Artemis Racing Seals Dramatic Victory in Chicago
Chicago, June 12th, 2016 – Artemis Racing sealed a dramatic victory on Lake Michigan, as Super Sunday came to a stunning climax in Chicago.
The Swedish team was in second place leading into Sunday’s races, just one point behind Softbank Team Japan. Steady conditions were expected, and the wind didn’t disappoint, with consistent breeze of around 15 knots across the course.
In Race 1 Artemis Racing was fourth around the first mark but didn’t panic, matching the leaders’ boat speed and manoeuvres, finding better wind, and ultimately climbing up through the field to take second.
Skipper Nathan Outteridge had spoken about the need for consistency all weekend, and the team delivered in emphatic fashion. A race winning start strategy lead to an imperious victory in Race 2, with the team leading around every mark of the course, and successfully holding off a late challenge from Oracle Team USA at the finish.
Topping the leaderboard heading into Race 3, it was Artemis Racing’s to lose. With the same starting strategy to leeward on the line, the team was not able to punch ahead as it had in the previous races, leading to a nailing biting finale. With the team sailing well, Nathan Outteridge kept his composure, and in a dramatic finish with Land Rover BAR and Emirates Team New Zealand, Artemis Racing was able to hold onto fourth place, and claim the overall regatta victory.
Skipper, Nathan Outteridge commented, “We feel that we have very good boat handling now, and very good speed. Today was all about nailing those gybes, not pushing foiling gybes, but really strong touch and goes. That made us strong, and on that very last race we were second downwind sneaking ahead of BAR and ETNZ at the bottom mark”.
Nathan continued, “We said in the press conference we wanted to be consistent all weekend, and the guys really stepped it up. It’s just great to be driving a boat and watching everyone in front of you nailing their roles. It was a real pleasure to sail with these guys. Perc (Iain Percy) had really good communication with me all week about when we wanted to protect our position, and when we wanted to attack. When you’ve got clear goals it makes life so much easier”.
The grandstands were filled with spectators enjoying the spectacle of the foiling yachts racing right off the pier, in the first ever fresh water appearance for a Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series. The city put on quite a show, with tens of thousands of spectators lining the shore and hundreds of boats out on the water. Team Manager and Tactician, Iain Percy, was quick to thank the people of Chicago for hosting such a great event.
“I think this has been one of the best events so far in terms of crowd support; the conditions were fantastic. All the way through you could feel that the people here enjoy sailing and were really appreciative of these boats, and the work that goes into it”, said Iain Percy.
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