© 2012 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Sailing World's Dave Reed keeps a low profile on Artemis Racing's AC45.

After Artemis Racing handed France’s Energy Team its second match-race trouncing of the day in the opening matches of the America’s Cup World Series Newport, mathematically securing the circuit’s match-race title, Artemis skipper Terry Hutchinson exhaled deeply, releasing pent-up anxiety, and then quietly addressed his teammates, Sean Clarkson, Thierry Fouchier, Andy Feathers, and Julien Cressant.

“Not my finest day,” he confessed. “But great job every one.”

© Paul Todd/ Volvo Ocean Race

Groupama victorious in Lorient, France.

Groupama is the likely favorite to win the Volvo Ocean Race in early July with a current 23-point lead over second-place PUMA--but Franck Cammas is hardly ready to declare victory just yet. The French skipper says many things could still go wrong before he and Groupama become the second French skipper and team, respectively, to take the trophy since the first around-the-world race (the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race) began in 1974. 

A few years ago, a veteran America’s Cup headsail trimmer told me that he’d never really aspired to move any further back in the boat. He liked, he said, being in the engine room. It was a great quote and part of me understood exactly what he was saying.

But there was another part of me that didn’t completely buy it, and wondered if that was simply his rationalization for the fact that he’d found a niche where he could make a good living and that the risk/reward ratio in an attempt to move into the afterguard simply wasn’t promising.

© Max Bulger

Unpacking the boat at a fishing port in Istanbul.

Act 3 has arrived: Our team, boatbuilders, and containers all made it to Istanbul (relatively) intact. After a couple days of snapping everything together and knocking the rust off on the water, we have six races in the shadows of the Blue Mosque under our belts. As always with this fleet, things are happening quickly. It’s out of the frying pan that is the unpacking circus (not made easier by the rainstorm and lack of light that dominated our clean-up in Qingdao) and into the fire of racing.