AC45 Port Cities Challenge at San Diego - Overall
by ORACLE Racing, Artemis Racing and Energy Team 14 Nov 2011 07:27 GMT
ORACLE Racing places 2nd, 7th in Port Cities Challenge (from ORACLE Racing)
On a glorious autumn day and in front of a large crowd on Broadway Pier, ORACLE Racing Spithill placed second overall in the Port Cities Challenge, the tune-up regatta for the America’s Cup World Series San Diego that is scheduled to start on Wednesday.
Skipper Jimmy Spithill and crew – John Kostecki, Dirk de Ridder, Joe Newton and Piet van Nieuwenhuijzen – finished with 42 points, 7 points behind winner Emirates Team New Zealand. Spithill, however, pointed to the crew’s performance on the start line as an area for improvement.
Port Cities Challenge Final Day Video:
“We never nailed a start,” said Spithill. “We were OK, conservative, mid-pack. I thought the guys sailed very well in the pack. Every time we were able to climb forward and get out of it. Boathandling was really physical today and JK did good job on the wind. I was happy with our damage control but we have to do a better job on the line to win races.”
Today’s weather was in marked contrast to yesterday’s steady, soaking rain. Brilliant sunshine and a nice 8- to 10-knot westerly greeted the sailors for the scheduled start at 1:10 p.m. Four races – one of approximately 40 minutes and three at 18-20 minutes – were held with the wind topping out around 14 knots in some puffs.
The weather enticed many fans to visit Broadway Pier where they had a front row seat to the action. The leeward gate was placed right in front of the pier and fans were able to watch the sailors as they furled the massive gennakers and rounded the gate, often times within feet of each other.
ORACLE Racing Coutts finished the regatta in seventh place with 33 points. New skipper Darren Bundock, an accomplished multihull sailor, said it was an average day where nothing seemed to go their way.
“We didn’t have good starts and when we made up a bit of ground we would generally lose it,” said Bundock. “We also had an OCS and a penalty. I guess if you can get those sorts of things out of the way in one day that’s the way to do it; practice race is the time to get it wrong.”
Racing for the ACWS San Diego begins in earnest on Wednesday with three fleet races scheduled. The races will help determine the seeding order for the match racing championship, scheduled Thursday through Saturday. A final, winner-take-all fleet race is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 20. Speed Trials also are scheduled for Wednesday and next Sunday.
Artemis Racing 3rd in the Port Cities Challenge (from Artemis Racing)
Racing got underway this afternoon under bright blue skies, with 8-10 knot winds out of the West, a welcome change from yesterday’s downpours.
The winds were fickle and the French teams showed the most consistency on the race course. Protests, penalties and course boundaries caught up with just about every team today.
Artemis Racing finished up 3rd overall in the Port Cities Challenge, with 6,9,1 and 5th place finishes today, a mere point behind ORACLE Racing Spithill in second place, while Emirates Team New Zealand claimed victory.
Sailing onboard as a guest for the first race of the day was Mayor Ron Morrison of National City, Artemis Racing’s adopted Port City. Having had the new Artemis Racing AC45 hull outfitted and painted at Brad Fitzgerald’s facilities in National City, it was the perfect match for the Swedish team.
Commenting on today’s racing Tactician Iain Percy said; “It was a great day for the Port Cities Challenge. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The winds were tricky inside the Bay and things didn’t always go our way. But we fought our way all through the day and are certainly sailing better than we were at the beginning of the week.”
Racing resumes on Wednesday afternoon when the America's Cup World Series officially commences.
Enery Team achieve their first victory (from Energy Team)
Yesterday, Energy Team achieved their first race win in ideal sailing conditions in San Diego. After the four fleet races, which took place on Sunday in San Diego, Emirates Team New Zealand has been the big winner on this first weekend of the America’s Cup World Series – San Diego and have won the Port Cities Challenge. Energy Team has done well and taken fourth place.
After China Team scored their first win on Saturday, on Sunday it was the turn of the crew of Energy Team, who had a great day of racing and achieved their first race win in the final race of the day.
Yann Guichard (FR), helmsman on Energy Team (FR): “We got off with everything just right and went on the attack. The team worked well together and the lads gave it their all throughout the racing. We got off to a really good start in the final race and kept at it right up to the finish with good speed throughout. I think now that we can compete in terms of speed with all our rivals both downwind and upwind. I’m really pleased as we sailed so well.”
America’s Cup World Series San Diego – Port Cities Challenge:
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 2-3-1-7-2-2 — 49pts
2. ORACLE Racing Spithill (USA) 3-8-2-5-3-3 — 42pts
3. Artemis Racing (SWE) 1-4-6-9-1-5 — 41pts
4. Energy Team (FRA) 7-5-3-4-6-1 — 40pts
5. ALEPH (FRA) 8-7-5-1-5-4 — 36pts
6. Team Korea (KOR) 6-9-4-2-4-7 — 35pts
7. ORACLE Racing Coutts (USA) 4-2-8-3-8-8 — 33pts
8. China Team (CHN) 5-1-7-8-7-6 — 32pts
9. Green Comm Racing (ESP) 9-6-9-6-9-9 — 22pts
(Scoring: 1st = 10 points, 2nd = 9, 3rd = 8, 4th = 7, 5th = 6, 6th = 5, 7th = 4, 8th, 9th = 3)