Cup Experience

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Results: Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth

Six foiling AC45F catamarans were on the course together for racing on Saturday. Ben Ainslie’s Land Rover BAR team won the shortened Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth event with a first and a second in Saturday’s racing. Winds over 30 knots and rough conditions caused Sunday’s racing to be abandoned.

Racing on their home waters and with more time in this type of boat than the other teams, Land Rover BAR showed sharp crew work and good tactics to win the opening race and then fight back from the middle of the pack to post a second in the day’s second race. Emirates Team New Zealand and new helmsman Peter Burling also looked impressive, winning the second race and coming in third in the first.

America's Cup Fleet Racing on Foils

Results and Current Standings

  1. Land Rover BAR (1,2)
  2. Emirates Team New Zealand (3,1)
  3. Oracle Team USA ( 2,4)
  4. Groupama Team France (6,3)
  5. Softbank Team Japan (4,5)
  6. Artemis Racing (5,6)

Remember that points are totaled over two years, 2015-16 for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series. At the end of the series, the top team carries two points into the double round robin of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers. Any ties in the qualifiers will be broken by standings in the LVACWS. So this racing could determine which team earns a bonus point to start the America’s Cup Match and it could also determine whether a challenger makes it through to the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Playoffs. I’ve summarized the competition format here.

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Team Updates and Lineups for Portsmouth

Emirates Team New Zealand has signed up Toyota again as a sponsor, joining Emirates and Omega. Peter Burling will helm with his 49er crew Blair Tuke trimming the wing. Ray Davies will be tactician. Two additional crew will be announced soon.

Artemis Racing will be helmed by Nathan Outteridge with his 49er crew Iain “Goobs” Jensen on wing trim. Chris Brittle, Freddie Lööf and team leader Iain Percy round out the Artemis crew.

Ben Ainslie Racing Ben Ainslie will helm. Other sailing team members are Paul Campbell-James, Jono Macbeth, Freddie Carr, Matt Cornwell, Nick Hutton, Giles Scott and Andy McLean.

Team France has now signed Groupama as their title sponsor for the full AC campaign. Franck Cammas will be on the helm in Portsmouth, with Arnaud Psarofaghis as tactician. Joining them on board will be bowman Devan Le Bihan, wing trimmer Thierry Foucher and headsail trimmer Arnaud Jarlegan.

Softbank Team Japan signed Jero Lomas and Derek Saward, both ex-ETNZ. They will join helmsman Dean Barker, tactician/wing trimmer Chris Draper and bowman Kazuhiko “Fuku” Sofuku.

Oracle Team USA will have Jimmy Spithill at the helm, Kyle Langford at wing trim, Tom Slingsby as tactician, Kinley Fowler trimmining and Louis Sinclair as bowman.

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Team Updates

Emirates Team New Zealand has retained Emirates Airlines as title sponsor and has re-signed sponsor Omega. ETNZ is giving tryouts to sailors from the two Kiwi teams in the 2013 Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. Head of Design Nick Holroyd has left the team, as have sailors Derek Saward, Winston Macfarlane and Jeremy Lomas.

Artemis Racing will build their base at Morgan’s Point and move to Bermuda by the end of 2015. They will also have a presence in the AC Village at Dockyard in 2017. They made the decision to move to Bermuda after their training camp on the Great Sound in May.

Ben Ainslie Racing is close to completion of their new base in Portsmouth, which will be their home for the next three AC cycles. They have an AC45X test boat, called T2 (test boat 2) in construction in the UK.

Team France is sponsored by Groupama for the 2015 AC World Series racing. They continue to look for sponsors for their full campaign. They took advantage of recent Protocol changes to delay the payment of the final $900,000 entry fee and the $1 million performance bond. Originally scheduled for 1 May, those payments are now split into four equal installments beginning 1 July.

Softbank Team Japan signed former ETNZ helmsman Dean Barker as skipper and CEO. They have recruited Chris Draper, former Luna Rossa helmsman.

Oracle Team USA completed their move to Bermuda in May, where they will be based all the way through the America’s Cup Match in 2017.

Promotional Tours
Tucker Thompson has been appointed TV and Public Host of the America’s Cup. He will give presentations in a yacht club tour, with the America’s Cup trophy. The yacht America will also be on tour, visiting ports on the North American West Coast in 2015, the East Coast in 2016 and finally in Bermuda in 2017.

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Artemis Scouts America’s Cup Race Area in Bermuda

 

Artemis Racing became the first America’s Cup challenger to sail an AC45x experimental yacht in Bermuda. Their initial conclusions: great sailing conditions and a very tight race course that will provide a severe test of sailing skill.

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It did not take long for Artemis Racing and Oracle Team USA to line up for some speed tests on Bermuda’s Great Sound, just as they had done on San Francisco Bay in February. Both teams find it useful “to check in” with a competitor. There’s always something useful to learn. In this America’s Cup, we’re seeing the defender interacting with the challengers in several ways – boat design, sailing…