Peachy Ahoy: Iain Percy: "This is the most charged, amazing racing you’ll see, it blows me away."
The message from Artemis Racing’s Team Manager and Tactician Iain Percy, moments after the Swedish team were eliminated from the 35th America’s Cup following a 5-2 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs Finals defeat to Peter Burling’s Emirates Team New Zealand yesterday (Monday 12th June).
Defeat to the Kiwis brought an end to Artemis Racing’s hopes of challenging ORACLE TEAM USA for the ‘Auld Mug’, as they narrowly missed out on a place in the America’s Cup Match, presented by Louis Vuitton.
However, while naturally disappointed, Percy is confident that with the continued support of Torbjörn Törnqvist (Artemis Racing Team Principal) and their ‘unique’ team spirit, the Swedish team will be back for another assault on the oldest trophy in international sport, even if that doesn’t include him.
“I can be philosophical about our journey,” said the 41-year-old, whose partner is due to give birth imminently to their first child.
“We are all competitors and it is tough to lose. We lost to a great team but it has been three years since we were in a very different place.
“Competitively we were a long way behind and to see where we are now, right there with ORACLE TEAM USA and Emirates Team New Zealand, takes a monumental effort.
“We’ve closed the gap, I would have liked to have closed it more and felt we could, but it wasn’t to be this time.
“It doesn’t just happen like that, there’s been hundreds of people in our team working full on for three years to get us to this stage and so I feel immense pride, but also disappointment.
“I think our owners are also a pretty special part of what we are about.
“There’s not many people like Torbjörn in the world who have been that successful, so for me personally it’s really important to have him.
“Also, it is always about your teammates and the group you are with. We moved to a new country and lived with each other day in and day out. There are one hundred people who share this passion to win this crazy trophy, so it has to be about your team mates.
“As team spirit goes, I think it is pretty hard to beat Artemis Racing, it is unique. We are very much a family here and we are all proud of our efforts.
“Torbjörn has enjoyed this campaign a lot but he is a competitor too and wants to win. However he can see the trajectory of our improvement compared to ORACLE TEAM USA and Emirates Team New Zealand and he can see we’ve made massive inroads.
“If you follow that path up it is only going one way. He has amazing faith in us and I’d be amazed if he doesn’t want to take at least one more go at this old trophy.
Speaking about next steps for himself, Iain said, “Age definitely catches up with you and I’m not sure it would solely be my decision if I continue, it would be more Nathan’s (Nathan Outteridge-Artemis Racing helmsman) call if I’ll be continuing or not. What I care about is Artemis Racing as a team.”
While his own future may remain unclear, one thing Percy is certain about is the incredible spectacle that he has helped be a part of and his hopes for how it continues in the years to come.
“I think this has been the best sport, not just sailing, the best sport there's been on television, ever. It’s the most charged amazing racing you’ll see, it blows me away,” added the British double Olympic champion on the 35th America’s Cup.
“I like watching a Formula 1 race but you pretty much know who is going to win from half way through - not in this! You've got the wind, you've got every manuevre, its so difficult to do - it's unbelievable"
“Being part of it you realise how special it is. It has been awesome and if we carry on with this format, sailing is going to be one of the best sports to watch over the next 20 years.”
