Americas Cup World Series at Plymouth, UK - Day 6

America's Cup World Series in Plymouth day 6 © Guilain Grenier / ORACLE Racing

America's Cup World Series in Plymouth day 6 © Guilain Grenier / ORACLE Racing

Artemis Racing dominates, China Team earns podium race finish

For the second day running, Artemis Racing won two of the three heats at the Plymouth Match Racing Championship. With a second place to add to their two victories today, Terry Hutchinson’s team dominated the seeding fleet race phase of the Match Racing Championships.

“The boys did really nice work,” said skipper Terry Hutchinson. “The boat was going really well all day. The trimmers had us going as well as the boat has ever gone. But we're mindful it's only two days and we have a lot more work ahead of us.”

There was good news too for China Team, who earned a third place finish in the final race of the day; a rewarding result for a hard-working crew.

The breeze was steadier and slightly stronger than the previous day, making it easier for the leaders to stay ahead once they’d were in front. This put a lot of emphasis on the need for a good start, and time after time some crews pushed it too hard, being forced to go back and restart. In the first race ORACLE Racing Coutts was over early, next heat it was Team Korea, and in the final heat Green Comm Racing and ORACLE Racing Spithill.

In addition to Artemis Racing, Energy Team was a consistent performer across the two days of racing, finishing fourth in the seedings, a good boost for Loick Peyron and his French crew.

There were moments of brilliance for other new teams highlighted by China Team’s third place finish in the last race of the afternoon. Skipper Charlie Ogletree was pleased after a tough couple of days getting the boat fixed after a spectacular capsize during training on Tuesday. “We felt like we deserved that after the last couple of days. A great one for all the guys involved, nice to see the hard work paying off.”

ORACLE Racing Coutts struggled in the early part of the day, but made amends with a resounding victory at the end of the afternoon. His team mate James Spithill on the other hand could not get back into the final race after going back to restart and saw his seeding drop to fifth place.

The Plymouth Match Racing Championship continues on Friday, with match racing quarter and semi finals scheduled. Racing begins at 14:10 local time (GMT+1). As top seed, Artemis Racing has a bye into the semi finals, and will not race on Friday. The other eight teams will fight to advance in head to head match races.

All racing can be seen live on www.youtube.com/americascup. There will also be a post race press conference on Friday, streamed on YouTube at 1800 local time (GMT+1).

Results after Thursday seeding races in Plymouth Match Racing Championship:

Artemis Racing take first place in Fleet Racing (from Artemis Racing)

Following on from yesterday’s strong results, Artemis Racing put on a repeat performance with two first place finishes and a second today, to wrap up the Fleet Racing in pole position at the America’s Cup World Series – Plymouth.

Tactician Iain Percy summed up the keys to today’s success on the water for the Swedish team; “The team is starting to gel and we had great starts. We were hitting the line at speed and were always up there at the top mark.”

“Today was a good improvement, we’ve worked well on our weaknesses but we still have a long way to go. There is also still a lot on the table. That’s encouraging,” said Wing trimmer Sean Clarkson (NZL).

“Morgan and Sean had the boat set up really nicely. We are fine-tuning and making our systems better, so it’s good to see some of the work we’ve done pay off. The boat is going very well, that helps when you make a reasonable decision as things go even better,” said Skipper Terry Hutchinson.

“I am incredibly respectful of those we are racing against. On any given day, anyone can win races. Our time on distance to the start line is better, so is our boat speed, but we are still miles from where we want to be,” continued Terry. “ We see every day of racing as an opportunity to get better. Working on continuous improvement on how we sail the boat.”

Artemis Racing has earned a bye for tomorrow’s racing but will be out training with Emirates Team New Zealand early on and potentially Green Comm as well.

“No day off tomorrow,” said Skipper Terry Hutchinson. “We’ll go out and go sailing. It would be a mistake to rest. It’s not everyday we get to go multihull sailing. It’s nice to have the short term victory, but we will go out and practice. We have to keep putting the hours in.”

Racing continues tomorrow for the other eight teams and for Artemis Racing on Saturday for the Match Racing semi-finals.

ORACLE Racing Coutts through to match racing semifinals at ACWS Plymouth (from ORACLE Racing)

ORACLE Racing Coutts won the sixth and final seeding race for the America’s Cup World Series Plymouth Match Racing Championship.

