Day 7 Match Racing Championship:
Match Racing Qualifying and Semi-Final #1

Team Korea charged their way up the Qualifying brackets Friday, knocking off China, Oracle (Spithill), and Energy for a trip to the Semifinals.
Photo:©2011 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Even when trailing, Russell Coutts dipped into his match racing tool box and went to work on Dean Barker, but it wasn't enough to keep the Kiwis down.  ETNZ won Semi-Final #1 by a score of 2 races to 1, advancing to the Final on Saturday against either Artemis or Team Korea.

A Tale of Three Races, Friday.  Despite two penalties in the pre-start, Oracle with Russell Coutts at the helm scrambled back to win Race 1 only to lose the next two races, and the series, to Dean Barker's boys. 
Photos(2):©2011 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

The action between Barker and Coutts was some of the best of the America's Cup World Series to date, with multiple penalties and a collision before the first gun had even sounded.  Well, not the gun but the first electronic signal, but you get the idea.  Oracle5 sailed from behind to in front anyway to win Race 1.  Just when Coutts looked to have Race 2 in hand, though, Barker on ETNZ got ahead, kept finding better wind at the right times, and carved out a win in Race Two, and again in Race Three.

Read CupInfo's Day 7 Report

Match Racing Championship:
Regatta Day 6 - Second Seeding Day

Thursday Racing

China finished third in Race 3, their best placement of the regatta in Plymouth to date. Photo:©2011 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Read CupInfo's Day 6 Report

Match Racing Championship:
Regatta Day 5 - First Seeding Day

Wednesday Racing

Artemis doubled-down on Wednesday, jumping to the top of the standings with two first place finishes. Photo:©2011 ACEA/Ricardo Pinto

ACWS Plymouth Day 2

Click image to watch video highlights of the cats going all the way. Image:©2011 ACEA

Spectacular racing Sunday, at least for the half of the fleet that stayed upright.  The America's Cup World Series in Plymouth saw some incredible action, maybe even too much of it for some teams with three of the nine entries not even finishing the race.  Aleph, Korea, and GreenComm capsized, while Artemis withdrew after damaging their wing. 

Conditions were challenging for multihulls Sunday, with several boats getting overwhelmed when hit by strong gusts or tripped up by maneuvers that would have been fine in more stable weather.  Adding to the complexity, even though these are talented sailors, many come from the monohull world and are still learning the dynamics involved in heavy weather multihull sailing.

The finish order showed Oracle and ETNZ sharing the top three spots again, followed by Energy, China, and Korea (after righting their boat).  Match Race Championship Qualifying begins when racing resumes Wednesday.

Read CupInfo's Day 2 Report

Every which way but up. Click image to enlarge and see gallery.
Photo:©2011 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Loïck Peyron of Energy Team, one of the most accomplished multihull skippers in the world, had the benefit of being a veteran at this sort of thing.  "It was difficult going around the corners today," said Peyron.  "The experienced multihull sailor in me was telling me to back off a bit, to avoid breakage and sail in 'offshore' mode.  I don't regret it because our boat is intact whereas others are having to make repairs.  I have experienced too many disasters in multihulls not to be affected."

Read more quotes at Americascup.com (unavailable)