America's Cup - Challenger Finalist ponders entry for Auckland/Italy

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ and Artemis Racing on 9 Oct 2017 The Swedish America's Cup team, Artemis Racing has announced that they are seriously considering an entry in the 36th America's Cup.

The team issued a media statement confirmed that they were looking at contesting this America's Cup or sitting out the Auckland/Italy event and would come back for the 37th event.

The surprising aspect of the announcement is their setting of a high bar for the new AC75 class to 'result in speeds that are as fast or faster than in the last America's Cup held in Bermuda', considering that the AC50 is the fastest sailing class that is raced in the world.

Given Artemis Racing's success on the monohull circuit, the team would be expected to have a significant advantage ahead of the event. However, their position is understandable if a conservative 75ft displacement maxi were selected.

Their position of possibly sitting out a Cup cycle does not ring true either - as they would be forced to play catch-up for the 37th America's Cup and would not play to their current strengths. The team is also very tight with a lot of respect for their principal Torbjörn Törnqvist and it would be difficult to hold a top America's Cup design team together while sitting out one Cup cycle.

Artemis Racing is the strongest team to have announced the possibility of competing in the event which will be staged in Auckland in March 2021, or later in the year in a yet to be named Italian venue.

Aside from the 2003 Defender debacle in Auckland, no first time Challenger has ever won the America's Cup, and if the Swedish team does decide to enter their third America's Cup, Artemis Racing would be a hot favourite to become the Challenger and with an excellent chance at the Cup, given the team's strong background in monohull racing.

The team made a poor and tragic foray into the 34th America's Cup in San Francisco sailing AC72's in which Artemis racing competed in just four races in the series which was estimated to have cost $1million per racing minute.

However, they put in a very strong showing in Bermuda, in the AC50's beating defending champion Oracle Team USA in 17 races (15 during practice sessions and both their matches in the Round Robin phase of the Qualifiers.)

They eliminated Softbank Team Japan from the Semi-Finals - recovering from being down three races at one point in the first to five series. In the Challenger Final, they had the measure of Emirates Team New Zealand in the early phases of each race. Although they lost 5-2 to the Kiwis Artemis Racing led around 23 of the 42 marks in the seven race series.

At one point they had Team New Zealand at 2-2 before the losing the next three when the Kiwis staged come from behind wins in Races 5 and 6. Emirates Team New Zealand only led around Marks 1 and 2 in the final race of the seven race Final.

Their Challenger Final was marred by an electrical switch issue which caused a daggerboard to pop up unexpectedly, and helmsman Nathan Outteridge slipped overboard in another after a keenly contested Mark 5 rounding.

The team only had three Swedish crew in their sailing team - all of whom were grinders and the new nationality rule will cause the team some difficulty. If they were to stay with the existing line-up, then all of the crew would have to comply with the residency provisions of the Protocol requiring 380 days residence in Sweden in the two years preceding the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series for the Prada Cup.

Key players in the sailing team in Bermuda and San Francisco were double Olympic Gold medalist, Iain Percy (GBR) and Olympic Gold and Silver medalists Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS), and Gold medalist Paul Goodison (GBR).

They also had a top design team including Michel Kermarec who was a designer for two America's Cups with Oracle Team USA 2010 and 2013. A specialist in performance prediction and appendage design, he holds a PhD in hydrodynamics. Kermarec has been involved in the design teams for seven America's Cup including the 35th in Bermuda.

The statement issued by Artemis Racing reads:

Artemis Racing is reviewing the Protocol for the 36th America’s Cup and continues to weigh whether to participate in this cycle or await the next.

The most important consideration for our team is the need for a cutting-edge boat design, one that results in speeds that are as fast or faster than in the last America’s Cup held in Bermuda. The boat and race format must be seen as bringing the sport of sailing forward and inspiring young and future generations.

Other aspects of importance include the cost, which should be justifiable to ensure the right number of participants, and the overall rules should guarantee fairness for all to compete effectively.

Our team will now take its time to carefully review the Protocol, and we look forward to receiving more information on the Class Rule in November.

Artemis Racing is a professional sailing team challenging for the 35th America's Cup, representing Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskapet (KSSS – the Royal Swedish Yacht Club), the fifth-oldest yacht club in the world. Founded in 2006 by Torbjörn Törnqvist and named after the Greek goddess Artemis, the team has won numerous competitions worldwide, including the MedCup and TP52 World Championships and the RC44 World Championship.

Artemis Racing was the Challenger of Record for the 34th America’s Cup.

More information can be found at on www.ArtemisRacing.com