Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Portsmouth - Day 1
by 35th America's Cup 25 Jul 2015 20:25 BST
23-26 July 2015
Ben Ainslie, the most decorated Olympic sailor of all time, and the man who is leading the British challenge for the America's Cup, holds a narrow lead after the first day of racing at the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series in Portsmouth.
Ainslie led his team to a win and a second place finish in the two races held on Saturday afternoon on the waters off Portsmouth.
Nearly 50,000 fans were cheering him on from the venue ashore (with many more stacked along the waterfront outside the ticketed venue). Over 15,000 fans were on some 2,000 boats ringed around the race course area.
"You couldn't ask for anything better," Ainslie said. "Fantastic conditions, so many people coming out to support the teams. I'm so happy for Portsmouth and for our team. We have so many people on shore working on our behalf and cheering us on. For them to see this level of support is brilliant."
Ainslie's Land Rover BAR team leads Emirates Team New Zealand by a single point, the Kiwis posting a win and a third place finish. Rookie helmsman Peter Burling was pleased with the result.
"It was a great day for us to be able to put together a good start and a run in both races and be in the lead at the bottom mark in both races," he said. "We're pretty green in these foiling boats so we're happy to come out of the day in the shape we're in."
The man he replaced at Team New Zealand, Dean Barker, is now the CEO and skipper of SoftBank Team Japan. Barker says the new team, sailing together for the first time in Portsmouth, is undergoing a learning process. Today saw the team finish on equal points for fourth place with Groupama Team France.
"We're working hard to improve but it takes a certain amount of time," Barker said. "These other teams have been doing a lot of sailing together in different boats, so we have to work hard on making improvement and eliminating mistakes to get closer to the front of the fleet."
ORACLE TEAM USA, the defending champion, had a challenging day, ending the afternoon in third position, with second and fourth place scores on the day. Artemis Racing struggled to a fifth and sixth place
Saturday delivered glamour conditions on the Solent, to mark the return of America's Cup racing for the first time in nearly 165-years. Sunshine returned after a day of heavy rains. Wind conditions of 10 to 14 knots allowed the teams to demonstrate their skill on the new foiling class of catamaran, the one-design AC45.
Racing continues on Sunday, with double points on offer for the two races. First start is 1340 local time in Portsmouth.
Provisional Standings (after two races):
1. Land Rover BAR - 19 points
2. Emirates Team New Zealand - 18 points
3. ORACLE TEAM USA - 16 points
4. Groupama Team France - 13 points
5. SoftBank Team Japan - 13 points
6. Artemis Racing - 11 points
Thoughts from Land Rover BAR
Skipper and Team Principal; Ben Ainslie: "It was a great day for us to finally be racing in this America's Cup, and on home waters and in front of a home crowd here in Portsmouth. To get two solid results I'm really excited for the team and for all the spectators and the fans here and to put on a good show for them is pretty special. Couldn't ask for anything better, fantastic conditions, so many people coming out to support the team, it's just brilliant."
Runner; David 'Freddie' Carr; "The support in Portsmouth blew us away, there was a strong crowd out there, but we had to switch off from the shore and lock into race mode."
Skipper and Team Principal; Ben Ainslie: "Race number one was a tough one, we had a good start and then got a bit lost on that first downwind leg, but the guys did a great job to get the Code Zero – the downwind sail – up pretty quick, and that pulled us through. Then Giles [Scott] our tactician, really sailed well with the wind shifts and great crew work from the guys to get us into a nice lead and hold on into the finish. We're very pleased with that race win."
Sailing Team Manager; Jono Macbeth: "The Code Zero definitely came into play there today... We've got a pretty good feel of when we like to use it and the performance gains, we've been working quite hard over the last 11 days, learning how to sail these boats and maybe a little bit of that is starting to pay off."
Trimmer; Nick Hutton: "We put some time into working with the Code Zero this week. We committed very hard to going out very early in the morning when the breeze was lighter and we could do that work. No one else was out there and we knew it was going to be light and we wanted to do that work in particular. I think it comes down to the time you put into it, and what you get back."
Skipper and Team Principal; Ben Ainslie: "In race two we had a really nice start, and were leading at mark one, but it's very difficult in those conditions to pick the direction to go, and we gybed and led to the right hand side downwind, but the left paid. It put us back in the fleet again, and the guys dug really deep to pull us through again for a first and a second on the day, we're very happy with that."
Runner; David 'Freddie' Carr: "Tactically this one was very hard for Giles and Ben, they got us a good start but then we found ourselves at the back of the fleet and it's very easy to panic when you find yourselves in 5th and 6th. But, we sailed smart and worked on our boat handling and we have put ourselves into a good place for tomorrow – that's when the real work starts, it's super Sunday, double points and what we have been training so hard for over the past six months."
Quotes from other teams
Pete Burling, Emirates Team New Zealand: "It's absolutely awesome. As a sportsman you want to be tested against the best people in the world, and here you have the opportunity to do that. Every team here has a really super-star line up and it's great to be able to test our skills against them, so it was really good fun.
"It was a great day for us. It was great to be in the lead in both races a couple of times. For us we haven't had much training time in these boats and feel pretty green, so we're really happy to come away in the shape we're at. We were stoked with the breeze today and the sun. But we know we've got plenty of work to do tomorrow to try and improve."
Franck Cammas, Groupama Team France: "We were very happy to be fighting at the front of the second race. But we lost one place because of a mistake with the hoist – we were very polite with the British team, that's why we let the British in front of us! Tomorrow I hope we won't be so polite!
"This is the best competition you can imagine because all the teams are very strong. So it's nice because it's always challenging for the crew, and we have to do our best all the time.
"The crowds were a good surprise, the British public is here and it's good news because the America's Cup has to become a big event even for those who aren't fans of sailing. It's a very good show for everybody."
Nathan Outteridge, Artemis Racing: "You just see how many people came here today to watch the racing, and how spectacular the boats were, it was a great day for sure. It was a tough day for us, and if you ask anyone on the water it was tough onboard these boats, they're very physical to sail with really big crew work.
"It's great to have the America's Cup kick off, and to have the event starting with so many people interested is awesome for the sport. For everyone who watched today it is a spectacle, and it's great to be involved in it."