[Source: America's Cup] Tasked with running a review into the circumstances surrounding the capsize of the Artemis Racing AC72 on Thursday, Regatta Director Iain Murray says consultation with stakeholders is already underway.

On Tuesday, Murray has scheduled a formal meeting when all four teams competing in the Summer of Racing – ORACLE TEAM USA, Artemis Racing (SWE), Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) – will be in San Francisco.

“The meeting with the teams is a crucial next step,” Murray said. “We need to establish an open flow of information to ensure this review meets its goals of fact-finding and putting us in a position to recommend changes, if necessary.”

One aspect of the review will involve study of all data that was captured at the time of the incident.

“Once we have the information, the basic facts, all the data, then we will be able to re-build the entire chain of events and start to assess why this incident resulted in a tragic loss of life,” he said.

[Source: Artemis Racing] Torbjörn Törnqvist, Chairman of Artemis Racing, released the following statement today:

“Our thoughts are with Andrew’s family, who suffered a tragic loss yesterday—of a son, a father, and a husband. As our friend and teammate, Andrew “Bart” Simpson was central to Artemis Racing, both in the course of racing and our lives. His presence and personality was a binding force and he will be missed. Right now, the primary focus of Artemis Racing is on the well-being of our team members and their families, and the America’s Cup competition will remain second to that.”

Artemis Racing will conduct a thorough analysis and review of this accident and will be looking at how the risks inherent to such competitive sailing can be limited in the future for the safety of the team and all competitors in the sailing community.

Will we ever see another Artemis Racing AC72 sailing? Who knows? San Francisco, 12 November 2012. Photo copyright Sander van der Borch / Artemis Racing

Dramatic footage after the Artemis Racing AC72 capsize

[Source: Artemis Racing] It is with immense sadness that Artemis Racing confirms the tragic death of crewmember Andrew “Bart” Simpson today in San Francisco.

Simpson, a British double Olympic gold medalist, was one of the 11-man crew aboard Artemis Racing’s AC72 catamaran which capsized during training on San Francisco Bay ahead of this summer’s America’s Cup. All other crewmembers are accounted for.

Simpson, however, was trapped underneath the boat and despite attempts to revive him, by doctors afloat and subsequently ashore, his life was lost.

“The entire Artemis Racing team is devastated by what happened,” said CEO Paul Cayard. “Our heartfelt condolences are with Andrew’s wife and family.”

The first AC72 yacht of the Swedish America’s Cup challenger pitchpoled on Thursday afternoon during a training session with Oracle Racing. First live TV images paint a bleak picture, with at least one sailor receiving CPR on the dock of the St Francis Yacht Club.

The Associated Press reports that one sailor has died.

More news to follow

[Source: America's Cup] Each passing day brings a new level of anxiety to teams entered in the 34th America’s Cup. So much to do, so little time. Mark Carpenter, the head of platform maintenance for Artemis Racing, spoke for many when he said, “The work is ongoing; it never ends.”

The final sailing period as defined by the Protocol for the 34th America’s Cup began yesterday, and the teams are now permitted to sail their AC72s as often as they desire. Previously teams were limited to 30 and 45 days of AC72 sailing in two different periods. Emirates Team New Zealand has sailed the most, 50 days combined with its two boats, followed by Luna Rossa Challenge, 43 days, ORACLE TEAM USA, 35 days, and Artemis Racing, 32 days.

It’s safe to assume that ORACLE TEAM USA would’ve had more days under its belt had it not capsized last October and put a temporary halt to training. The defender sailed the most in the period that concluded on Apr. 30, with 27 days on the water compared to 20 for the Kiwis, who have had to pack up their boat and base and ship it from Auckland to San Francisco.

This weekend the countdown clock will mark two months to the start of the “Summer of Racing” in San Francisco. The Opening Ceremony is planned for July 4 and will be followed on July 5 by a special fleet race for all teams.

Racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America’s Cup Challenger Series, officially begins on July 7 with a match between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge. The two teams were training partners in New Zealand over the past winter. But in Naples, Italy, two weeks ago those pleasantries were thrown out with the bath water when they were involved in a jarring collision. Luna Rossa Swordfish slammed into Emirates Team New Zealand’s stern scoop when the Kiwi crew failed to give the Italians room to round the mark.

The first round robin continues on July 9 with Sweden’s Artemis Racing going against the New Zealanders, and July 10 with Artemis Racing versus Luna Rossa.

The first official race in this Louis Vuitton Cup will be between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team New Zealand

Seven round robins are on the Louis Vuitton Cup schedule. Some highlights:

- The Louis Vuitton Cup round robins are scheduled July 7-Aug. 4. Wins are worth 1 point
- The Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Final, a best-of-seven series, is scheduled Aug. 6-14
- The Louis Vuitton Cup Final, a best-of-13 series, is scheduled Aug. 17-30
- Racing is scheduled on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Start times for the round robins and semi finals are scheduled for 1:15 pm PT (Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays) or 2:15 pm PT (Wednesdays)
- Mondays and Thursdays are scheduled reserve days
- In the round robins and semi finals, one race is scheduled per day with a target elapsed time of one hour
- In the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, two races are scheduled each day, each with a target elapsed time of 30 minutes

The top team at the end of the round robins gets to choose whether it advances directly to the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals or races in the semi finals. With a break of 12 days in the offing, presumably the winner would choose to go to the final and let the other two teams continue slugging it out in the semis.

