Sun shines on Cammas and Burling on day 2 of the 35th America's Cup
by 35th America's Cup 29 May 2017 01:36 BST
28 May 2017
Day two of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers fell on America's Cup Endeavour Day, a celebration of the America's Cup Endeavour Program, the America's Cup's youth education and sailing initiative.
Six races were scheduled and the day started perfectly for Groupama Team France who clinched their first win of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers with a thrilling and morale-boosting three second victory over Artemis Racing in the first race of the day, race 7 of Round Robin 1.
Having suffered back-to-back defeats on the opening day of the competition, Franck Cammas' team enjoyed the sweet taste of victory with a vastly improved performance over the hotly tipped Swedes.
Getting out of the start box ahead, the French team then looked to have thrown away their advantage, following a poor manoeuvre in the second leg which gifted the Swedish team the lead. However, refusing to let their heads drop, Groupama Team France responded in spectacular fashion, foiling smoothly to gain a 22 second lead at gate 3, then staying ahead at the next two gates.
However, a nosedive by the French team in the penultimate leg lead to a nervy conclusion as both teams raced for the finish line. However, despite Nathan Outteridge's team chasing down their French rivals, Groupama Team France kept their nerve and clinched an impressive victory.
"It is a very good feeling for the whole team, we have been waiting two years for that feeling," said Franck Cammas after his team's victory in their only race of the day.
Race 8 proved an intriguing battle between former teammates Jimmy Spithill and Sir Ben Ainslie as ORACLE TEAM USA sealed a third successive win by beating Land Rover BAR.
It was the British team who started the stronger. Seizing the advantage out of the start box, they stayed ahead of their rivals until gate 3 when a big nosedive after the turn proved the decisive moment of the race, allowing ORACLE TEAM USA to seizing the advantage.
It was a costly mistake that Land Rover BAR failed to recover from and the American team built up a 32 second lead by Gate 5 before heading home to cross the line 39 seconds ahead of their British rivals.
"We saw today how the conditions can make it easy to make mistakes out there," said ORACLE TEAM USA helmsman Jimmy Spithill, who wasn't completely content despite claiming two victories from three races.
"We made too many mistakes really and you could see throughout the day that it's about who could get off the line the quickest and get around with the least amount of mistakes.
"We set pretty high standards so we're not satisfied. We'll take the lessons we've learnt and move forward."
Meanwhile, Land Rover BAR helmsman Sir Ben Ainslie took the opportunity to praise his shore team for getting Rita to the start line after their collision with SoftBank Team Japan on the opening day.
"It was an incredible effort from the shore team who worked tirelessly through the night to repair the damage and get us ready for today," said Ainslie whose team suffered back-to-back defeats on day two.
"It is just a shame we couldn't repay them in the races today. We just didn't get it right and made too many mistakes but we'll learn from it and move on.
"We'll look at doing a bit more work on the boat tonight but I don't think the damage affected our performance too much at all."
Having endured mixed fortunes on the opening day, in which they won one race and lost the other, Emirates Team New Zealand started day two in spectacular fashion with a high-quality display to beat SoftBank Team Japan by 33 seconds in race 9.
However, they did not have it all their own way as they had to battle back from behind against Dean Barker's team as SoftBank Team Japan gained the better momentum out of the start box, leading going into mark 1.
The Japanese team lost some of that momentum with a nosedive going into the third gate but they managed to recover brilliantly to build a 13 second advantage at gate 4.
However, the tides turned on the fifth leg, as Emirates Team New Zealand demonstrated the full speed of their pedal-powered grinding systems. Tacking and jibing incredibly smoothly, the Kiwis chased down their rivals before overhauling them heading for gate 5.
In the latter stages of the race they found themselves 11 seconds ahead, before racing for the finish line to claim a second victory in the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers.
The variable winds over the Great Sound racecourse came to the fore in race 10, as Artemis Racing prevailed in a topsy-turvy battle against ORACLE TEAM USA.
Having suffered a somewhat shock defeat to Groupama Team France in the first race of the day, the Swedish team enjoyed a flying start and maintained a healthy lead for the first three gates.
However, from leg five, the unpredictable nature of the conditions played a major role in the remainder of the race and the lead switched hands multiple times between the two teams.
But by the sixth and final gate, Artemis Racing enjoyed the advantage in the changing conditions finding themselves ahead before racing for the line and taking a welcome 39-second win.
"Today showed just how hard racing can be out there," said Artemis Racing helmsman Nathan Outteridge.
"We had too many mistakes against the French team in our first race and made life hard for ourselves.
