America's Cup 2013 - Oracle Team USA and ETNZ in Pre-Match Press Conference

America's Cup 2013: Pre-Match Press Conference
Oracle Team USA and ETNZ Get Set to Race

Defender and Challenger Ready to Race in America's Cup Match
Focus Turns to Competition in Pre-Match Press Conference

San Francisco, September 5, 2013


	Defender and Challenger training on Thursday. Image:©2013 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

When the questions were tallied, there may actually have been more inquires about the impending start of the 34th America’s Cup regatta than there were about the recent “Weight Gate” scandal, but not enough for either Oracle Team USA’s Jimmy Spithill or Emirates Team New Zealand’s Dean Barker.

The two skippers, along with Oracle tactician John Kostecki and ETNZ trimmer Glenn Ashby, maintained their usual stoic exteriors, only breaking out in laughter when Ashby, asked about the similarities between the two skippers he schooled in multihulls, replied “they both want to kill each other.” All joking aside, it was obvious that both skippers wanted to put the scandal and penalties behind them and focus on what could prove to be one of the most exciting America’s Cup Matches in recent history.

Oracle will begin the needing 11 victories to keep the Cup as opposed to the nine wins ETNZ needs to take it away, and a new sailor will be trimming the giant catamaran wing (Kyle Langford replacing the ousted Dirk de Ridder), but Spithill hopes the home-field advantage will work in the team’s favor.

“We’ve been most successful in the US events and I think the reason for that is because we’ve had the people behind us,” said Spithill. “It’s hard to put a value on a ‘hometown advantage’ like the Giants or the 49ers have here, but it’s a big deal. If there was ever a time for the people of San Francisco and the people throughout the United States to get behind us, it’s now. We’ve faced a lot of challenges as a team and that gives us confidence, but if we can have the hometown crowd behind us, it will be critical. We want to keep the Cup here.

“This hasn’t been the ideal preparation, with what’s transpired, but we’re here to race and I think we’ve proved we can be pretty successful out on the water. There’s nothing I can do to change the jury decision. We’ve got 130 extremely committed people here and I’m proud of them. We’ve been sitting here listening to a lot of stuff and now it’s time to go on the water. We’ve got one thing to focus on and for the entire team, the only thing we’re thinking about is getting out there and racing these guys.”

“These guys” are the Kiwi team whose outspoken leader, Grant Dalton, was absent from the morning’s proceedings as the team prepares for its last testing day. For Kiwi skipper Dean Barker the winning equation has not changed for his team since this America’s Cup was first announced.

“It’s exactly as it was two years ago,” said Barker. “We have to win nine races. We’re happy with our preparation, but if we’re not fast enough, we’re not fast enough. It’s no more complicated than that. We’ve had 100 days sailing this boat, but you can always do things better. A lot of the decisions in hindsight we would have made a lot differently. It’s a very complex boat but you have to race with what you’ve got and we’ve improved our boat’s performance from the start.

“The development of both team’s boats comes at the pointy end of the spear. We’ve come from one direction, they’ve come from the other, but foil-wise and aerodynamically the boats are very evenly matched. And the sailing teams are quite evenly matched as well. Hopefully our time on the water will be an advantage. It’s a development class, but at the end of the day the racing will be pretty fierce and good maneuvers and good boat handling will bring the opportunities to pass. Having high corner speeds, like in any racing environment, are where passes can be made.”

John Kostecki has been competing in San Francisco his entire life -- it is likely there is no one on either team who knows more about the nuances involved in racing in the Bay Area. Kostecki has been looking forward to this day for a long time.

“It’s fantastic to have the America’s Cup here on the waters I grew up sailing on,” said Kostecki. ”When we won this trophy three years ago, it was a dream come true for me and when the team chose San Francisco as the venue, it was an incredible decision. Now it’s time to race and it’s actually happening here in San Francisco. It’s an incredible venue, with great sea breezes and tricky course conditions with currents that change every day. And you can view the race course from all over the Bay area. Personally I think it’s one of the best venues in the world for this type of event and we’re looking forward to putting on a good show.”

For Glenn Ashby, the young Australian who has 14 world championships in several different multihull classes to his name, the excitement factor in this America’s Cup was kicked up beyond measure when the new AC72 was introduced. Ashby hopes for the same thing sailing fans around the world are hoping for -- that this Cup ends up being a real sailing contest.

“We’ve got the two most technologically advanced pieces of yachting machinery coming at each other for the very first time,” Ashby said, smiling. “If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.”

The Formalities:

Emirates Team New Zealand chose port entry for Race 1.

Oracle Team USA chose port entry for Race 2.

Oracle Team USA has named boat number two as their race boat

Additional Links and Info:

Where to Watch the America's Cup, TV and Internet Options