May 18, 2012

 Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

From America's Cup Event Authority:

Local Heroes in Historic Venice

Both Luna Rossa Teams Win for Home Crowd

The America’s Cup World Series fleet raced on the Grand Canal of Venice Friday, the historic waters becoming a proving ground for some of the best sailors in the world.  Each of the two Luna Rossa crews rose to the occasion, recording a race win, pleasing the local spectators who were out in force both on shore and on the water. 

"Today has been a great day for us, with two victories,” said team skipper Max Sirena.  “But we want to keep our feet on the ground and look ahead to the next two days.  There are still many points to be gained and we need to approach it in the right way.”

While conditions were perfect for racing, with moderate 8-10 knot sea breezes, the challenge came from the narrow, restricted race course, which was shoe-horned into the canal.  This forced the boats close together and the crews were obliged to execute an unprecedented number of tacks and gybes as they zigzagged up and down the track. 

“The boats are so physically taxing on the guys, it is literally a flogging,” said Kiwi skipper Dean Barker, who agrees that the helmsman has the ‘easy’ job on board.  His team sits in fourth place on a tight leaderboard.  “You can’t but help but feel sorry for the other guys.  At the end of the race their tongues are hanging out and they’re completely spent.”

Loïck Peyron’s Energy Team retained their position at the top of the Fleet Racing leaderboard, but not without some nervous moments.  The team was in last place at the first two marks of the second race, before making a spectacular comeback on the next leg of the course to round in second place, a position they protected all the way to the finish, maintaining their consistent finishes to date.

The race course, at its narrowest, was only 140 meters, meaning at times crews would barely have trimmed on a sail before they had to make another maneuver.  But the smaller field of play made for incredible spectator opportunities, with hundreds of boats lining the course, and thousands more taking in the action from the shore. 

“The Italian people love sailing, they love the America's Cup, and they love Luna Rossa,” Sirena said.  “It was amazing how many people there were and how many boats we had on the water.  And on Saturday there will be even more!”

Today’s Match Racing did not take place as scheduled.  The Semi Finals are rescheduled to Saturday, and will take place following the Fleet Races 5 and 6.

Fleet Racing Championship Provisional Leaderboard (after four races)
1.  Energy Team 35 points
2.  Luna Rossa Swordfish 31 points
3.  Luna Rossa Piranha 29 points
4.  Emirates Team New Zealand 29 points
5.  Team Korea 26 points
6.?Oracle Team USA Spithill 21 points
7.  Artemis Racing 21 points
8.  Oracle Team USA Bundock 16 points
9.  China Team 8 points

Match Racing Championship Semi Final Results
The winners of the Quarter Finals advanced to the ‘best of three’ Semi Finals.  No match races were sailed on Friday.  The losers of the Quarter Final have been assigned final finishing positions (5th to 9th) in the Match Racing Championship as per the Sailing Instructions.

5.  Emirates Team New Zealand
6.  Team Korea
7.  Luna Rossa Swordfish
8.  Oracle Team USA Bundock
9.  China Team

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From Oracle Team USA:

Oracle Team USA Short Course Racing

Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Oracle Team USA Spithill captured third in today’s second fleet race at ACWS Venice and now stands sixth on the leaderboard after the first four races.

Teammate Oracle Team USA Bundock holds eighth in the standings at the regatta that has seen the team’s two crews off to an uneven performance.

“Both our boats are struggling at the moment,” said boat No.  5 skipper Darren Bundock.  “We have done a lot of crew changes, trying to change things around and move some of the guys who'll be on the AC72 involved in some of the World Series racing.  We're obviously paying for that at the moment.”

Racing today was on the San Marco racecourse, inside the lagoon between the island of Lido, the basin San Marco and Punta della Dogana with the finish line placed off St Mark’s Square.  The boundaries were so tight that crews were tacking or jibing every 30 to 90 seconds it seemed at times.

“It was an inconsistent day for us and we had some poor starts,” conceded John Kostecki, tactician on Oracle Team USA Spithill.  “The Grand Canal race was tight.  It felt like a race and workout all at the same time.”

Yet the tight racecourse also provided some thrilling racing.  In the second race, aerial views showed the two Oracle Team USA AC45s trading jibes and weaving between the two Luna Rossa yachts.

The water-borne ballet approaching the leeward mark suddenly became crowded when Energy Team and Emirates Team New Zealand charged up from behind in a fresh puff of wind and disrupted the elegant symmetry of the top four.

The crews performed countless maneuvers today as they tried to stay off the boundaries.  Race 2 was so physical that Luna Rossa Piranha crewman David Carr was physically sick afterwards.

“Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries.  It was a tough day,” said Bundock.  “Lots of tacks, lots of jibes, getting bounced around a lot it was a really tight course.  You couldn't really stretch your legs at all.  You couldn't get away from other boats and when you were in the middle of pack, you just got bounced around.  We had chance in one race, had a great start, but just munched downwind and ended up going the bottom mark just about last.”

Racing continues tomorrow with two more fleet races and the semifinal round of the match racing championship.

Crew Lists:
Oracle Team USA Spithill – Jimmy Spithill (skipper/helmsman) John Kostecki (tactician), Kyle Langford (wingsail trimmer), Joe Newton (headsail trimmer), Brad Webb (bowman)

Oracle Team USA Bundock – Darren Bundock (skipper/helmsman), Russell Coutts (tactician), Dirk de Ridder (wingsail trimmer), Simon Daubney (headsail trimmer), Simeon Tienpont (bowman)

--©2012 Oracle Racing

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From Artemis Racing:

Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Day 2 Report

Racing in Venice's Grand Canal presented a full set of challenges for the nine teams racing in the Americas Cup World Series today.

The French and Italian teams flourished, but it was a tough day for Terry Hutchinson and the crew onboard Artemis Racing.

Second row starts in both fleet races translated into two 7th place finishes.  Then a clear start in the third spare race (which only counts if racing is cancelled on Super Sunday) the Swedish team took second.

"It was disappointing.  The fleet is too good and the racetrack is what it is.  So if you don't get away clean, or are a bit unlucky, there are not a lot of opportunities.  Once you get your nose out and get clear, the race course becomes a lot easier," said Hutchinson. 

"It was a tough day, hard for the guys on the boat.  A real whipping!  They worked so hard and we are under a lot of pressure out there.  There is more to come and therein lies the opportunity.  We need to figure out what we can do better to get the boat away clean off the line.  The start is everything and there is plenty of room for improvement," continued Hutchinson.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, racing continues in the Grand Canal with two fleet races and the semi-finals for the Match Racing.  Artemis will line up against Frances Team Energy in the semis.  The forecast is for similar conditions with 8-10 knots of wind.

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