Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Gothenburg - Day 1
by 35th America's Cup 29 Aug 2015 17:29 BST
28-30 August 2015
ORACLE TEAM USA won both races on opening day at the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series in Gothenburg.
But Land Rover BAR and Emirates Team New Zealand had good days as well with second and third place finishes respectively.
In fact both races saw the same teams in the same top three positions, meaning there isn't much separation on the leaderboard.
"This was almost like a warm-up," said ORACLE TEAM USA skipper Jimmy Spithill. "It's all about tomorrow when the points are doubled - Super Sunday. But that being said, I'd rather be in our position. We're sailing well, we're confident, and we'll be ready to go."
His closest pursuer said quick starts allowed the winner to separate from the herd in both races and that was the difference.
"ORACLE really sailed well, had great starts and it fell into place for them," said Land Rover BAR skipper Ben Ainslie. "We kind of had to fight a little bit but I was really pleased with how the guys battled today."
Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby called it a good day's work, but he'll be disappointed with the second race when Ben Ainslie slid past just meters from the finish line to steal second place.
"It was a tough one," Ashby admitted. "We made a call not to use the Code Zero sail (a big downwind sail used in lighter winds). It was only the last couple minutes of the race where it would have paid off. But they had it up just when we sailed into the lighter pressure and they just pipped us at the end. But the race was fantastic and you could have thrown a blanket over both boats and had trouble picking who was going to get there."
It was a difficult day for the hometown Artemis Racing who had a mid-fleet finish in the first race before going aground after the finish and damaging their foils. The team was able to sail the second race, but at reduced efficiency which impacted on their last place finish.
"This morning we said we just needed to have a solid day to be in the mix for the double points on Sunday. We didn't really have much chance in the second race today, but everyone is still quite upbeat," said skipper Nathan Outteridge.
"We made mistakes but it's all about how you recover. We'll get the boat fixed up and be ready for tomorrow.
"To see so many spectators around the race course supporting us is pretty inspiring. We'll come back tomorrow and try to put on a show for everyone."
Racing resumes on Sunday at 1300 CET. Points are doubled for Sunday's two raes.
Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Gothenburg Leaderboard: (after day one)
ORACLE TEAM USA - 20pts
Land Rover BAR - 18pts
Emirates Team New Zealand - 16pts
SoftBank Team Japan - 13pts
Artemis Racing - 12pts
Groupama Team France - 11pts
Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Leaderboard:
Land Rover BAR - 37pts
ORACLE TEAM USA - 36pts
Emirates Team New Zealand - 34pts
SoftBank Team Japan - 26pts
Groupama Team France - 24pts
Artemis Racing - 23pts
acws-gothenburg.americascup.com
Wire to wire for two wins (from ORACLE TEAM USA)
ORACLE TEAM USA led both races from start to finish on day one at the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series in Gothenburg, Sweden.
But despite the unblemished record, the team only has a two point lead over former team mate Ben Ainslie.
"Today was almost like a warm-up," said skipper Jimmy Spithill. "It's all about tomorrow when the points are doubled. It's super Sunday. But that being said, I'd rather be in our position. We're sailing well, we're confident, and we'll be ready to go."
In the first race, Ainslie was fast off the starting line, but ORACLE TEAM USA had the favored inside position to lead at mark one. From there it was a matter of protecting a narrow lead from a hard-changing Ainslie.
"There were a few things we could have done better in that first race. Tom got us started well and picked a few shifts, but we had some boat-handling mistakes and I put my hand up for that..."
If race one was tense, the second contest was a more dominant performance.
"The second one was a really good race. Joey and Kyle were doing a great job on the boat speed and Louis was great on the manouevers and that really allowed Tom to get his head out of the boat and he just nailed it.
"It's nice going into tomorrow seeing the team working so well."
After a glorious day one, Land Rover BAR in strong position for Super Sunday (from Land Rover BAR)
The waters of Gothenburg supplied almost perfect racing conditions for the first day of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series hosted in the Swedish city. The Land Rover BAR team produced another great performance to take two second places, only bettered by Oracle Team USA – who won both – with Emirates Team New Zealand completing the podium on both occasions. An incredibly tight race course with rocks everywhere meant the five lap races were done in less than 30 minutes, and led to plenty of place changes. On both occasions the team looked rock solid in their speed and boat handling in the medium conditions, and with double points at stake on Super Sunday tomorrow, the event is still wide open.
Tactician, Giles Scott: "Today was particularly physical because we were on the Code Zero cross-over so the decision whether to hoist and deploy that was crucial. As soon as we make that call to do it, it saps a lot of energy out of the front three. In the last race of the day to be able to get that call right was pretty vital for us in grabbing that second place – but for sure it was hard work."
Jib Trimmer, Nick Hutton: "We had a super physical day out there today, we were wearing heart rate monitors, and my average was 144 beats per minute, over 2 hours and 20 minutes. That's from when we hoisted the jib to when we dropped it at the end of the day, with a peak of 185. So that's a pretty big day, a very short course, with lots of obstacles, islands and rocks. But we're quite happy with how we managed to sail back through the fleet, and I think a lot of that comes down to our fitness and how we can keep pushing when we are running at that level of intensity for so long."
