New Zealand beat Artemis after earlier controversy

HAMILTON: Emirates Team New Zealand beat Artemis Racing on Tuesday in a rematch of their controversial America’s Cup encounter a day before, when the Swedish crew were incorrectly penalised.

The win gives the New Zealand challenger a fifth victory in their revolutionary catamaran, which features four cycling pedestals to give the sailors the power they need for the hydraulics which control the boats foils and “wing” sail.

Although Artemis had the better start and led for much of the race after a dramatic nosedive by the New Zealand crew plunged their cyclist sailors into the water, the Swedish team then lost ground with a tactical error that cost them the race.

Artemis had Monday’s head-tohead “match race” against New Zealand in the bag before they were penalised by the race umpire at the final mark and had to watch New Zealand sail past them.

The America’s Cup umpires later made the unusual move of admitting they had made a mistake and the race should have belonged to Artemis, but it was too late to change the result.

Winds of up to 16 knots in Bermuda’s Great Sound made for another great race between the blue and yellow 50-foot (15 metre) foiling catamaran of Artemis and the black, red and white New Zealand boat, which reached speeds of up to 40 knots.

Each of the six teams races the other twice in the head-to-head match race format, with a point for the winner. The challenger with the fewest points at the end of the qualifiers will not go through to the next semi-final round. Reuters