Red Bull Youth America's Cup - Day 3
by Red Bull Sailing Newsroom 4 Sep 2013 07:53 BST
1-4 September 2013
All set for final showdown in San Francisco
The New Zealand Sailing Team with Emirates Team New Zealand and Objective Australia placed 1-2 in Tuesday's two fleet races of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. Now leading into the final day of racing on Wednesday at 11 am, it's a wide-open field with double points on the line in the last race. 60 sailors from eight nations will duel it out, and nine countries can still make the podium.
In the overall standings, it's New Zealand holding 1-2 with NZL Sailing Team leading Full Metal Jacket by 11 points, which is tied with the American Youth Sailing Force. In the racing on Tuesday, there was action aplenty: place changes, numerous penalties and a USA sailor overboard that resulted in a safe recovery with no injuries.
"We had good starts in both races," said New Zealand's Peter Burling, who started both races towards the leeward end of the line. "We felt the angle was good and everyone set up farther up the line both times. We thought we'd start down where there was no traffic."
The Aussie crew, led by skipper Jason Waterhouse had its best day. The team has been plagued by problems with the gennaker halyard, but today the sail stayed hoisted and allowed them to chase Peter Burling's leading New Zealand crew. The Aussies even passed the Kiwis at one mark rounding, but Burling's crew was too fast today and won both races.
"The Kiwis sailed perfect, full tops to them. They out-sailed the international fleet," said Jason Waterhouse of Objective Australia. "No one likes to lose but to lose to a silver medallist on a day like today... it's not about the day it's about the regatta."
For the American Youth Sailing Force crew, the day might've gone better had crewman David Liebenberg not fallen overboard in the first race. Liebenberg, the tactician, is the forward-most crewman and he missed the hiking strap coming out of a tack sailing upwind in the first race. American Youth Sailing Force was battling it out for third at the time, but fell back in the fleet and finished seventh.
"That was kind of a setback," said skipper Mike Menninger. "It's hard to sail these boats with five guys. Our manoeuvres weren't as crisp and our boat speed took a dip."
The final day of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup will take centre stage on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 11 am PT/2 pm ET, with more than 70 territories around the world broadcasting live coverage and replays on both the America's Cup and Red Bull YouTube channels.
Provisional Standings after Day 3: (six races)
1. NZL Sailing Team with Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 2-RDG-7-3-1-1 – 50 points
2. Full Metal Jacket Racing (NZL) 7-1-4-6-6-3 – 39 points
3. American Youth Sailing Force (USA) 1-7-3-5-7-4 – 39 points
4. Swedish Youth Challenge (SWE) 6-2-9-1-4-6 – 38 points
5. ROFF/Cascais Sailing Team (POR) 3-6-1-8-8-5 – 35 points
6. Team TILT (SUI) 8-5-2-2-9-7 – 33 points
7. Next World Energy (FRA) 4-4-8-4-5-9 – 32 points
8. Objective Australia (AUS) RDG-10-6-10-2-2 – 30 points
9. All In Racing (GER) 5-8-5-9-3-8 – 28 points
10. USA45 Racing (USA) 9-9-10-7-10-10 – 11 points
RDG = redress awarded by International Jury
NZL Sailing Team with ETNZ dominate the RBYAC on day three (from Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting New Zealand)
The NZL Sailing Team with ETNZ, sponsored by Rodd & Gunn, made a clean sweep with two race wins on day three of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup breaking away from the pack and opening an 11 point lead in the standings.
New Zealand now occupies the top two spots on the leader board with the second kiwi entry, FMJ Racing, sharing 2nd place locked on points with American Youth Force Sailing as the regatta progresses to the final day.
The textbook performance from Peter Burling and the NZL Sailing Team with ETNZ crew earned them the maximum 20 points on offer on day three of the regatta, while mixed results from the other nine teams helped to increase the differential on the points table.
Furthermore a decision from the Jury released yesterday afternoon saw the NZL Sailing Team awarded redress for race two (sailed on day one) after a malfunction with their on board penalty light forced the crew to slow their boat for longer than necessary following a boundary infringement. The team's result for that race was adjusted giving them an extra two points.
