Hyeres Completed

It was neither particularly pretty nor was it winning ugly, but Russell Coutts, skippering the crew of owner-helm Torbjorn Tornqvist’s Artemis, finally lifted the Breitling MedCup trophy on the final day of his third season competing on the world’s leading fleet racing circuit. A nervous tenth followed by a solid fifth was enough for Coutts and the hand- picked team on Artemis to clinch the 2007 Breitling MedCup Circuit. In a light easterly breeze with a 17 points cushion to protect Artemis made a shaky start to the first of two final windward leeward races. Forced to the wrong side of the left favoured track Coutts, Tornqvist and team rounded the first windward mark 13th, with only one boat behind them. They recovered two places on the second beat, and one on the final run. The second race start went marginally better, but with four boats recalled for jumping the start gun at the pin end of the line, Artemis effectively had the title secured by the first windward mark. With Swedish businessman Tornqvist driving the 2007 Judel Vrolijk design, and at least six present or past America’s Cup winners among the afterguard and crew, Artemis won the 2007 title by just eight points after 32 windward leeward races and six coastal races over the five series regattas this season. Winning the Hyères Trophy, Artemis became the fifth different boat to win a regatta overall this season after Bribon in Alicante, CxG Caixa Galicia in at Breitling Regatta, Siemens Matador in Copa del Rey, Palma and the outgoing 2006 champions Valle Romano Mean Machine in Portimao, Poretugal.