August 26, 2012

  Photo:©2012 Guilain Grenier/Oracle Team USA

From America's Cup Event Authority:

  Photo:©2012 Guilain Grenier/Oracle Team USA

Large Crowds and Close Racing Mark Super Sunday at the AC World Series in San Francisco

Oracle Team USA today captured the two championships of AC World Series San Francisco, thrilling the capacity crowds who had front row seats to close-quarter, fast-paced racing on San Francisco Bay. 

The day began with Russell Coutts, the four-time America’s Cup winner, taking out teammate Jimmy Spithill in the Match Racing Championship.  In a race that saw the lead change hands three times, Coutts eked out a 1 second victory with both boats screaming across the finish line overlapped at 20-plus knots. 

Then, about 40 minutes later, Spithill found himself in another charge to the finish line.  This time he needed to overcome Team Korea (Nathan Outteridge) to capture the Fleet Racing and Event Championship. 

Watch a full replay of the day’s racing at the America’s Cup YouTube channel.

Spithill rounded the last mark slightly overlapped on Outteridge’s stern and then got a penalty on his rival skipper.  Outteridge was forced to slow down by the umpires, and Spithill sailed through to leeward and into second place for the race and a 1-point victory in the overall event standings. 

“This is a fantastic result for Oracle Team USA, to win the match racing, fleet racing and overall championship,” said Spithill, the reigning ACWS champion.  “I can’t emphasize how much the boys fought around the race track.  We battled our way back to the top in each event and were rewarded for it.”

The first AC World Series event in San Francisco, host city for the 2013 America’s Cup, was hailed as a success by Mayor Edwin M.  Lee, who presented the prizes to the top three crews in the Match Racing and Fleet Racing Championships. 

“This is the first of many races to come and we look forward to the second event (Oct.  2-7) when all of these teams will be back,” Lee said.  “Thank you to all of the teams for being here and to all of the city agencies who have worked in collaboration with the event.”

Local officials estimated that more than 150,000 people visited the AC Village at Marina Green over the course of the event.  Both of the ticketed seating areas were sold out each day, and Regatta Director Iain Murray said that a larger than expected spectator fleet turned out on the water to watch the racing. 

“The response from the public has exceeded our expectations,” said Stephen Barclay, the CEO of the 34th America’s Cup.  “This was our first event in San Francisco and our first opportunity to get a taste of racing the wingsail catamarans on the Bay.  It’s simply been wonderful for everyone involved.”

Throughout the week the fans were treated to racing within reaching distance of the shoreline.  They could listen to the sailors talking tactics on the water, and the sailors could hear them cheering and rooting.  The close racing continued today when both championships were decided by mere seconds. 

For Coutts, the match racing title was his second consecutive, coming on the heels of a victory in Newport at the beginning of July, which wrapped the 2011-12 racing season.  He has developed a fine touch for starting the AC45, which he displayed again today. 

“It’s been a fantastic event for our team,” said Coutts, the CEO of Oracle Team USA.  “To get both teams in the match racing final is a great result, and Jimmy and the boys continue to be superb.  It looked like the fans were having fun on the shore and that’s what it’s all about.  We were certainly having fun on the water.”

Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper) won the fleet race finale by 3 seconds over Spithill, who had sailed through Outteridge into second place.  As has become his custom, Draper was solid off the start line and steady around the racecourse. 

At one point the crew led by 200 meters approaching the second leeward gate, but they almost gave it all away when they nearly capsized on the finish line.  But the wingsail got eased just in time to avert disaster, and the finish gun fired a split-second after the windward hull slammed down into the water as the boat stabilized. 

“We’ve seen in last few days that people who’ve been doing high-speed boat racing all their life Nathan, myself, Yann (Guichard, Energy Team), and Jimmy, who has practiced here a lot – have done well,” said Draper.  “But everybody’s going to improve, so we can’t rest on our laurels.  We’ll train hard and come back in October with an eye towards winning.”

The next ACWS regatta in San Francisco is scheduled during Fleet Week, Oct. 2-7, when the ACWS fleet will share the Bay alongside the naval ships of the Pacific Fleet in one of the largest annual events held in San Francisco. 