The victory put the four-time America’s Cup champion Russell Coutts and his crew through to Saturday’s semifinal round of the match racing championship where they’ll meet Emirates Team New Zealand.

“We finally got a good start,” said Coutts. “If you can get off the start line and around the first mark in good shape it makes a world of difference; you’re able to sail where you want on the racecourse and not in the back of the pack.”

ORACLE Racing Spithill finished the seeding races in fifth place and will sail in tomorrow’s match racing qualifying rounds. As the No. 5 seed, ORACLE Racing Spithill is set to race the winner of the first qualifier match between Aleph (No. 8 seed) and Green Comm Racing (No. 9 seed).

Winds were the lightest yet at the Plymouth event, with courses laid right under the natural grandstand of The Hoe. ORACLE Racing Spithill had a pair of thirds in the day’s first two races, but then false-started Race 3, the call made by race officials using the new America’s Cup precision tracking technology. Having to re-start put the crew on the back foot.

“We've still got to do a better job at getting back from an OCS,” Spithill said. “There are a couple of teams good at it and obviously Russell did it in the first race. There's still a bit of work to do there.”

ORACLE Racing Coutts had a decent start about mid-line. The crew got around the first reach mark just behind leader Emirates Team New Zealand and held a similar position through the leeward gate. But on the next upwind leg ORACLE Racing Coutts got to the right of the Kiwi crew and rode a long starboard tack up the middle in nice pressure. They crossed Team New Zealand with about 100 meters to spare and went on to a solid win.

Tomorrow, the competition switches to knock-out match racing. As third seed ORACLE Racing Coutts will square off against No. 2 seed Emirates Team New Zealand in Semifinal Match 1, scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. The winner will be the first to score 2 points and will advance to the ACWS Plymouth Match Racing Championship on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s been a while since I raced Team New Zealand,” said Coutts.

For ORACLE Racing Spithill the task is simple: win and advance. As the No. 5 seed the crew will have to win three qualifier matches for the right to advance to the semifinals, where the opponent would be No. 1 seed Artemis Racing.

“There’s plenty more racing before we can make the semifinal, which is what we need. We’re not sailing that great,” Spithill said. “That's life. We definitely have improved and will look for a better day tomorrow.”

Energy Team confirm their place in the top 5 (from Energy Team)

On the final day of fleet racing today in Plymouth (GB), Energy Team confirmed they are on form, finishing the races of the day respectively in 4th, 4th and 6th place. The French challenger moves up two places in the rankings and this evening is in 4th place in the overall Plymouth Match Racing Championship, qualifying for the quarter finals. Tomorrow, Loïck Peyron and his crew will meet the best of the five teams that are behind Energy Team tonight. We look back at today’s races with comments from the skipper of Energy Team.

Race 1: Getting off to a bit of a disappointing start, Loïck Peyron and his men rounded the first mark in seventh place. The French team then made a spectacular climb back up through the fleet, gaining two places in the first downwind leg and rounded the second mark in fifth place. At the end of the upwind leg to the third mark, Energy Team moved up one more place to sail in fourth position behind Artemis (Terry Hutchinson), Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) and Oracle Racing Spithill. The French boat then had a great downwind leg allowing them to move into third place at the fourth mark, which they rounded neck and neck with Team New Zealand, who were second. Loïck Peyron, overtaken by James Spithill on the third upwind leg was fourth at the penultimate mark. Energy Team could no longer hope to catch the two leading boats, but were still in with a chance of a place on the podium. The sail down to the final mark and the ultimate sprint did not allow them to catch up, so the French team finished fourth in a race that was dominated from start to finish by Artemis.

Race 2: This time Energy Team got off to a very good start. Second at the first mark behind Artemis, the crew led by Loïck Peyron were close behind the leader at the end of the downwind leg. The fight was on between Loïck Peyron and Terry Hutchinson in the upwind leg to the third mark. But the French team lost some ground and got overtaken by Oracle Racing Spithill and then Emirates Team New Zealand. The order did not change during the downwind leg to the fourth mark. The sail upwind to the penultimate mark and the final downwind leg would not allow the French to make up for lost time over the New Zealanders. Loïck Peyron did manage to get fourth place in this second race of the day, which was once again won by an unstoppable Terry Hutchinson, ahead of Dean Barker and James Spithill. Energy Team were only seven seconds away from grabbing a place on the podium.

