Americas Cup World Series San Francisco - Day 3
by 34th America’s Cup media 7 Oct 2012 08:27 BST
3-7 October 2012
ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL shows great resiliency, wins match racing championship
ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL showed the resiliency today at America's Cup World Series San Francisco that is the mark of a great team.
The veteran crew, led by skipper Jimmy Spithill, overcame a spectacular capsize in Fleet Race 5 and later won the Match Racing Championship of the event sailed on San Francisco Bay. The U.S. Coast Guard estimated the spectator fleet at 1,000 vessels, while tens of thousands of people lined the shore.
ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL beat Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) by 18 seconds in a race that was decided on the start line. With less than 10 seconds to the start, Spithill dove to leeward of Barker and luffed his New Zealand opponent so hard that Barker wound up tacking to port to avoid a penalty. Spithill sped onto the racecourse as Barker was circling around to start and led by 31 seconds at the first reach mark.
"There was a lot of time to go to the start and he was way too early. It was a matter of biding our time," said Spithill, who is the youngest skipper to ever have won the America's Cup. "Our coach, Philippe Presti, has done a lot of work with Ben (Ainslie), Russ (Coutts) and I, and we've really been out-starting the other teams in the match racing. Full credit to Philippe, he's the one who got us to this level."
"With about 10 seconds to go we didn't do a good job protecting our position, and that was it," said Barker. "There's always an opportunity to get back into it in this style of racing and the guys ground away at it, but we ran out of runway to do anything."
The result was impressive considering that one hour earlier ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL lay on its port side. During the first fleet race of the day, the fifth in the series, Spithill was in second at the first reach mark and turning downwind in a mighty puff of approximately 20 knots. Spithill's bows dug in, the boat stood nearly vertical and then rolled onto its port side with the wingsail hitting the water.
None of the crew was injured in the incident, which forced them out of the race. They rebounded to place second in the day's second fleet race.
"It was a bit of an eventful day for us, with the swim in the first race," said Spithill. "I was really proud of the lads and our shore crew, our support team. They righted the boat and we got back into second race and got a second place. I'm very impressed with the team."
Spithill advanced to the championship after beating Artemis Racing – White (Terry Hutchinson) in the semifinals, while Emirates Team New Zealand beat Artemis Racing – Red (Nathan Outteridge).
In the fleet racing championship, J.P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie) continued its strong showing with a 4-1. Ainslie has the high score of 63 points followed by Artemis Racing – White with 52 points, Emirates Team New Zealand with 47 points and ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL with 39 points, in a tie with Artemis Racing – Red.
The Super Sunday fleet race finale is scheduled tomorrow and will be broadcast nationally in the U.S. by NBC beginning at 1:30 pm PDT. The broadcast will include a replay of the match racing championship followed by the seventh and final fleet race, scheduled for 1:55 pm PDT.
AC World Series San Francisco Fleet Racing Championship: (after 6 of 7 races)
1. J.P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie) 1-3-1-2-4-1 – 63pts
2. Artemis Racing – White (Terry Hutchinson) 10-2-2-1-3-3 – 52pts
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) 2-8-5-6-1-4 – 47pts
4. ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL (Jimmy Spithill) 8-1-6-5-DNF-2 – 39pts
5. Artemis Racing – Red (Nathan Outteridge) 4-4-4-4-9-8 – 39pts
6. Energy Team (Loick Peyron) 6-7-7-3-6-7 – 36pts
7. Team Korea (Peter Burling) 5-9-10-8-2-5 – 33pts
8. ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS (Russell Coutts) 3-5-8-7-8-10 – 31pts
9. Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper) 9-6-3-10-10-6 – 28pts
10. China Team (Phil Robertson) 7-10-11-9-5-11 – 19pts
11. Luna Rossa Swordfish (Iker Martinez) 11-11-9-11-7-9 – 14pts
AC World Series San Francisco Match Racing Championship:
1. ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL
2. Emirates Team New Zealand
3. Artemis Racing – White
4. Artemis Racing – Red
5. ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS
6. Energy Team
7. J.P. Morgan BAR
8. Team Korea
9. China Team
10. Luna Rossa Piranha
11. Luna Rossa Swordfish
Go to AC World Series San Francisco Results
ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL claims match racing championship after capsize (from ORACLE TEAM USA)
ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL bounced back from capsizing in the first fleet race on Saturday to win the match racing championship at the Americas Cup World Series San Francisco. With little damage to the AC45, skipper Jimmy Spithill and crew were back racing for the second fleet race and the match final, and they are tied for fourth place overall with the Super Sunday fleet final ahead.
"It was a bit of an eventful day for us," Spithill said. "I'm really proud of the guys and our shore crew – they righted the boat, we got back into the second race and finished second place. It was a fantastic result for the team, and we give full credit to our pit crew – they swung into action."
ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL took a lot of speed into the first mark when both bows went into the water. The boat stopped and nose dived into the San Francisco Bay. All crew were safe. The ORACLE TEAM USA support team quickly pulled the boat back up and got it back ready to race.
"We broke most of the frames in the top of the wing, so we'll repair them tonight," Spithill said. "But, that's the beauty of these boats – they're very, very strong. You can continue racing even if you do have broken frames."
Spithill opened the day's racing with a win vs. Artemis Racing - White in the match racing semifinals to advance to the final. After not finishing the first fleet race, they returned to the course and gradually moved up the leaderboard to finish second in the sixth fleet race of the regatta.
In the match racing final, ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL faced Emirates Team New Zealand and both boats filed a penalty off the start. But, no fouls were ruled on either side. Spithill took the start and held the lead, crossing the line 19 seconds ahead.
"The real champion teams are those that can face a little adversity and come back. It's a sign of strength," Spithill said. "And, the guys did exactly that – to go from the worst possible position, in the water, breaking a bit of the wing. But, we bounced back and onto the podium with a win."
ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS finished in eight and 10th-place, respectively, in the day's two fleet races. With Russell Coutts at the helm, the crew has 31 points and is eighth in the fleet racing standings. ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS sits only 16 points out of third place heading into Sunday's bonus scoring round.
The Super Sunday fleet racing final begins at 1:55 PM local. Bonus points are on the table, including 40 points to the race No. 7 winner, opening the door for the potential of big changes on the leaderboard. This week's ACWS is being held in conjunction with Fleet Week, and an air show and celebration will take place on Marina Green.
