Inset: the moment Artemis fell out of bed in Portsmouth – the team had been testing hard in Bermuda but with no Code 0. Racing a foiled cat, as we saw in San Francisco, there are times when you want to roll tack and times when things just don’t go as you’d like (above). We are locked into J foils again for 2017 but there was a case for using the Cup to develop some alternative configurations
The difference, though, versus the last time we sailed together was Dalts is now very in tune with the boat and with greatfocus. We began well with a 3,4,2. Azzurrastarted great with 1,1,5 and yet you just knew each dog was going to have its day. On our helmsman swap day Platoonwent 1,1 to Quantum’s 9,6 (ouch). Day 4 was a new day and we were learning from the previous mistakes. Remembering the previous discussion about Ado and me developing in our role, we were determined not to make the same mistakes twice. A good bounceback day with a 2,1 but, more importantly, others were making mental mistakes: Platoon went 4,8 and Azzurra5,6.
Day 5 saw a one-race finale that the local paper described as a finish fit for a king… four boats separated by 1pt and winner takes all. Lots of great discussion in our pre-race prep; bottom line to win the regatta we simply had to win the race.
From there it was about commitment to the plan. Plan A was win the boat end at full speed, Plan B was win the boat end and be able to go straight for two minutes even if compromised. Doug executed Plan B and Ado’s patience kept us going for just the right amount of distance, about 90 seconds, that when we tacked we had 10 minutes’ clear air to sail into the lead. We were off for our third Copa del Rey win in as many tries.
This one, though, was a bit more rewarding. We did not do it easy with the mid-regatta helm swap and yet everybody was committed to the plan. I am always amazed at the potential of a team when everyone’s going in the same direction.
From sweaty Palma it was back to cooler England for Cowes Week. A three-day Solent tour against Momoand Jethou, both newer-generation boats, and yet another opportunity to measure Bella’s improvements. Day 1 was called off as there was zero wind. Day 2 and 3 were light to moderate yet good results for Bella Mente. Day 3 a different story. Momohad a cracking start and Bellatrailed for 22 of the 23 miles. Early on when it was windier I would have given the edge to Momo, she just looked slippery. As the breeze lightened Bellahung tough which is always encouraging… and when the opportunity presented we were in position to take advantage. Takeaways from here are pretty easy:
Only two races so don’t read too much into it.
Bella Mente is going the right way and good in flat water. Time will tell if we have the same performance in the chop. Gonna need to sail bloody well if we want to remotely have a chance of being on the podium at the Maxi Worlds! Up next those Farr 40 North Americans, Maxi Worlds in Porto Cervo, school starting and that thing called life. Standing by back at 39,000ft
LITTLE AND LOTS
Could the top and bottom of the leaderboard at the Louis Vuitton World Series in Portsmouth have illustrated different development strategies more than sailing team performance? Ben Ainslie pleased local fans, winning the storm-shortened event. Artemis Racing placed a disappointing last. But we have only two races to look at, strong winds and rough conditions preventing racing on Day 2. It is risky to try to draw conclusions from two races… but it’s interesting to make a few observations. Artemis have been focused on their AC45-based turbo test boat – wider than the one-design AC45F and equipped with wheel steering, cockpits, grinding pedestals and far more advanced wing and foil-control systems. And with no Code Zero. A faulty halyard lock left the Artemis crew wrestling the big sail in Race 2.
Land Rover BAR have been training in their more conservative T1 test boat – with dimensions and ergonomics almost identical to the AC45F. Like Artemis, Oracle built a test boat with little resem- blance to the AC45F and have been training in it. None of the other three teams even has a test boat, but the crews from Emirates TNZ, Groupama and Softbank all came with plenty of AC45 expe- rience. All of them finished ahead of Artemis and ETNZ finished ahead of third-place Oracle, with a bullet and a third in the two races. Does this mean anything for 2017? It might. Focusing on design concepts for the 48ft America’s Cup Class yacht you will match race in 2017 might pay off more handsomely than winning one-design fleet races in 2015 and 2016. However, standings at the end of the World Series will give bonus points going into the round robin in 2017 and will also be used to break ties. If the round-robin ends with two teams tied for first, the one with the better World Series score will get the bonus point to carry into the Cup Match.
SEAHORSE 11
CARLO BORLENGHI/DPPI
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