Today Burling and his crew benefitted from two excellent starts; "We felt the angle was pretty good off the pin, and all the other boats were setting up really high both times so we thought we'd cruise down to where there was no traffic and get a good angle and that worked out really well for us both times," explains the skipper Peter Burling.
He continues; "We had a chat last night about the boat handling and the little things that were going wrong, so it was really good to get that nice and polished for today."
Despite stepping out a nice lead the team are aware they must remain focussed with another day of racing to come including the heavily weighted double points race eight.
"More of the same," says Burling of tomorrow's game plan. "We're just trying to take each race as it comes. We're really happy with just chipping away and being consistent."
Challenging third day for Team Tilt (from Team Tilt)
The young Swiss sailors onboard Team Tilt were unable to repeat yesterday's excellent performance on San Francisco Bay finishing the day with a ninth and a seventh place. But all is not over, with a day to go and two races ahead, Team Tilt will be eying the double points finale to regain position on the leaderboard.
San Francisco, 3 September 2013 – Despite excellent starts and good crew work on day three of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, success eluded the Team Tilt sailors. A tactical error in the first race and several penalties saw them finish ninth and seventh putting them in sixth place overall going into the final day of racing.
"We were lacking anticipation that is for sure," said wing trimmer Jeremy Bachelin. "We had two good starts, but then made costly mistakes."
Race one saw Team Tilt gybe first at the first mark, a decision that put them at the back of the fleet. Race two started off better, but the team received another penalty before becoming caught up in the Next World Energy code zero halyard which went under the Swiss boat – Team Tilt called for redress.
"Today we really saw the level of the teams," said coach Laurent Voiron. "Our Swiss sailors are racing against some of the best young sailors of their generation and they are holding their own!"
"We are not far behind and the podium is still within our sights" added Jeremy Bachelin. "We need to anticipate situations much more tomorrow and limit mistakes during the race."
Skipper Lucien Cujean is cool-headed going into the final day: "We were perhaps a bit too aggressive today. The team seems to operate better under pressure – there is everything to play for tomorrow."
At the close of day three, just nine points stand between Team Tilt and second placed Full Metal Jacket Racing. NZL Sailing Team with Emirates Team New Zealand won two races today which sets them 17 points ahead of second place.
A mixed day for Next World Energy (from Energy Team)
Next World Energy remains in seventh place in the overall rankings at the end of this third day of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, the America's Cup for the 19-24 year olds. The young French sailors finished fifth and ninth in the two fleet races that took place today in San Francisco Bay. To make it to the Top 5, they are going to have to catch the Swiss and Portuguese teams tomorrow, as they are respectively one and three points ahead of them. A narrow gap with two races left to go with the final race counting double. We look back at races 5 and 6 that took place on Tuesday 3rd September.
Fleet Race 5: Next World Energy in the Top 5
Just three points separated the first seven boats in the overall rankings before this fifth race. In other words there was hardly anything between them before the final four races. Conditions were excellent for this fifth race in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup: sunshine a 16-knot WSW'ly wind and calm water on the race course. The French Next World Energy team had another tricky start crossing the line too soon and had to carry out a penalty. But the AC45 skippered by Arthur Ponroy with Antoine Lauriot-Prévost at the helm is used to making good comebacks since the start of the competition. So it was far from over. 9th at Mark 2, the French never gave up and had a very good upwind leg moving up four places to round mark 3 in fifth place. They had their Code 0 up for the second downwind run with their eyes on the leading boats, but under pressure too from the German team, who grabbed the advantage at mark 4, but it was very close. They could still make it t! o the top 5. On the second upwind leg, the French and Germans were neck and neck. Meanwhile, the American Youth Sailing Force team lost a crewman overboard, but continued to race. Proof, if we needed it, that these AC45s are extreme boats. The Americans lost a lot of time and Next World Energy took advantage of that. 5th at mark 5, the French boat remained in that position until the finish. A positive result, and as Arthur Ponroy said yesterday: "Any race where we end up in the top 5 is a good race."
Fleet Race 6: One small mistake, giant consequences...