"However, I'm extremely proud of the way the whole team regrouped from that defeat and fixed everything in an almost perfect race against ORACLE TEAM USA."
Emirates Team New Zealand again demonstrated their speed in race 11, as they sealed a second successive victory on the day, brushing aside Land Rover BAR in devastating fashion.
The race had the worst possible start for helmsman Peter Burling, as the Kiwis were handed a penalty in the pre-start after they crossed the racecourse boundary mark. However, despite the lapse in concentration and having to start two boat lengths behind the British team, the incident didn't prove disastrous as they bounced back spectacularly.
Cutting the deficit by just the second leg, Emirates Team New Zealand breezed past Land Rover BAR and were ahead by nine seconds at the third gate.
Sir Ben Ainslie's team continued to struggle for pace and had no answer for the Kiwis' speed as their lead reached 49 seconds by Gate 4.
Refusing to rest on their laurels, Emirates Team New Zealand eased over the finish line, one minute and 28 seconds ahead of Land Rover BAR to cap an impressive day on the water.
"We had a few tiny issues onboard and I misjudged the entry, but that happens," said Burling on his pre-start error which led to a penalty.
"However, I see it as good practice on how how to shake off a mistake and show how fast you can be when chasing.
"Obviously starting from behind is not ideal but overall I think we're all happy with today's results."
Having suffered their first defeat of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers earlier in the day, ORACLE TEAM USA responded brilliantly in the twelfth and final race of the afternoon, cruising to a comfortable win over SoftBank Team Japan.
Leading from the outset, Jimmy Spithill's team controlled the race, maintaining a healthy lead throughout proceedings, before eventually crossing the finish line 54 seconds ahead of their rivals, capping off the day's action in sensational style.
"We had a tough day out there today," conceded SoftBank Team Japan helmsman Dean Barker.
"The boat seemed quick and I think we sailed okay but we got caught out by some needless mistakes which we need to address.
"We'll look at those areas closely and come back fighting tomorrow."
The Sailor Girl interviews
Today was one for the unexpected! Groupama Team France won their first race (congrats to the whole team, was great to chat to Franck in the mixed zone but off air!), and Emirates Team New Zealand steamed ahead despite a few hold ups at the start - I spoke to Glenn Ashby about how smooth they are looking, and then to Nathan Outteridge, skipper of Artemis Racing about their defeat to the French (which was for him sadly a popular defeat - sorry Nath I cheered too!!) and their amazing comeback to beat the then undefeated defenders of the 35th America's Cup, ORACLE TEAM USA. Another great day!
AC35: Interviews 28 May 2017Today was one for the unexpected! Groupama Team France won their first race (Congrats to the whole team, was great to chat to Franck in the mixed zone but off air!), and Emirates Team New Zealand steamed ahead despite a few hold ups at the start - I spoke to Glenn Ashby about how smooth they are looking, and then to Nathan Outteridge, skipper of Artemis Racing about their defeat to the French (which was for him sadly a popular defeat - sorry Nath I cheered too!!) and their amazing comeback to beat the then undefeated defenders of the 35th America's Cup, ORACLE TEAM USA. Another great day! Stay tuned to www.nicdouglass.org/ac35 for all of our live radio coverage, our videos, our pictures and a chance to see our TV coverage online, including these interviews and racing footage, with thanks to the Nautical Channel! More soon, Nic x
- A big thanks to Brigitte Berry for her incomparable "right-handing" so far this event x
Posted by Adventures of a Sailor Girl on Sunday, 28 May 2017
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Sunday 28th May race results:
- Race 7: Groupama Team France beat Artemis Racing by 3 seconds
- Race 8: ORACLE TEAM USA beat Land Rover BAR by 39 seconds
- Race 9: Emirates Team New Zealand beat SoftBank Team Japan by 33 seconds
- Race 10: Artemis Racing beat ORACLE TEAM USA by 39 seconds
- Race 11: Emirates Team New Zealand beat Land Rover BAR by 1 minute and 28 seconds
- Race 12: ORACLE TEAM USA beat SoftBank Team Japan by 54 seconds
www.americascup.com
ORACLE TEAM USA finishes RR1 racing with four wins (from ORACLE TEAM USA)
ORACLE TEAM USA, the defending champion of the America's Cup, has finished Round Robin One of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers with a 4-1 record.
With three races sailed in perfect conditions on Sunday afternoon in Bermuda, the team is the first to complete the Round Robin.
And with five points, including a bonus point earned from the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series, the ORACLE TEAM USA is assured to be top of the leaderboard at the end of the first Round.
