey as Iberdrola with Terry Hutchinson as tactician - triumphed in the first race. The British crew, with Manchester export John Cutler (NZL) as tactician, recognised the additional wind pressure and small shift to the right of the course on the first beat, and after a modest start, were able to cross the fleet two thirds of the way up the leg. They lead at the windward turn by a clear 40 metres from Synergy and went on to win by 22 seconds with Matador third.

It proved a morale boosting opening for the British owner Cook who is current chairman of the TP52 fleet and has been a member of the host club for more than 15 years, where he has based six different Cristabella yachts, three TP52’s since 2005.

Video highlights from the opening day of the TP52 World Championship. Palma, 7 October 2009. Video copyright TP52 World Championship 2009

Previous to this the Cristabella crew’s most memorable victory was in 2006 when the they won one of the most exciting coastal races ever of the MedCup Circuit, racing around Formentera in 2006. And it is Cristabella’s best World Championships race yet, after a second placing in 2007 in Porto Cervo.

It was after 1800hrs in the early evening when Quantum Racing’s afterguard of Morgan Larson (USA) and Mark Mendelblatt (USA) conspired to read the opening beat of the second race to best effect, calling the favourable left shift on the left of the track ahead of the slight extra pressure on the right. The current champions were ahead at the windward mark to lead local favourites Bribón across the finish.

With Gonzalo Araujo steering, the Spanish boat was well placed off the pin end of the start line and also profited to the left on the first beat, able to hold off the 2007 champions Artemis who took third.


TP52 World Championship 2009 - Overall standings after Day 1

1. Quantum Racing (USA, Terry Hutchinson), 5+1= 6 points
2. Synergy (RUS, Sergey Pichuguin), 2+5= 7 points
3. Matador (ARG, Alberto Roemmers), 3+4= 7 points
4. Bribón (ESP, Gonzalo Araujo), 7+2= 9 points
5. Cristabella (GBR, John Cook), 1+9=10 points

Morgan Larson, tactician, Quantum Racing (USA):
“ It proved to be every bit as challenging today as Palma can be. Sometimes it is like that where the right looks windier but everyone knows about that geographical left shift. I think the race committee did a nice job of making the right hand a little favoured so it was enticing and so Cristabella got it right. We thought it would be about one in ten times when the right paid out big and it happened, they did a nice job.”

“ Second race was great for us. It was still a challenge because we knew the fleet was thinking right and the pressure looked to be on the right, but we were happy to go for the left shift. That made it easy to take the pin and it paid out.”

“ The MedCup you are building points throughout and so you are trying to podium each event and you are always thinking about the overall, this is the world championships and so no one is sailing conservative, everyone is going all out to win.”

“ And it has a nice atmosphere, it is nice to be finally at a yacht club and Palma is always a nice City to come to, and it is also really nice to see a couple of new boats to the fleet, some new faces out there.”

“ We don’t really think of it as being here to defend our title, it’s a world championship. If you can win a world championship you’d be happy, and this was a good way to begin. I am sure there will be some tricky days ahead.”

Giant leap in US match racing in the making?

A major shift appears to be taking place in US college sailing. College/University sailing in the US will likely be making a change next year, scrapping its sloops/keel boat championship and switching to match racing. The philosophy behind the change is that match racing ia big part of the future of sailing and it is the one aspect of the sport where US colleges do not produce experts straight out of school.

The ICSA (Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America) produces just about all elite US sailors, including Ed Baird, Terry Hutchinson, and Anna Tunnicliffe,as well as the last several world team racing champions. If this change is made, one can expect the caliber of US produced match racers to grow rapidly.

In the ICSA board meeting that took place last January in Park City, Utah it was decided that a "Sloops Working Party" be created in order to investigate the future of college sloops, specifically looking at match racing. In the following meeting in San Francisco last May, Stanford University Coach John Vandemoer (husband of US Olympic Match Racing sailor Molly Vandemoer, who finished 3rd last week at Sail for Gold in the UK) presented his "Report of the Sloops Working Party". The minutes of the ICSA board meetings can be accessed here.

Where this gets bigger is that the ICSA would like to work with US Sailing, to automatically get the winner of the new college match racing championship a berth to the US Match Racing Championship, as well as other Grade 2 or 1 events in the US. The ICSA hopes its sailors could rapidly overtake the current fleet of US Match Racers, since they already team race so well. The weakness for college sailors will be keel boat teamwork and boat handling skill, but that has not been hard to learn for other ex-college sailors.

Without any question this should help grow the sport. The US is about to really start focusing on match racing, which generally played a secondary role in the past. The fleets will get more competitive and more teams will be trying to get into events.