AC World Series San Francisco Fleet Racing Championship Results

AC World Series San Francisco Race Day Five
Match Racing Final
Oracle Team USA Coutts beat Oracle Team USA Spithill, 1-0

AC World Series San Francisco Match Racing Championship
1.  Oracle Team USA Coutts
2.  Oracle Team USA Spithill
3.  Artemis Racing White
4.  Emirates Team New Zealand
5.  Energy Team
6.  Luna Rossa Piranha
7.  Luna Rossa Swordfish
8.  J.P.  Morgan BAR
9.  Team Korea
10.  China Team
11.  Artemis Racing Red

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From Artemis Racing:

  Photo:©2012 Guilain Grenier/Oracle Team USA

Grand Finale - 26 August 2012

It was a perfect day for racing on San Francisco Bay.

Oracle Team USA's two AC45s lined up for the Match Racing Finals.  It was America's Cup legend Russell Coutts who won the start off teammate Jimmy Spithill, and sailed a perfect race to win the title.

In the Super Sunday fleet race, Skipper Terry Hutchinson had a brilliant start and led the fleet for the first three legs before catching an anchor rode on the downwind near Fort Mason which cost Artemis Racing - White valuable places.  Luna Rossa - Piranha moved into the lead and stretched to win, with Oracle Team USA - Spithill just a split second behind.  Artemis Racing - White wrapped up the event 3rd overall in the Match Racing and 6th in the Fleet Racing, while Artemis Racing - Red was 9th in the fleet racing.

"Some highlights followed by some lowlights, unfortunately.  So, we have to continue to trust in ourselves and trust that we have the right process in place.  We put a lot of effort into getting off the start line leading up to this event, but all in all a bit disappointed having had the start we had today.  There's a lot of work to do and I can't say enough about the effort onboard," said Hutchinson at the conclusion of the America's Cup World Series San Francisco. 

The sailing team returns tonight to Alameda where the design and shore teams are putting the finishing touches on the Artemis Racing AC72.

AC45 action will return to Marina Green from 2-6 October for the next America's Cup World Series event, which takes place during San Francisco Bay's famous Fleet Week.

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From J.P.Morgan/Ben Ainslie Racing

Photo:©2012 Guilain Grenier/Oracle Team USA
 

Ben Ainslie Blog: Harder Than It Looks

The end of our first week in the Americas Cup World Series and I feel like we’re going out on a high.  OK, we didn’t get onto the podium and some may question whether our final position lived up to expectations.  But I can tell you from my perspective I’m really pleased at how things went.  Of course our longer term view is to be at the front of the fleet but it is very early days and I feel that I’ve learned a great deal in a short space of time.  Today’s race was a great way to finish a challenging week.

I couldn’t expected too much from my first venture into this world and I had to keep telling myself that, but any competitive sailor would be the same, once you get stuck in you always want to do better.  But today was a massive step up.  We had Simeon Tienpont back on the bow and that did make a difference to our boat handling.  Brad Webb has done a superb job for us all week and I’m very grateful for his help while Simeon has been sick, but the fact is that Simeon is a bigger more powerful guy and on a breezy day that made a difference.

Boathandling-wise we made a massive step up today and that’s given me a good deal more confidence about moving forwards now.

I will admit to being a bit apprehensive about today.  The forecast was for a fair bit of wind with the tide running against it, similar conditions to the practice week in which five boats capsized.  In a fleet race you end up pushing even harder than normal, whether you want to or not, so the potential for a capsize was a real one today.  Add to this the fact that I just don’t’ yet know where the limit is with these boats and I suppose it is hardly surprising that I feel a bit out of my comfort zone.  I’ve spent so much time in the Finn that I guess I take for granted the fact that I know the boat so well I don’t even think about it.  Here it’s been very different.  As it turned out we didn’t have any dodgy moments at all today which is down to the guys on board who did a superb job.

I knew that sailing these boats would be really tough physically, especially for the crew.  From a sailing point of view I’ve been watching quite a few videos of the racing for a while now, knowing that I would be involved.  What has struck me is the difference between what I thought was obvious and what it feels like on board.  You look at people making mistakes and question why they are doing that, surely it’s obvious?  But now I can tell you for sure, when you’re on the boat it’s not that easy.  In fact it’s really hard.  You can’t just tack on a shift or pop in a maneuver.

It really is a lot harder than it looks on the telly, but I’m also really enjoying it.

Thanks for the support

Ben

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