Artemis Racing skipper Terry Hutchinson rallied from two disappointing days of sailing Saturday, winning one of the two fleet races and topping France’s Energy Team to advance to Sunday’s match race final at the America’s Cup World Series stop in Venice.

With the shoreline crowded with thousands of spectators, Hutchinson was able to master the tight, tactical racing required on Venice’s canal course – sailing‘s equivalent of NASCAR’s short track racing.

Hutchinson came in fifth in the opening fleet race, but took control of the day’s second race early and never looked back .

“It was hard work,” a relieved Hutchinson said following the race. “The guys on board today have done really good work. It was a tough night's sleep last night because I knew I'd let us down yesterday, so it's nice to get it right today. It was an absolute fight the entire time, but the guys did their work really well.”

Luna Rossa Swordfish pleased the local crowds by winning the first fleet race and momentarily grabbing the overall lead in the regatta. But the early heroes fell to the back of the fleet in race two, allowing Loick Peyron’s Energy Team to retain overall leadership heading into Sunday’s final race.

Later in the afternoon, Artemis Racing and Luna Rossa - Piranha advanced to the Final of the Match Racing Championship. Both teams are now in position to ‘win the double’ if they can capture both the Fleet and Match Racing Championships on Sunday.

Saturday’s racing also proved to be a day of redemption for San Francisco-based Oracle Jimmy Spithill, who came in with a second and third place finish. However, his team pushed Luna Rossa - Piranha to the limit in the best-of-three match race semifinals but fell short.

“We sailed better today, particularly downwind,” said Spithill. “The match racing was unfortunate. We had our chances, but to be honest we weren’t good enough.”

The weekend continued to be one to forget for Spithill’s stablemate – Oracle Team USA Bundock – who remained mired in eighth place.

“It was a pretty disappointing day, frustrating in fact because it’s not the result we want or we're used to,” said Bundock. “Yes, we’ve had some crew changes and most of the other teams have been pretty consistent, so that's probably a factor.”

“But we haven't been getting off the start line well,” he continued. “It's a very tight space and here in the Canal there is a current which sweeps you towards the line. Once you're behind, the course was pretty much a one way track up and down the boundary, so the opportunities were minimal.”

The Venice Fleet title will be determined in the seventh and final race while speed trial titles and the match crown will also be determined Sunday.

“The way the points work in the fleet racing it's all about tomorrow,” said Team Korea’s Nathan Outteridge, currently in seventh place, but still with a chance winning overall on Sunday. “We've learned a lot this week and it's all about going high risk tomorrow. I think everyone will have the same attitude. We haven't been dialing up the risk enough yet. You dial it up, and you're either going to get it right or wrong… that’s what we’ve got to do tomorrow.”