Welcome to sailing day 12 of the 35th America’s Cup, presented by Louis Vuitton.

This is the first day of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Play-off Finals.

Three races are scheduled between Artemis Racing, who won their semi-final by a 5-3 score against SoftBank Team Japan, and Emirates Team New Zealand, who beat Land Rover BAR 5-2.

This is the first-to-five-point series to determine who will face America’s Cup defender Oracle Team USA in the Match starting next Saturday.

Saturday preview

Emirates Team New Zealand have to be the favourites going into this series to determine the challenger to race Oracle Team USA for the 35th America’s Cup. The Kiwis have been fast and focused on winning.

But Artemis have won four in a row in a tough series. Team New Zealand had a pitch-pole loss and two of their wins over BAR came because of a breakdown on the British boat. New Zealand will be pushing hard in their very fast boat and sailing on the edge may be dangerous in this series. They know what happens when they pop a rudder ... the bow goes down.

Winds for today and tomorrow are predicted to be southwest to south at 9-10kts and on Monday down around 4-5 kts.

If the series goes past the weekend, wind will be a problem. But the event has open days between Monday and the beginning of the America’s Cup Match next Saturday.

The teams will alternate their side of entry, with Artemis having a port-tack entry for their first start of the day.

Weather

Bermuda Weather predicts a breezy morning with south-southwesterly breezes at 12 to 18 knots, but expect it will drop into the 8—12kt range for race time and veer southwesterly.

Schedule

Defender Access Period (11am—1pm)

Finals, Race 1: Artemis Racing v Emirates Team New Zealand (2.12pm)

Finals, Race 2: Emirates Team New Zealand v Artemis Racing (2.51pm)

Finals, Race 3: Artemis Racing v Emirates Team New Zealand (3.30pm)

Friday review

Wow, what a great comeback performance by Artemis Racing. Nathan and Iain and crew took four straight races to defeat SoftBank Team Japan 5-3. The Swedes earned their slot the hard way. And here they are as expected during practice, a Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Play-off finalist. They will now face Emirates Team New Zealand in the best-of-nine series with three starts scheduled today, three tomorrow and three on Monday if necessary.

Winning wasn’t easy for Outteridge and his team. Racing in 19 to 22 knots and choppy seas, the pre-start was a much different scene as Barker and Outteridge aggressively manoeuvred the America’s Cup Class boats before the advantage went to Barker with a well-timed start.

Japan barely led as the pair neared the left boundary on Leg 3, the first upwind leg, and prepared to tack, Outteridge went on the offensive as soon as he saw SoftBank Team Japan fumble slightly. Artemis dipped below, to leeward, of the Japanese boat and then pushed them up near head-to-wind. It was just the passing lane the Swedes needed to take control. They passed Team Japan and kept the lead for the win.