Terry Hutchinson, here at the helm of Quantum Racing, was College Sailor of the Year in 1989 and 1990. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

AUDI Medcup - Cartagena Trophy: Bribón wins TP52 practice race

The Cartagena Trophy kicked off earlier today and the 10-strong TP52 fleet carried out its official practice program, consisting of the usual two prestarts and one full race. After yesterday's rain, due to a cold front sitting over most of eastern Spain, the weather that prevailed during the day was sunny and warm but the teams had to do with quite light wind conditions. The breeze picked up during the day but it never went over 12 knots by the time the practice race was over.

Bribón, the Spanish King's boat, with Frenchman Thierry Péponnet at the helm, won the race with ease. The key to the race was the greater pressure on the left side of the course and this is exactly what Bribón did. After crossing the start line at the pin end, Peponnet helmed the Spanish TP52 furthest to the left and benefited from the extra push. Emirates Team New Zealand opted as well for the left but were unable to overtake the Spanish that also were able to extend their lead in the final run. If today's race reflects the results during the rest of the week, it seems it will be nearly impossible to beat the kiwi war machine and steal them the Medcup title.

Synergy finished 3rd but the real battle was between Artemis, Quantum and Matador, the three teams that vie for the two remaining spots in the podium. Artemis was 4th, Quantum crossed the finish line closely behind them while the Argentineans were further behind.

Quotes of the day

Terry Hutchinson, helmsman on Quantum Racing: The practice race was pretty good. We had a good start, we got a little bit unlucky in the first beat,we had a good first run and a good second beat but again we got a little bit unlucky during the last run to the finish. We are a little disappointed but this is a practice race. We also worked on sails today and as a result a lot of things will improve.

This was a practice race and the real battle will start tomorrow. I'm not really concerned about anything. We come to this regatta with the goal to win it and get a spot on the podium. I will not be happy if we end up fourth overall but there is reasonable chance we could. There are four boats that chase two spots and this will make it really, really hard. As I said in the team briefing this morning our aim is to sail a good regatta and we do then we'll finish the season with a good result.

Vasco Vascotto, helmsman on Artemis: Practice day was fine but as far as I'm concerned I need to take a big leap in quality because this is a tremendous team and it's the third hour I've been helming this boat after more than two years without helming a TP52 yacht. We had a good start, something very important in this fleet, and sailed well. Downwind we have good boat speed but upwind I'm not as good as I should be. In tomorrow's briefing we'll talk about that and hopefully find the solution to sailing faster.

The Vascotto-Cayard duo in the afterguard works in an impressive way!! [laughs] Seriously now, we have a good feeling and we are friends since a long time. These are the ingredients that lead to a good result. This is also our aim in this regatta, to sail the best way we can. We obviously want to finish the season in the top three overall but you first need to sail well.

Video onboard Quantum Racing
Valencia Sailing was onboard Terry Hutchinson's Quantum Racing. We tried to get a different view of the prestart procedure from withing the cockpit.

First practice prestart onboard Quantum. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Second practice prestart onboard Quantum. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Photos of the day
Being onboard Quantum Racing our photos are limited to what one can capture from within one of the competing yachts.

Quantum's "grey matter", from left, Skip Baxter (mainsail trimmer), Terry Hutchinson (helmsman) and Mark Mandelblatt (strategist). Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Quantum during the practice race. Tactician Morgan Larson (standing) checks the wind. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Strategist Mark Mandelblatt tries to decipher the wind from the mast. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Mainsail grinder Sean Clarkson ready to fire up. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Artemis with Vasco Vascotto at the helm and Paul Cayard calling tactics. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Guillermo Parada and the rest of the Matador crew will have to sail flawlessly in order to secure second place overall for the season. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Guillermo Parada and the rest of the Matador crew will have to sail flawlessly in order to secure second place overall for the season. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Artemis, Matador and Bigamist are the three teams that together with Quantum vie for 2nd or 3rd position overall. Cartagena, 14 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The return of Quantum Racing in the AUDI Medcup

[Source: AUDI Medcup] Back on the waters where they won the 2008 Audi MedCup Circuit title a little less than a year ago, Terry Hutchinson and the crew of Quantum Racing gave themselves the best possible tonic after their disspointing seventh place finish last month in Sardinia when they won the first two races of the Portugal Trophy regatta today, then fought back to a well earned fourth place in the third contest to lead the event by three clear points.

It was an interesting, testing day for the ten TP52 crews off Portimao as the early, light sea breeze built for the first race before it gave way to the NW’ly gradient wind which offered two excellent races in which big gains and losses were available dependant on the shifty, puffy conditions presented racing closer to the Algarve shore.