Race 3: In the middle of the fleet at the start, Energy Team rounded the first mark in fifth place. Unfortunately, the French went on to drop back two places in the downwind run to the second mark and were therefore in seventh place as they tackled the first upwind leg. They were to remain in this place right up to the fourth mark. On the second upwind leg, Loïck Peyron had to fight off a challenge from James Spithill, who was trying to come back after getting a penalty at the start. Spithill ended up passing Peyron, who found himself in eighth place at the penultimate mark. But Energy Team gave it their all in the final part of the race and at the end of a fine sprint just managed to overtake Oracle Team Spithill and Aleph. Energy Team ended up taking sixth place in today’s final race, which was completely dominated by Oracle Team Coutts.

Loïck Peyron’s comments this evening (Thursday): "The results this evening are really encouraging for Energy Team. We were rather more cautious at the starts today, a little bit off the pace, but this evening we’re up there in the top four, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow in the match-racing, as we have qualified for the quarter finals. So tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be up against the best of the five teams that are currently behind us. It is most likely to be Jimmy Spithill... We’re a bit like the giant-killer here. It is beyond what we hoped for. It is quite significant this evening to be up there with the top teams. We’re there between Russell Coutts and Jimmy Spithill, sandwiched between the world class racers of the Oracle team. We’ll go out training tomorrow lunchtime, as the America’s Cup is match-racing and we need to feel completely relaxed about it..."

Update from Green Comm Racing

Since the replacement of the damaged port hull two days ago, telemetry onboard the Green Comm Racing yacht has been malfunctioning. The Spanish boat appears to be over the race boundaries and gets unjust penalties. Despite these problems, the team will now focus on Friday's match races.

Plymouth, 15 September 2011: Malfunctioning telemetry seems to have hampered the Green Comm Racing team for the second consecutive day. It is clear that after the replacement of the port hull, the electronics onboard the yacht are not properly functioning. The display of the distance to the border can freeze at 100 meters and then suddenly show a penalty.

Still, the spirit is high onboard Green Comm Racing and the team is clearly improving after each mile on the water. The crew is now able to competitively race than just sail around the course, even after less than two weeks of actual official racing. The focus is now solely on Friday's match races.

Conditions on Thursday were light, between 8 and 12 knots, although slightly stronger than yesterday. The big difference though was in the stability of the breeze. As it was coming from the sea, and not down from the cliffs, it was less unstable and more consistent.

The first race of the day came to a very good end despite the penalty received in the prestart. According to helmsman Vsailij Zbogar, the team received a penalty for being over the course boundaries when the yacht was clearly next to the starting line Nevertheless, Green Comm Racing's Olympic champions were always in the battle for fifth place. Starting well at the back the Spanish boat weaved its way through the fleet, especially upwind with a mix of good speed and tactical calls. The last leg turned into a close fight with Russell Coutts and Green Comm Racing finished fifth, a mere 9 seconds behind the 4-time America's Cup winner.

In the second race, the story for Green Comm Racing was the opposite. The boat got off to a good start in the middle of the fleet and always in the mix up to halfway the third leg when a port-starboard incident with China Team slowed down the boat. However, Green Comm Racing got back into the race and finished in seventh place, after passing China Team and Aleph.

The final race was marked by a premature start. Vasilij Zbogar pushed the race-mode button one second too early and by the time the boat had to go back and recross the line, the rest of the fleet was ahead. In these new short courses it is very difficult to come back.

Green Comm Racing will now have to focus on Friday's match races. It will first have to race against France's Aleph and the winner of that match will then go on to fight with the 33rd America's Cup winner, James Spithill.

Quotes of the day:

Vasilij Zbogar, helmsman: “We are still experiencing problems with our electronic devices, just like yesterday. In the first race we were clearly next to the starting line and we got penalized for being over the course boundaries! Yesterday we got the exact same penalty in the long race!

From that point it is very hard to have a competitive start since we don't know where the borders are. I was actually more worried about the borders than about nailing the start and positioning the boat.

Despite these problems we showed again we are improving every day. In the first two races we were always in the fight for fifth place. We are still making mistakes that we have to correct such as in the third race where we started early. In these short courses it is very difficult to come back after such a start.”