Race One
Tactician, Giles Scott on being the first boat to go left upwind on the first beat of the first race; making significant gains and setting a pattern that everyone else would eventually follow, but not before the team had gone from fourth to second: "We had a good look at the course before the race, and we thought there would be gains to go up the left, so that was our default plan – when we were behind we had to 'freestyle' a little bit, but left was our Plan A."
Race Two
Skipper and Team Principal Ben Ainslie: "It was a tough course today, it's about trying to weigh up whether or not you can get past the rocks with the wind that you have. We did a really good job of that, we had one issue in the second race which cost us a lot of ground, but that was the only time that we really got the wrong side of that balance between the rocks and the right wind."
Jib Trimmer, Nick Hutton: "We got past the Kiwis on the final leg, we had the Code 0 ready to go. We approached the mark on port, knowing that they didn't have the option, they didn't have it plugged in. So we gybed and deployed onto that sail, and because we had sailed a shorter distance managed to pass them coming down the last leg into the finish."
Poised in third after day one in Gothenburg (from Emirates Team New Zealand)
Emirates Team New Zealand ended the highly anticipated first day of racing in Gothenburg in a solid 3rd place overall.
Proving again, that Glenn Ashby and crew can mix it up as one of the 'big' teams at the front end of the fleet.
"We are really pleased with the way our guys have sailed today, so it was nice to mix it up with the guys who have been doing a hell of a lot of sailing over the past 18 months." Said Ashby
In 12- 14 knots, Emirates Team New Zealand got back-to-back 3rd places behind Oracle team USA and Land Rover BAR in both races respectively.
In the first race of the day, with Pete Burling on the helm, the Emirates Team New Zealand boat hit the windward end of the line at pace rounding the first mark just 0:03 seconds behind Oracle Team USA and Artemis Racing.
"We certainly had the throttle fully planted off the start line in race one, pretty happy with where we were there tactically but it's a long way around starting from that end of the line and just missed rounding in the lead." described Burling.
"From there we didn't make too many mistakes, the other guys sailed really well, but we were happy with that in the first race."
After a tussle off the line with Artemis Racing, race two became a battle with the Brits for second place. With no less than four lead changes between the two teams, it was the final overtake which Land Rover BAR got their nose in front in the final 100 metres to take 2nd place again.
The difference came down to the British team opting for the Code Zero in the easing breeze, which allowed them to roll over Emirates Team New Zealand right on the finish.
"We made the call not to put he Code zero on, and really it was only the last couple of minutes of the race that it would have paid to have up, but the BAR guys had it right just as we sailed into the lighter pressure right at the finish." said Glenn Ashby.
"You could have thrown a blanket over both boats the whole race, and they just got there in the end."
Helmsman Peter Burling summed up the day as a whole, "All things considered we are pretty happy with the day, our speed was good and we improved a lot."
"You can't win these regatta's on the first day but you can definitely lose them. We fully feel like we are in the hunt and in good form for tomorrow's double points race.
We are expecting a lot lighter breeze for tomorrow, so it will be a different kettle of fish for Super Sunday tomorrow."
The forecasts for tomorrow is for a light 5-10 knots which along with the double points races will provide as many dangers as opportunities for all of the teams in the hunt to win this Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series event in Gothenburg.
An initial tricky day in Sweden (from Groupama Team France)
On the race zone of Gothenburg, the first day of racing in the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series gave rise to some fantastic battles between the six rivals. With a backdrop of glorious sunshine and a WSW'ly breeze of between 12 and 16 knots, the Americans on Oracle Team USA dominated the day's action on the water, winning both races contested and finishing in front of the English teams. Lacking inspiration during the first race, Groupama Team France made up for it in the second, really mixing it up with the head of the fleet.
After two days' training in a powerful westerly wind, which saw the French crew continuing to make progress against their more seasoned rivals, this first day of racing proved tricky: "Our rivals are among the best racers in the world and they are more familiar with the boat than us. As such, it's not entirely surprising that they're ahead of us," acknowledged the skipper of Groupama Team France on his return to shore. "We're still making too many small errors to stand a chance of keeping our place in the leading group like we did in the second race. In the first, we fluffed our start. We managed to make up ground on the Japanese but then fell into a windless zone, which caused us to lose contact. It's a bit frustrating".
Disappointed but not defeated, the crew of Groupama Team France know that it will be a long road to Bermuda. It will be a path strewn with obstacles for the others too, including Artemis which, after capsizing on Friday, hit the rocks this Saturday, severely damaging its foil and the casing.
In the second race, after posting a very good start that enabled it to round the first mark in third position behind Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand, the French crew made some mistakes, that let the British and Japanese get across the finish line before them despite a very fine last lap.
Sixth in the provisional overall ranking then with a one-point deficit in relation to Artemis Racing and two shy of Softbank Team Japan, Groupama Team France will have to make the most of the light airs forecast for Sunday to make up some points and get back up into the fourth place they secured in Portsmouth. Fourth position is a place which perfectly reflects where they should be at in this campaign before they can begin to set their sights on upsetting the top trio made up of the Americans, the English and the New Zealanders.
Adventures of a Sailor Girl Day 1 Report & Interviews (from Nic Douglass)
Having missed catching up with Kenny in Cowes and also in Plymouth was great to talk about his first press conference from the "other" side as well as the Fastnet, and upcoming schedule for Comanche, and just how he manages his own sailing, with the AC commentary as well as his role with North Sails.
www.AdventuresofaSailorGirl.com
www.facebook.com/sailorgirl218