Video highlights from the opening day of the Portugal Trophy. Portimao, 19 August 2009. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

Across the day it proved a comprehensive test, from the finesse and tactical racing of the light sea breeze to bursts of downwind planing in the third race the reigning champions proved to themselves they have the tools, skills and most all perhaps the confidence to win regattas. Their opening race win was their first winning gun since Marseille in June.

Their 1,1,4 for the day leaves them three points clear of 2007 champion owner-helm Torbjorn Tornqvist (SWE) and his team on Artemis who rolled out a consistent 3,4,2 to lead by two points a logjam of three teams on 11 points.

Local favourites Bigamist 7 lead the first race but failed to convert it to a winning gun, but they did make amends when they won the third race, holding off Artemis to lie third overall after the first day’s racing.


GP42 Series Practice Race

Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) who won last month in Sardinia and lead the series won the GP42 Practice Race after Roma 2, driven by Paolo Cian, got off to the best start in this closely matched fleet. The Canarias team led by helmsman Jose Maria Ponce (ESP) passed all at the leeward gate to take the lead and hold it to the finish.

Making his GP42 Series debut as tactician on Turismo Madrid (ESP), veteran match racer and French America’s Cup alumnist Philippe Presti shared his thoughts on racing in this small but intense fleet.

Audi MedCup Circuit 2009 - Portugal Trophy

TP52 Series - Overall - Day 1
1. Quantum Racing (USA), 1+1+4= 6 points
2. Artemis (SWE), 3+4+2= 9 points
3. Bigamist (POR), 5+5+1= 11 points
4. Bribón (ESP), 6+2+3= 11 points
5. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 2+3+6= 11 points
...

GP42 Series - Practice Race
1. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP)
2. Roma (ITA)
3. Caser Endesa (ESP)
4. Turismo Madrid (ESP)
5. Airis (ITA)

AUDI Meducp - Alicante Trophy - Day 3: Quantum leads after a day of spectacular racing

Terry Hutchinson and Quantum Racing stand at the top of the leaderboard after a day of 3 spectacular races.

Our apologies for the lack of updates but Murphy's law attacked Valencia Sailing. The entire report was wiped out and in addition to that, we have already passed our monthly bandwidth allowance for the month of May!! At least, it means that Valencia Sailing is popular.

Quantum Racing sails to victory. Alicante, 15 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia Sailing talks to Terry Hutchinson

Valencia Sailing spoke to Terry Hutchinson, the 2008 Med & World TP52 champion, on Thursday, when Quantum Racing had freshly arrived in Alicante after two weeks training in Valencia. Although confident about his boat and the team, the American sailor foresees a tough battle this year and takes nothing for granted.

Valencia Sailing: Let's first start with the boat. Have you made any modifications this winter?

Terry Hutchinson: We have carried out some changes inside the boat as well some minor structural changes, mostly to make her stronger. The hull and appendage package is the same.

Valencia Sailing: What about the crew? Are there any changes, departures or additions?

Terry Hutchinson: The only change this year is Dave Tank who will be taking over from Jeremy Lomas in the bow.

Valencia Sailing: You had a number of days training in Valencia and then in Alicante. What is the feeling you got from these first training sessions in 2009?

Terry Hutchinson: It was great. The nice thing about Valencia is that it guarantees you certain sailing conditions. We saw a wide range. We sailed a couple of days in a nice swell and an easterly breeze of 15 to 20 knots and then we had 4 medium training days with the Desafío team which was also very good. We left with the feeling that everything was where it should be but at the same time it is a little bit unnerving because everything went so well and the boat is much further along than we were hoping 4 months ago it should be. You feel the boat is very well prepared and having that feeling that early in the season is uncomfortable because you don't want any major mishaps to happen. We are now down in Alicante to put her through more days of of hard training before we get ready for racing.

Valencia Sailing: Does this mean I will to have to interview you again as the Medcup winner in a few months from now?

Terry Hutchinson: Don't rush, anything can happen between now and then.

Quantum Racing trains before the opening event of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Alicante, 10 May 2009. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann / www.go4image.com

Valencia Sailing: What is your take on this year's 3 new TP52 yachts, Artemis, Emirates Team NZ and Matador? Are they going to be tough competitors, especially the New Zealand team?

