The AC... Now to the Challenger Finals..

Luna Rossa Challenge completed a 4-0 sweep of the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals Saturday by beating Artemis Racing by two minutes and 11 seconds.

Swept out of the LVC semi’s,0-4, the Artemis AC team was sent packing today, wondering just what in the hell happened in to them in this series, and their entire AC program. Today, forced and unforced errors sealed Artemis’ day and ultimately, their fate. Major props have to be given to Luna Rossa, who really sailed a good series. As for Artemis? When all said and done, there is really only one person responsible for the performance of the program: “CEO” Paul Cayard.

Pope Paul was a no show at the LVC press conference, a virtual no show during this entire beat down, and really, could not have been less impressive in nearly every way. From picking Juan K, to firing T Hutch, to dodging the the death of Bart Simpson, he has been a shallow and wooden anti-hero, looking and acting as if he wasn’t really there at all. A performance so bad as to be almost unbelievable. The team tried their best, but Cayard’s failures simply could not be overcome.

The Italians move on to face Emirates Team New Zealand in the challenger finals beginning Aug. 17.
It was an emotional finish for Artemis, which didn’t launch its boat until July 22 after its first boat wrecked May 9, resulting in the death of crew member Andrew “Bart” Simpson.

Moments after the race ended, team owner Torbjorn Tornqvist came aboard and embraced a distraught skipper Iain Percy and other members of the crew.

The team had demonstrated great heart in its efforts to overcome what turned out to be an insurmountable advantage by Luna Rossa. Artemis didn’t make its racing debut until the semifinals with just two weeks of practice on the foiling AC72.

There was confusion in the prestart. Initially, Luna Rossa and helmsman Chris Draper were given a penalty for a slight collision with Artemis. But the umpires decided that Artemis, on the downwind side of the tapping incident, should have given way. So the umpires turned on the penalty light in the Artemis boat moments into the second leg. Once Artemis slowed down to finish the penalty, Luna Rossa was in front.