The second race of the day started once again in a 16-knot wind in San Francisco Bay. Next World Energy got a better start and was up with the pack at the first mark. At the end of the first downwind leg, the French youngsters rounded mark 2 in fifth place. They remained there at the end of the upwind leg, but dropped back a spot on the second reaching leg: sixth at mark 4. But getting back there in the top five remained in their grasp, as the American Youth Sailing Force crew was not far ahead. But they needed to keep an eye on those chasing them, who had certainly not given up. Next World Energy remained in sixth place after the second upwind leg. After 23 minutes of racing, NZL Sailing With ETNZ won the race ahead of the Australians and the other New Zealand team. Behind them, no fewer than five boats were battling it out for fifth place. Including the French, who made a mistake during a manoeuvre at the final buoy: their gennaker fell in the water and they were overtaken! by four boats, so ended up in ninth place...
Reactions
Antoine Mermod, team manager for Next World Energy: "The crew had a great first race and they were close to getting a very good result indeed. We seemed particularly at ease on the upwind legs. But unfortunately they got it timed wrong at the start... In the second race, the lads finally got off to a good start. But the gennaker falling in the water cost them dear. I think the crew was just a bit tired by the end of the course. A lot can still happen on the final day. We have a lot of qualities, so we need to make the most of them to finish this competition in style."
Antoine Lauriot-Prévost, helmsman on the Next World Energy AC45: "Today's results weren't exactly what we had hoped for. In spite of a poor start, the outcome of the first race was positive, as we were once again able to make our way back through part of the fleet. It was really the mistake in the second race, which we regret. At the final buoy, the gennaker, badly furled, came down during the manoeuvre. The halyard went under the hull and the Swiss crew cut it to be able to continue the race. The sail falling down like that was the consequence of a communications problem on board, probably because we were tired. We shall be looking at that closely to see what went wrong, but one thing is certain: that's not the sort of mistake you make twice."
Two very solid results for Objective Australia (from Objective Australia)
Objective Australia had another busy night after failures, yet again, with the regatta supplied equipment. The team worked tirelessly to diagnose and replace the supplied faulty equipment that caused them to drop from first to last place in Race 4 of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup.
With fresh evidence from Race 4, Team management also lodged a new request for redress with the International Jury for Races 2 and 4.
Most importantly, the Objective Australia team mentally re-grouped, showing maturity well beyond their years and when the team went out onto San Francisco Bay for Races 5 and 6 today they were fully prepared to race hard.
Keeping their nose clean at the start line, Jason Waterhouse and team pushed hard to round the first mark just behind current regatta leader Peter Burling of NZL Sailing Team (NZL2).
Choosing to safely tuck in and follow the Kiwi's down the run, Objective Australia rounded the bottom left mark right on NZL2's heels. However, they were forced to take a higher, slower course into the favoured left hand side of the course. This allowed a couple of the teams who went to the middle of the course to make gains on them. But the Aussies did well and maintained their second place at the top mark.
On the run, NZL2 extended a little in the clear air. The American Youth Sailing Force (US1), who lost a crew member down the run, gained a little on the Aussies at the bottom mark but couldn't maintain it up the beat with the Aussies clear in second by the next visit to the top mark and then all the way to the finish.
With second place to the current leaders of the regatta, the Objective Australia crew were visibly more confident heading into Race 6. They settled into the lower half of the line, right with NZL2. It was a tough place to be, with a number of boats nearly going over the top and taking their wind, but they rounded the first mark overlapped in 4th place and immediately gybed to get clear air.
This brought them back into the race and they rounded the bottom mark in third place behind the two Kiwi boats. Great boat speed and some precision calls kept them in the best of the pressure up the next work and when they crossed NZL1 they secured second place across the line in Race 6.
Having sailed two excellent races today and with the regatta organiser supplied equipment failures behind them, the Australian team was satisfied that their performance demonstrated their potential but for the issues beyond their control over the last two days.
With the final day of competition tomorrow and with the final Race 8 counting for double points, it's a race for the podium for Objective Australia in the inaugural Red Bull Youth America's Cup.