While skipper Jimmy Spithill says he's pleased to be on top of the leaderboard, he acknowledges the team has more to give.
"We hold ourselves to high standards so we're not completely satisfied," he said. "We still feel there is a lot of development on the table."
After two wins on Saturday, ORACLE TEAM USA opened the racing on Sunday with a win over Land Rover BAR. Spithill and tactician Tom Slingsby found themselves behind through the first downwind gate, but strung together some favorable windshifts to make a pass and win the race.
"Today was all about keeping your head up out of the boat and looking for those opportunities," Slingsby said.
"It was a challenging day, but we had a couple of legs where we were able to thread the needle and make some good gains."
In the second contest against Artemis Racing, Spithill said the team stalled out at a critical moment in the pre-start and again trailed early. Despite making big gains on the final upwind leg, there was not way past, and ORACLE TEAM USA dropped its only race of the series.
In the final race of the day against SoftBank Team Japan, an early lead quickly turned into a dominating performance, leading to the 4-1 record.
"Today was about sailing well and trying to avoid the tough spots on the race course," Spithill said. "You needed to get off the line cleanly and keep the mistakes down."
Conditions were good for racing all weekend, with sunny skies and winds in the 8 to 12 knot range. Shifty conditions kept the tacticians busy.
ORACLE TEAM USA was the only team to sail the maximum allowable three races on the day, providing a test to the powerhouses at the front of the boat. But grinder Ky Hurst was taking it in stride.
"We're just doing what we're born to do - give power to the people," Hurst joked.
"We all have a role to play to make this boat go well. From a production point of view I think we did really well today.
"We've been training for this for a couple of years, so our fitness is at the point where we can deliver on a day like today."
Strong day two for Emirates Team New Zealand (from Emirates Team New Zealand)
Race day two for Emirates Team New Zealand was about getting down to business, with two big races against Softbank Team Japan and Land Rover BAR respectively
In race 9 against the Japanese Emirates Team New Zealand entered on starboard and both boats stayed apart until 30 seconds to the start, duelling down below the pin-end layline. Peter Burling held the Japanese out but Softbank Team Japan was quicker to accelerate and beat the kiwi boat to the first mark, leaving Emirates Team New Zealand with plenty of work to get back out in front.
Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the bottom mark just 4 seconds behind the Dean-Barker skippered Softbank Team Japan and opted to tack away early prompting Softbank to cover and head up the first upwind leg getting the pick of wind shifts.
Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the top mark just 0:03 seconds behind and setting up for an important downwind run. Mid way down both boats were bow to bow, the kiwis crossing just astern of Softbank Team Japan.
It was metre for metre up the second upwind leg.But a split engineered by Emirates Team New Zealand to get out of phase with the Japanese opened the door for the Kiwis and allowed the team to cross ahead and lead comfortably around the final top mark. That's where they stayed, eventually crossing the finish line 0:33 ahead of Barker and his Softbank Team Japan.
"It was a tough race, we had a pretty good start but were just a fraction slow to accelerate because we were close to the start line and they just got over the top of us." said Skipper Glenn Ashby.
"From there it was just all about keeping composed tactically and focusing on every manoeuvre and making them clean and making the most of every opportunity. These young guys onboard are very cool, and our powerhouses were giving it everything and our chance came to get ahead."
Emirates Team New Zealand were quick to refocus for another big race for race 11 against Land Rover BAR who have showed rapid improvement over the past few days.
It wasn't the start the kiwis were seeking with Helmsman Peter Burling entering the start box early and copping a penalty. That meant they had to start two boat- lengths behind Land Rover BAR, which is precisely what happened allowing the British boat to round the first mark ahead.
By the bottom of the first run, though, the kiwi boat had eaten into Land Rover BAR's advantage through sheer downwind boat speed. The Kiwis then taking the lead by entering the bottom mark zone just ahead and inside with room, a clean rounding seeing them get the bright red OMEGA bow in front.
From there Emirates Team New Zealand were clinical in sailing the remainder of the race, extending all the way around the track eventually finishing 1:28 ahead of Land Rover BAR.
"We wanted to put in a strong performance today, they were both key races so happy to take away two more points. But really we still feel we have plenty to improve on, and we are making the most of every minute of racing we can get at the moment because we havent had much of it. So we are looking forward to tomorrow." concluded Glenn Ashby.
Emirates Team New Zealand is scheduled to race the Swedish team Artemis Racing tomorrow in race 15, the second race of the day to round out the first round robin series of races.