Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago - Overall
by 35th America's Cup 13 Jun 2016 07:14 BST
10-12 June 2016
Perfect winds, cooler temperatures and a record breaking crowd of over 200,000 America's Cup fans lining Chicago's Navy Pier, combined to make Super Sunday, the final day of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago, an incredible finale for foiling action in the USA.
In front of sold outgrandstands, the six America's Cup teams fought fiercely for the double points on offer for each of Sunday's three races.
In race two, the first of Sunday's action on the water, Land Rover BAR took the honours after a very strong start, putting more air between them and the pack at the first mark and then leading from the front throughout the rest of the race.
Race three started with Groupama Team France first across the start line, but Artemis Racing continued their strong weekend form and grabbed the lead early and, despite pressure from ORACLE TEAM USA right to the end, crossed the finish line first for the second time over the Chicago weekend. The second place finish would be a high point for the home team.
Race four, the last competitive action of the weekend, began with five of the six teams crossing the start line together, but after a slew of penalties were handed out to a number of boats after the first mark, it was SoftBank Team Japan who were in clear air and would lead the pack though to the finish, recording their second race win of the weekend.
"I'm absolutely thrilled with the performance of our team here," said SoftBank Team Japan skipper Dean Barker. "We had some fantastic results on the practice day and today, and even though we were a little bit disappointed with our starts in the first two races, the guys did a great job battling back to win the last race, and we're just all really happy. It's a great boost for our team and it's really good to see that all the hard work we are doing is paying off, especially in front of such a great crowd."
It was a day of incredible action for the crowds who came out in force all weekend to see the first America's Cup racing on Lake Michigan. Over 200,000 fans were on Navy Pier over the course of the three day event, including close to 40,000 through a sold-out race village. On the water, the race course was tightly surrounded by a spectator fleet pushing 1,000 boats.
The final regatta podium had SoftBank Team Japan in third and Land Rover BAR in second place, but it is Artemis Racing who leave the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago as event champions, an historic title as the first Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series winners on fresh water.
"To be honest I'm a bit relieved!" said Artemis Racing skipper Nathan Outteridge. "We finally had a very good day of weather and our team rose to the occasion. We recorded nothing worse than a fourth all week, and we said at the start of the week that finishing top three in every race would be good enough to win, and we did just that.
"The champagne at the end tasted very sweet. I quite like champagne, especially the Moet that was given to us, and when you get to spray a huge bottle of Moet over all your teammates when you've won, that's a very special feeling."
"As a team we are happy with second place" said Land Rover BAR skipper Ben Ainslie. "We would have liked to have the win, but Artemis Racing sailed very well today. Despite that, it was great to be able to showcase what this sport is all about, in a venue like this and with the sort of conditions we had today here at Navy Pier. It really was an amazing day for the whole sport, and I'm delighted with how well this weekend has gone overall."
Emirates Team New Zealand retains its position at the top of the overall Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series ahead of Land Rover BAR and ORACLE TEAM USA.
"It was sensational racing today and to come away with our overall lead still intact is fantastic," said skipper Glenn Ashby. What we take out of this weekend is what a fantastic regatta this has been. I don't know exactly how many people were out there watching us, but I am sure they will all have had a really good show."
ORACLE TEAM USA skipper Jimmy Spithill agreed. Despite being disappointed with a fifth place finish, he was pumped up by the response of the fans.
"It was unreal here," he said. Let's hope this becomes a regular stop on the series. The race course is awesome. All weekend we saw the huge crowds and we all had great support. I hope we're coming back."
Similar sentiments came from Groupama Team France skipper Franck Cammas, who struggled to stay with the leaders all weekend, but was quick to credit the support of the fans on Navy Pier.
"This weekend has been good for the sport," Cammas said. "The venue was great. Today we had really good winds and big crowds and we have been made very welcome in Chicago. We have all enjoyed this event, but now we must look ahead to Portsmouth and improving our performance there."
Next up it is back to the UK for the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Portsmouth on July 23-24.
Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago leaderboard: (race points, overall points)
Artemis Racing – 9, 18, 20, 14 - 61pts
Land Rover BAR – 6, 20, 14, 18 - 58pts
SoftBank Team Japan – 10, 16, 10, 20 – 56pts
Emirates Team New Zealand – 7, 12, 16, 16 - 53pts
ORACLE TEAM USA – 5, 14, 18, 12 - 49pts
Groupama Team France – 8, 10, 12, 10 - 40pts
Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series – Overall leaderboard:
Emirates Team New Zealand – 295pts
Land Rover BAR – 285pts
ORACLE TEAM USA – 285pts
Artemis Racing – 262pts
SoftBank Team Japan – 259pts
Groupama Team France – 234pts
Land Rover BAR take second in Chicago – now second overall going into Portsmouth (from Land Rover BAR)
Lake Michigan delivered a stunning Super Sunday finale to the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago. Three races in perfect full-power foiling conditions saw Land Rover BAR grab second with a brilliant move on the finish of the final race, and pull up to second in the overall standings ahead of their defence of their home waters title – LVACWS Portsmouth.
The first race saw a wire-to-wire win for Ben Ainslie and his crew as they delivered a perfect start and were never headed. Race two was a lot tougher, with a second row start they dropped back to sixth after the second leg, but clawed back precious points with a fourth place finish.
The team were second in the standings going into the final race, and another incredible start saw four boats going bow to bow into mark one. Three of them then took boundary penalties as they smoked onto leg two... including Land Rover BAR. Once again the team dug deeper than anyone else, and fought back to snatch second place on the line.
The result puts the team in a great position ahead of their home waters event in Portsmouth 21-24 July. The team are even on 285 points with Oracle Team USA – but take second on the tie-break – and just ten points behind Emirates Team New Zealand. A repeat of the 2015 home town win will set up a fantastic duel going into the final straight of the 2016 season.
Thoughts on the racing:
Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Team Principal: "What can I say, today was brilliant racing, and it's great to showcase the sport this way, and show how good it can be. The guys onboard did an incredible job, in these conditions it's all about boat handling and the fitness required. I can't say enough about the boys and the great job they did today.
"The starts are harder than it looks, we've been practicing a lot as the starts are critical to this style of racing. We had two crackers, especially the last one which was really important.
"Now we're getting to the business end of the series, it's tight between ourselves, Emirates Team New Zealand and Oracle Team USA. So we're all really excited about the next event in Portsmouth. To perform so well in front of a home crowd last year is what it's all about for us, so we can't wait for the event. Last year was just incredible, hopefully we can repeat, looking forward to brilliant conditions for Portsmouth."
Emirates Team NZ extend lead (from Emirates Team New Zealand)
Emirates Team New Zealand managed to maintain their Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series series lead in Chicago today after a tough regatta that tested the entire fleet.
Going into the event Emirates Team New Zealand held an eight point lead over Oracle Team USA, the Kiwis leave Chicago with a ten point advantage over Land Rover BAR who is now tied with Oracle Team USA.
The regatta was perhaps Emirates Team New Zealand's toughest regatta yet, finishing in 4th place- the first event the team has finished off the podium.
"It was really tough out there," said skipper Glenn Ashby. "The wind was up and you look along the start line and there are no easy beats. We have been saying it all along, and the results of this regatta show just how good all of the teams are. We finished 4th, you are never satisfied with that, but if there is any consolation we managed to beat Oracle again, and increase our lead overall so that's good."
The full schedule of three races was sailed on 'Super Sunday' meaning Emirates Team New Zealand's win in yesterday's 'substitute race' counted for nothing.
The wind had swung around over night to the north blowing down Lake Michigan as blustery 12- 14 knots today gusting up to 20 knots at times, perfect conditions for high action in front for the large Navy Pier crowd.
Ashby said in the lead up to the regatta that starting well was going to be the key to succeeding on the tight enclosed race course, and certainly that was the telling factor today, one which Emirates Team New Zealand didn't quite manage to nail.
