Protest controversy for Coutts

As Artemis misses a mark in the coastal races of the TP52's Trofeo Alicante

With the 28 mile coastal race offering double points there was no room for errors today at the Breitling MedCup's Trofeo Alicante, however this is exactly what occurred for the two boats topping the leaderboard going into today's racing.

Artemis the Swedish boat skippered by three times America's Cup winner Russell Coutts built a lead of over two and half minutes around the inshore course that took the fleet out from Alicante Bay around the Tabarca islands. But on the downwind sprint to the finish Artemis failed to pass to starboard of the final mark of the course before crossing the finish line and was subsequently disqualified from the race.

Artemis was protested by the race committee for their error and after a long and drawn out deliberation for what appeared to be a fairly straightforward misdemeanour, initially they were disqualified from both their two points earned for winning the race and passing the midpoint scoring gate in first. But the case was almost immediately re-opened when Coutts counter protested for the jury's interpretation of the sailing instructions and Notice of Race. They re-convened, maintained they made a mistake and Artemis was reinstated as first for the first part of the race.

The international jury statement said: "The international jury disqualified SWE11152 in race 4 that is scored in two parts. SWE11152 requested re-opening the hearing on the grounds that International Jury made an error in interpreting SI16.2 and applying the penalty to both parts of the race 4. International Jury considered it may have done an error and reopened the case."

Their conclusion is that: "There is a possibility that SI 16.2 and NoR 11.2 is interpreted differently. Jury decided that the coastal race consists of two independent races scored separately."

The jury elected to change their previous decision and have reinstated Artemis. "SWE 11152 is scored DSQ in the second part of the race 4 and her score in the first part of race 4 is her actual crossing position at Middle Waypoint Gate."

Yet their decision still seemingly quotes Artemis as being disqualified from Race 4, when it is actually scored as Race 5 - as per the regatta scoring. When the commonly held interpretation among the fleet going into these two part coastal races has been that both parts of the race have to be completed to earn any points, it seems unlikely that the matter is closed.

The current outcome is that instead of sitting atop the fleet with a hefty 13 points cushion for what seemed like a good day's work, Artemis now lie sixth, 11 points behind overall leaders Caixa Galicia.

"The jury made their decision and we have to stand by that. They are the governors of the sport and we made a mistake and stand by their decision absolutely and we have to," said Coutts before launching Artemis' counter-protest.

The problems for erstwhile series leaders, Ian Walker and the crew of Patches, were summary and not open to such interpretations. Their mainsail halyard lock had malfunctioned prior to the start. They thought they could sail on using their main halyard but this proved not man enough for the job. On the first beat the halyard broke. The Irish TP 52 lost three minutes with their mainsail as bowman Freddy Shanks was sent aloft to fashion a repair. They passed the scoring gate in 18th and had worked back to cross the finish in 13th and now lie seventh.



"It is a new system and it failed, but fair play to the lads - they worked really hard and we got back into it," said Eamon Conneely. "When we got sorted out we were two minutes behind the last boat so I think we did well to get to where we finished, and certainly the boat seems quick enough."

The combination of a new boat in their Botin & Carkeek designed Longitude 0 built Caixa Galicia and a TP52 core crew who have been on the circuit since the beginning in 2005, is proving a potent one. Roberto Bermudez's team, with John Kostecki calling tactics, currently top the standings after scoring 11 points from the coastal race today, eighth at the gate and then third at the finish.



Elevated to victory in the second part of the coastal race, thanks to Artemis' DSQs, was Fernando Leon and Kiko Sanchez's new Botin & Carkeek sistership to Caixa, CAM, which now lies fourth overall. "The most important thing today was getting a good start, which we did with Artemis to the left of us and the Russian boat. We got round the windward mark just behind Artemis," recalled Leon, Spain's 1996 Tornado gold medallist.

"My tactician (Santi Lopez) and I were sure there was more wind on the left, that was our decision," Leon continued. "I think we were a little slow compared with Artemis downwind, but we are very good in medium conditions but we have work to do, and have only been sailing the boat for a few days and I think we need to do more sailing in these kind of heavy conditions."

Lying second overall at the moment is Jose Cusi's new Bribon, again a strong debut for a boat which has just been completed in the last few days. "We got the start we wanted. It is so important to be in the first pack off the line so overall we are pretty happy with where we are. We have a bit of tuning still to do in the stronger winds," reported Bribon's towering Dutch navigator Marcel van Triest. "There are many other factors than just new boats. For example some teams may have been doing work with heavy jibs and chutes but I think when we get more typical Mediterranean light airs conditions it will even out."

Results:

Pos	Boat	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Tot
1	CxG Corporación CaixaGalicia	ESP	3	4	11	8	3	29
2	BRIBON	ESP	6	2	14	5	4	31
3	SIEMENS	ARG	10	14	5	3	2	34
4	CAM, Caja Mediterráneo	ESP	15	3	15	2	1	36
5	Mutua Madrileña	ESP	8	9	8	7	5	37
6	Artemis	SWE	11	1	3	1	24 DSQ	40
7	Valle Romano - Mean Machine	MON	16	7	1	10	7	41
8	Patches	IRE	5	5	2	18	12	42
9	PLATOON	GER	4	13	17	6	8	48
10	BALEARIA	ESP	1	10	12	12	14	49
11	ANONIMO Q8	ITA	2	17	6	11	15	51
12	Stay Calm	GBR	17	18	4	9	9	57
13	Cristabella	GBR	7	8	9	20	13	57
14	RUSAL - Synergy	RUS	12	21	18	4	6	61
15	Bigamist 6	POR	21	12	10	13	10	66
16	ONO	ESP	14	6	7	21	19	67
17	Bambakou	USA	13	11	13	17	16	70
18	WINDQUEST	USA	18	20	19	14	11	82
19	AIFOS	ESP	9	22	22	19	17	89
20	Tau ceramica-Andalucia	ESP	19	16	20	16	22	93
21	VALARS	RUS	20	23	21	15	18	97
22	C-Quadrat - Aspecta ASTRO	AUS	23	15	16	23	20	97
23	Glory	USA	22	19	24 DNF	22	21	108

More photos on page 2....