Terry Hutchinson: Well, I have seen many pictures on Valencia Sailing... Without any question they all are going to be very tough competitors. They were tough competitors last year as well and I don't expect anything different this year. Probably the biggest question mark in the AUDI Meducp will be the New Zealand boat because Marcelino Botín and his team have departed further away from where they were with our boat. The changes they are searching for, such as form stability through the hull shape, make me consider them a very difficult boat to beat in medium to breezier conditions when they reach higher heel angles. As for the Vrolijk boats, you know that all are going to be good boats, for example, the Desafío boat in the Copa del Rey last year [Hutchinson helmed her in that particular event] was a very nice boat to sail and given their history of very good boat designs I can imagine that they will not stop in this year's models either. I expect all 3 new boats to be very difficult to beat.

Valencia Sailing: The participating fleet is smaller this year. Will that translate into fewer competitors?

Terry Hutchinson: No, not at all. The competition will certainly be at least similar to last year. We also saw that boats like Pisco Sour and AUDI Q8 have modified their hull shapes in order to come closer to where we are so potentially, any speed advantage we had upwind last year will shrink as boats have come much closer. As a result none of the races will come easy and I refuse to think it's going to be anything but an absolute battle again.

Valencia Sailing: The 2009 AUDI Medcup will repeat the same venues than last year. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?

Terry Hutchinson: From a logistical perspective that makes organizing the boat a lot easier. We are now again in Alicante and I'm staying in the exact same hotel room I was last year. It's also definitely easier if you go to a venue you have already been and you know where you are going and what you are doing. It also makes it much easier for teams to travel. I think that eliminating one of the regattas was a good move from the Medcup and having more time in between each event will help you better prepare for each regatta.

Valencia Sailing: You are the only American team actively participating in the Med TP52 circuit. Is this a result of the tough global financial situation or are there other factors?

Terry Hutchinson: BMW Oracle showed up for one regatta last year but I doubt you could consider them an American team. We were the only American team this year and last year and the short answer to your question is that the TP52 class is much more appealing and much more professionally oriented in Europe than it is in the US. That level of sailing doesn't necessarily exist within the TP52 class in the US. For us the easier thing to do was come over here with a sponsor and race the boat. The TP52 class will be a little bit smaller this year because of the tough financial situation worldwide but without a doubt it will be as competitive. When you look at the American entries in this class in the last 4 years there was never a big American presence to begin with. I don't think the finances are the issue, it has more to do with the logistical problems that come with doing a circuit in Europe.

Valencia Sailing: Quantum Sails uses a nice helicopter shot of your boat for their ads and refer to David and Goliath. How important a factor were the sails in the success of your campaign?

Terry Hutchinson: Obviously the sails are extremely important and we all are very happy with the Quantum sails on our boat. Last year proved that it doesn't really matter if you use the X brand or the Y brand, it's more the process you go through in order to get the team and the sails to the level that you need to win. Last year Quantum proved that their products were at least as good as, if not better than, the North products and if the fact we won 4 of the 7 regattas we sailed doesn't tell everybody in the world that the Quantum products are as good as North's then I don't know what else we would have to do.

Quantum Racing trains before the opening event of the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Alicante, 10 May 2009. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann / www.go4image.com

Valencia Sailing: Has your team's success convinced other TP52 teams to make the switch to Quantum Sails?

Terry Hutchinson: Yes, the Russian team purchased all its sails for the season and that is good for Quantum Sails.

Valencia Sailing: What about your own sails? I suppose you carried out tests with new sails here in Valencia. Will we see any quantum leap in Quantum Racing's sails this year?

Terry Hutchinson: From our perspective, we set as our benchmark design the sails we used in the World Championships in Puerto Calero. From that point everything developed around the sails and what we will do is set them as our benchmark and from there quantify the shapes and determine where we want to go from the shapes we have right now. That will be defined by how we compete against everybody and through Quantum's own design program and the VPP work they do. We have targeted certain sail shapes that we like and we will start adjusting different flying shapes around these base numbers. We will match it with the boat's performance and see where we get to. It's always a little bit like witchcraft. You always try to do things compared to what people are doing next to you. The computer might tell you that something should go fast and then the sailors will have to go out and make sure we have that flying shape and then determine whether it is actually fast.

Valencia Sailing: You sound confident and cautious about this season. What final result would be a disappointment for you? Will you be disappointed if you finish second overall in the AUDI Medcup circuit?

Terry Hutchinson: Yes, we will all be disappointed although matching last year's result will be very difficult for us to do. Still, the message from a team meeting we had was that if we sail as well as we did last year, we do everything as well as we did last year and raise our game to be successful and still have someone beat us then we will just have to raise our hands. We will know we have done everything we could possibly do to be successful. If someone beats you under these circumstances that's sport, you will have to take it for nothing more or less than just that. Our job is to control all the little items and details in our boat and let the rest of it sort itself out. We know it's a long season, it's 50 races and there will be a lot of opportunities.

