April 12, 2011

 Kiwis, Piranhas, and Swordfish: Emirates and Luna Rossa dominated much of Day 2's racing. Photo:©2012 Chris Cameron/ETNZ

From America's Cup Event Authority:

Emirates Team New Zealand Dominates on Day Two

Luna Rossa performs well in front of large crowds in Naples

America’s Cup World Series leading skipper Dean Barker showed his Emirates Team New Zealand remains the class of the fleet by winning both fleet races on Thursday.  In scoring two victories, Barker now sits clear ahead of his rival James Spithill by a whopping 9 points on the Naples leaderboard.

The local favorites, the two Luna Rossa Challenge crews, also had a good afternoon in the beautiful sea breeze conditions just off the sea front of Naples, with each crew earning a second place finish. 

“That’s more like what we prepared for.  The boys sailed awesomely today, the boat handling was epic,” said Chris Draper, the helmsman on Luna Rossa Piranha, who scored a 2-3 this afternoon.  “We’re really pleased.”

Crowds lined the waterfront on this sunny afternoon to watch the racing, with the finish line just meters from the shore. 

“The people of Naples are really turning out in force to support us,” Barker said, as he and his crew saluted the crowd after finishing.  “If this is what happens on Thursday, I can only imagine what we’ll see on the weekend.”

Before the fleet races today, three matches were sailed, one of which pitted the two Oracle Racing teams against each other.  On this day, it was Bundock winning over Spithill, an upset of the form guide. 

“We were up against the winner of the America’s Cup, so to walk away with his scalp was great,” skipper Darren Bundock said with enthusiasm.  “It pushes us straight through to the semi finals, so we’re looking good in the match racing.”

Artemis Racing and Luna Rossa Piranha were the other match race winners and both will advance to the next stage of the competition; the losers in each match have been knocked out and assigned a final finishing position. 

The teams also completed the ‘spare’ race on Thursday afternoon.  This fleet race will only be scored if there is no racing on Sunday.  In that case, the race will be broadcast on Sunday afternoon and reported on at that time. 

The program for Friday starts with Match Racing followed by two Fleet Races.  The start of the first match is scheduled for 1330 CEST. 

Fleet Racing Championship - Provisional Standings Day Two (after four races):

1.  Emirates Team New Zealand (Skipper: Dean Barker); 38 points
2.  Oracle Racing - Spithill (Skipper: James Spithill); 29 points
3.  Luna Rossa - Piranha (Helmsman: Chris Draper); 27 points
4.  Team Korea (Skipper: Nathan Outteridge); 27 points
5.  Energy Team (Skipper: Yann Guichard); 25 points
6.  Luna Rossa - Swordfish (Helmsman: Paul Campbell-James); 24 points
7.  Oracle Racing - Bundock (Skipper: Darren Bundock); 16 points
8.  Artemis Racing (Skipper: Terry Hutchinson); 12 points
9.  China Team (Skipper: Fred Le Peutrec); 4 points

back to top
 

From Oracle Racing:

Oracle Racing Bundock Wins Faceoff Against Stablemate

Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Sailing today on a relatively calm Bay of Naples, Oracle Racing Bundock advanced to the semifinal round of the ACWS Naples Match Racing Championship by defeating stable mate Oracle Racing Spithill. 

The two crews have spent hours training and testing against each other on San Francisco Bay, where the America’s Cup will be staged in 2013.  Today the friendly rivalry turned fierce with the added dimension of points for the ACWS Overall Championship at stake.

“I suppose we can thank the shore crew for the victory against Jimmy,” said skipper Darren Bundock.  “We’re very happy to walk away with the win from that one.  I guess it’s all that training they’ve given us the past couple months.”

That Bundock’s boat No. 5 even made the start was a testament to the Oracle Racing Shore Team.  In yesterday’s racing the No. 5 boat was damaged in the rough seaway when a crack developed around a deck hatch.  The shore team, led by Andrew Henderson and including “The Three A’s” Andrew Walkeer, Aaron Hunter and Andrew Rhodes pulled an all-nighter to complete the repair job, which required grinding, new core sections and laminating.

No one was quite certain if the boat would be ready until the heat guns were turned up at full blast about an hour before the start of the race to accelerate the laminate curing process.

“Lucky for us the shore crew did a fantastic job overnight.  They had four repairs to make: two cracks in the hull and a little damage from a RIB when we came dockside,” said Bundock.  “Probably an hour before the race start they still had the heat guns going to set the carbon off.  It was all touch and go, but lucky for us they got us out there.”

Besides the four cracks on Oracle Racing Bundock, the shore crew also had to repair some broken frames in Spithill’s wingsail.

--©2012 Oracle Racing

back to top

From Emirates Team New Zealand:

Barker Top of the Leaderboard

Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Emirates Team New Zealand is leading on points after four fleet races at the Americas Cup World Series Naples regatta.  Starting the day equal first with Oracle Racing 4, Barker began where he left off yesterday -- with a win.  The team’s scoreline for Naples reads 8,10,10,10, which translates to 38 points on the regatta leader board, nine ahead of Oracle Racing 4, skippered by James Spithill.

Skipper Dean Barker said the team’s crew-work today was excellent:  "I think we stepped up from yesterday.  With conditions sharply different from yesterday eight to 12 knots and flat water life on board was much easier and we made the most of it.  The boys we slick in all the maneuvers and boat speed felt good."

Today’s first race saw Emirates Team New Zealand get away cleanly and lead around the first mark, get clear air and sail away.  Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby, Ray Davies, Jeremy Lomas and James Dagg were never troubled.  They sailed a faultless race, extending on every leg and finished 2m27s ahead of Luna Rossa P with a procession following in quick succession Artemis 2m33s and Oracle Racing 5 2m45s.

The second race was almost a carbon copy of the first with the exception of the lacings at the first mark.  Emirates Team New Zealand was second around, chasing Luna Rossa Swordfish.  On the run they rolled the Italians rounded the leeward gate in first place and were never headed.  At the finish Barker was 45s ahead of the Luna Rossa S with Luna Rossa P 1m16s.

back to top
 

From Artemis Racing:

Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Day 2 Report

It was a full team effort to repair and replace the severely damaged wing to get Artemis Racing back out on the water today following on from yesterdays capsize.

Leaving the dock this morning Skipper Terry Hutchinson said: "We're a little bit tired.  But happy we have a wing back in the boat.  Hats off to the guys for the effort that they put in last night.  The shore crew worked from about 1800 onwards for the whole night.”

In the first match race of the event, Hutchinson led the team to a clear victory over the Chinese.  Artemis Racing will now line up against number one ranked Emirates Team New Zealand tomorrow morning for a slot in Saturdays semi-finals.

In the fleet racing, the team took a third place, followed by seventh having incurred a penalty in a tussle with Team Korea.

“We were going well today, but in the second race we copped a penalty, although we were quite a distance from them.  Looking forward to racing again tomorrow,” said Hutchinson.

Racing continues tomorrow through Sunday at the Americas Cup World Series in Naples.

back to top

 

Additional Links and Info:

Visit Official America's Cup website
 

CupInfo Home

Inquiries please contact: