J Class at the America's Cup Superyacht Regatta - Day 2
by J Class Association 15 Jun 2017 10:16 BST
13-15 June 2017
As the new Svea, J S1, made her debut in the J Class fleet in Race 2 of the America's Cup Superyacht Regatta it was Lionheart which read the first run best, leading at every mark of the 14 mile round the buoys style course to atone for their disappointing result in Tuesday's first race of the series. Ranger, second across the finish line for the second day in a row, leads the regatta going into the final day.
If the Svea team could have specified their ideal weather conditions for their maiden race in Bermuda then the 10kts building to 13 which blew from the west would have likely fitted the bill. With the owner steering, at his side the calm advice of Francesco de Angelis and Charlie Ogletree calling tactics, Svea made a solid start, working comfortably in the leading pack all the way round, showing good speed upwind, to finish third.
With the downwind start set in something of a convergence zone, where the breezes wrap around the island to windward, once again there was one side of the first leg which paid and one which didn't. Ranger gybe set neatly on the pin, left end of the line accompanied by Lionheart and Topaz which stayed left. Svea started more mid line.
At the first turn, three miles downwind, Lionheart had a small lead over Ranger and Svea and Topaz. This time it was Velsheda and Hanuman, coming in from the right of the downwind, which suffered, forced to play catch up.
Lionheart kept it tight all the way around the course, as did Ranger which seemed to hold her own nicely in the slightly stronger breeze and flat water. With Brad Butterworth calling tactics this week, while Murray Jones is on duty with Emirates Team New Zealand, Ranger has been positioned well – gaining nicely on the last beat yesterday to steal second, while Butterworth and Lionheart's Bouwe Bekking read the first downwind well.
While Lionheart and Hanuman – fifth today – have both had inconsistent opening races, Ranger have been consistent. Skipper-helm Erle Williams commented, "Consistency is important. You don't need to win every race to win the regatta. Brad Butterworth has put us in the right places and we have had some luck. We struggle in the lighter winds like yesterday in six and a half knots for example but the boat is going well. But when it is nearer ten knots we can hang in there."
The Svea crew were pleased with their solid opening. "We are pretty happy with that for a start." Svea's tactician Charlie Ogletree reported, "We sailed clean, we sailed our own race and are happy with the result. To jump into this fleet is one thing, to jump in on a downwind start is another thing entirely. But we did well. It was a perfect introduction to the J Class fleet."
"I did not really know what I was expecting from my first J Class race. I expected it to be big and scary with big loads on everything." Ogletree added, "It was big but it was not so scary. But the conditions were perfect."
The 2003 launched Ranger leads the class going into the last day of the America's Cup Superyacht Regatta on four points, one ahead of Lionheart with Hanuman third on six points.
Full results can be found here.
Also on the dock at the Hamilton Princess Marina is JH2 Rainbow
www.americascup.com/en/americascup-superyacht-regatta.html