Now, to try and go much further than that and say that a 3rd place will be a disappointment will be a mistake. Sailing is a sport where each race is very difficult. We will always have an opportunity as a team to get better. In my mind, our goal is to increase the performance of our boat, sail better as a team and make sure that we cover all the details. If we do all that then the result will be taken for itself. We can't focus on being 1st, 2nd or 3rd and at the same time on the process on our boat. I don't know if that answers your question but I'm not going to put a number because it also depends on a lot of other things that we can do better.

Valencia Sailing: Last but not least, shorter term, you are one of the first teams to arrive in Alicante. What conditions have you experienced and what should we expect during the regatta?

Terry Hutchinson: We had a couple of days of beautiful conditions, 15 to 18 knots of sea breeze, and that leads me to believe that the regatta week will not be as good!! Jokes apart, I hope we have a really good week of sailing since last year we had quite a mixed bag of conditions.

Emirates Team NZ is Terry Hutchinson's big question mark for the 2009 AUDI Medcup. Alicante, 10 May 2009. Photo copyright Juerg Kaufmann / www.go4image.com

Terry Hutchinson leads Congressional Cup unbeaten

[Source: Congressional Cup] Two illustrious sailors---Terry Hutchinson and Ben Ainslie---are the first to say the Long Beach Yacht Club's 45th Congressional Cup is a lot closer than it looks on the scoreboard that shows them with 6-0 and 5-1 records after the first day of racing Tuesday.

But the Annapolis veteran, who won here in 1992 and called tactics for winners Ken Read in 2003 and Dean Barker in 2006, said he isn't pondering the choice between $30,000 or the keys to a new Acura awarded to anyone who goes undefeated all week.

"There are a lot of good sailors here," said Hutchinson, who was recently honored as America's Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. "You could easily go for oh and six tomorrow."

And it wasn't a perfect day for Hutchinson's crew, which like all the others is lodged at LBYC members' homes.

"The day started out," he said, "with those five words no host likes to hear: 'Do you have a plunger?' "

It did get better. Hutchinson dealt Ainslie, the triple Olympic gold medalist and ISAF World Sailor of the Year, his only loss, by five boat lengths.

Ainslie said, "The thing to do is roll with the punches and keep it going."

Some had more punches to roll with than others. France's Sébastien Col, Mathieu Richard and Philippe Presti, currently ranked Nos. 1, 3 and 6 in the world, share sixth place with only two wins each. Richard won the traditional Crimson Blazer here two years ago.

The depth of the field is a factor. Hutchinson's tactician, Cameron Appleton of New Zealand, said their toughest race was against the U.S.'s Brian Angel, who stands 1-5. Ainslie said Sweden's Johnie Berntsson---3-3 but second here the last two years---gave them their worst moments, next to their loss to Hutchinson.

New Zealand's Adam Minoprio, a winner in the World Match Racing Tour opener at Marseille earlier this month, shares third placed with Italy's Francesco Bruni, a late entry, at 4-2.

With 18 rounds to run through Friday, leading into Saturday's championship sailoffs for the final four, principal race officer Mike Van Dyke made the most of steady southwest breezes building from 6 to 14 knots through the afternoon on the half-mile windward-leeward course inside the Long Beach breakwater.

Bruni, who wasn't invited until two weeks ago when a spot opened up, said at the evening's press conference, "We're very happy with the sun, the wind . . . and the pizza [delivered to the teams] after sailing."

Hutchinson was happy, too, after winning only two of his six starts and breaking even in two others.

"We clearly lost our last start to Angel," he said. "I expect we're going to have some hiccups on the way."

But his best move saved the race against Angel, who led the final race going into the first windward mark.

Tactician Cameron Appleton of New Zealand said, "That was our hardest race of the day. He was first off the line and controlled the race. But at the top mark he hoisted his chute a little too soon and we came in between him and the buoy. Then we luffed him head to wind and he had to drop [the spinnaker], and we bore off, raised our chute and sailed away."

Berntsson pulled off another slick comeback to beat Col by four seconds. First, he cut Col's lead to less than a boat length with a quicker spinnaker hoist and jib drop at the last mark, and when Col tried to luff him upwind near the finish he was able to break the overlap and bear away to the line to win by half a boat length.

Standings:Round Robin
1 Terry Hutchinson 6.00
2 Ben Ainslie 5.00
3 Franchesco Bruni 4.00
4 Adam Minoprio 4.00
5 Johnie Berntsson 3.00
6 Philippe Presti 2.00
7 Mathieu Richard 2.00
8 Sebastien Col 2.00
9 Staffan Lindberg 1.00
10 Brian Angel 1.00