"The racing was super tight, we had a pretty tough day, a few things didn't quite swing our way which we were hoping would." said helmsman Peter Burling.
The boat that rounded the first mark in front extended their lead throughout in each of the three races, while the rest of the fleet battled it out for vital positions in each and every race.
"We have done such a small amount of training in these boats, it is super hard to put together a consistent performance in such tight racing," Burling continued.
"We have a lot to work on but we are really happy to extend our overall lead and beat the guys we are fighting against, especially Oracle Team USA."
The next Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series event is in Portsmouth, UK on July 23rd & 24th.
Multiple wins propel SoftBank Team Japan to first podium finish (from SoftBank Team Japan)
Hundreds of thousands of spectators roared at Navy Pier as SoftBank Team Japan decisively won the last race of Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series today locking in a podium result at the first America's Cup event ever to be sailed on fresh water.
The third place finish is a first for the Japanese challenger and punctuates a competitive weekend for the team that saw them win two out of four races.
Most encouraging was the team's ability throughout the event to methodically climb through the field of AC45s and create opportunities for themselves to find the right passing lanes on the course.
"I think we had an much improved performance upwind today – it's one of the things we've been focusing on", said Skipper Dean Barker. "In general it felt like we were passing boats all around the course."
Following the team's substitute race win on Friday, race one today saw the challenger recover from a difficult start to tactically control the upwind legs stealing a third place finish from Oracle Team USA.
However, race two saw a costly luff at the bottom gate from Groupama Team France that cost the team two places ahead of the final leg to finish sixth.
Recovering for the third and final race, a masterful start gave SoftBank Team Japan the lead at mark one at which point they never looked back – extending the lead every leg up until the finish.
"It's really nice for the team to finally get a podium result, two race wins, a really successful practice day, I think it gives all the guys not just here but also in Bermuda a big lift", said Barker. "A year into it I think the progress our team has made is fantastic and I'm proud and thrilled at the result here."
The team now travels back to their Bermuda base tomorrow to have one day off before returning to sailing on Wednesday to test several modifications to their AC45 Sport that were installed while the team was competing in Chicago.
The team will then compete in an aggressive two-week test racing period with Oracle Team USA and Artemis Racing before heading to the United Kingdom to compete in Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Portsmouth, July 22-24.
ORACLE TEAM USA thanks fans, looks ahead to Portsmouth (from ORACLE TEAM USA)
Over 200,000 fans crowded Chicago's Navy Pier over the weekend to cheer on ORACLE TEAM USA and share the America's Cup experience, which featured foiling, flying catamarans, racing at a freshwater venue for the first time.
Artemis Racing won the event, with Land Rover BAR in second place and SoftBank Team Japan taking two race wins for its first podium position. ORACLE TEAM USA finished fifth.
"We were battling all weekend really," said skipper Jimmy Spithill. "It was a shame. We were in good shape at times, but we couldn't execute when we needed to. There are no weak links among the teams here and you just get punished when you make mistakes."
"We have to congratulate the guys on Artemis Racing," he said. "The results do the talking. Those guys deserved to finish where they did and so did we. But it was great to see Deano and the boys on Japan get up there. They've been working so hard and it's nice to see them rewarded."
For Spithill, the big takeaway from the two American stops – New York and Chicago – on the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series has been the fan support for the team and the event.
"It was unreal here," he said. "Let's hope this becomes a regular stop on the series going forward. The race course is awesome. All weekend we saw huge crowds, great support, it would be great to come back again."
From here the team returns to Bermuda for more training and development of its America's Cup Class design. But Spithill says there will need to be a frank and honest debrief of what the team needs to improve ahead of the next event in Portsmouth, UK.
"We're going to do a lot of work with (coach) Philippe Presti. "We're going to have to spend some time preparing for the next one. We'll bounce back. This team is very candid about addressing what needs to change. We've been in this position before and we'll be back no problem.
"We want to go into Portsmouth and grab a win in Ben's hometown. That would be a highlight and good goal for us!"