Throughout the Louis Vuitton Cup the defender, ORACLE TEAM USA, will also have access to the race course four days per week, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, sometimes sandwiched around the challengers’ racing.

During the break between the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America’s Cup Finals, the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup will see 10 of the best teams of young sailors from around the world compete in AC45 catamarans over four day’s of competition.

Sailing on the same boats the Cup teams have used to compete in the America’s Cup World Series, the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup crews, aged 19-24, will race on San Francisco Bay in a fleet race format. Many of the sailors competing in the youth competition are expected to be sought after components of future America’s Cup teams.

The America’s Cup Finals are scheduled Sept. 7-21, with racing set for Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. The match is a best-of-17 series. Two races are planned each day, lasting approximately 30 minutes, and beginning at 1:10 pm PT and 2:10 pm PT. A break of approximately 32 minutes between races is mandated by the Protocol.

Center cockpit – gone!

Artemis Racing, Challenger of Record for the America’s Cup, chopped the center cockpit out of their AC72. They repositioned 4 winches that were in that cockpit and eliminated two winches and the two grinding pedestals. Artemis now has a total of four grinding pedestals, compared to eight for all the other competitors.

The center cockpit had six winches and two grinding pedestals. Four of the winches have been moved, two to each hull, just behind the daggerboard case. The two grinding pedestals have been removed from the boat – maybe there was no place to put them in the current layout. My prediction: Artemis’s boat 2 will have at least three grinding pedestals per hull, and more likely, four per hull. The AC72 simply requires a lot of power to run all the controls.

In the photo above we can see that the center cockpit has been removed, making it much easier for the crew to change sides during a tack or gybe. With the center cockpit we used to see the crew, including the helmsman, rolling under the wing to change sides.

Read the rest of the article here

[Source: RC44 Class Association] Having travelled over 4000 nm across the Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean, the 13 strong fleet of RC44 have arrived in Trapani for round two of the 2013 RC44 Championship Tour. The teams spanning eight nations are ready for the first day of racing on Wednesday 1st May.

After an impressive start to the season in Muscat, Oman back in February, the Russian team Katusha will look to continue their excellent start to the season. With new tactician Andy Horton (USA) calling the shots, Katusha stand at the top of both the fleet and match racing tables after one of this five event series.

2012 RC44 Fleet Race Champions, Team Aqua are in second overall with Torbjorn Tornqvist’s (SWE) Artemis Racing in third. Paul Cayard (USA) will be the man stood by Tornqvist’s side this week in Italy, as the Swedish team’s longstanding tactician Morgan Larson (USA) competes in the next act of the Extreme Sailing Series in China.

Racing in home waters will be Massimo Barranco and his Team Italia, part of the team hosting the RC44 Trapani Cup with the Vela del Sud Sailing Team, a group who are devoted to creating an international yachting hub in Sicily. Trapani has a history of hosting top international yachting events, but wants to continue their long maritime tradition as Massimo Barranco explained.

“The fact that one of the most beautiful parts of our country, Sicily, and the splendid city of Trapani, with their long maritime tradition, have been chosen to host the second stage of the RC44 Championship Tour makes us very proud. Our seas will once again form the ideal backdrop for a premium international yachting event. The Trapani regatta is a great opportunity to find out all about the other aspects of our wonderfully warm and welcoming land, and to enjoy each and every moment to the full. Here in this rich and resourceful land is where the Vela del Sud Sailing Team was born, devoting its efforts to creating an international yachting hub in Sicily. It’s a tough challenge wich we have been building day after day along with all those who share our passion for this unique and compelling.”

Team Aqua’s tactician, Cameron Appleton gave an insight into the conditions he is expecting for this week’s racing at the RC44 Trapani Cup. “Statistically, we should have fairly strong winds but as always we never know, anything could happen. The teams haven’t sailed in a strong breeze for quite a while so it should be an interesting event. The first team that manages to adjust to the weather will be the one ahead of the pack!”

Even though the RC44 class has an owner driver rule for the fleet racing and 50% of the crews must be amateur, the competition is fierce. With teams arriving early in Trapani to get some extra practice in ahead of the event, “All the teams put a great effort into their sailing, and you clearly notice when a team changes something. Everyone takes their RC44 sailing very seriously and the level is so high. There is a huge amount of respect between the teams.” Appleton explains.

The strong Scerocco wind is due to settle before the first day of racing on Wednesday 1st May. Day one will see the annual Match Race Championship continue, before four days of fleet racing for the RC44 Trapani Cup.