Cup Experience

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What ACTV Didn’t Show Us in Chicago Race 4

Last week I shared my video analysis of highlights from Race 4, based on what we could see in the ACTV footage. What we could NOT see in that footage was that Artemis Racing protested Groupama Team France at the course boundary and Team France was penalized.

What the Umpires Saw

The umpires’ system showed SWE in the five boat length zone at the boundary, with right to sail their proper course. The boundary is the purple line; the zone is light gray. Artemis protested, and France was penalized.

Click here to see the original video from last week’s newsletter.

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America’s Cup World Series Chicago – Results

Artemis Wins America's Cup World Series Chicago
Artemis Wins America’s Cup World Series Chicago

[Update 30 June 2016 by Jack Griffin Specially edited videos here, here and here. Enjoy!]

Artemis Racing won the America’s Cup World Series in Chicago with Land Rover BAR second and SoftBank Team Japan third. It was the first time for Dean Barker and Team Japan to be on the podium and the first time that Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand were not. Artemis, New Zealand and BAR have each won two events. Oracle has yet to win. But…  read on.

Now, it’s fine to celebrate and spray some champagne around. And, I like Artemis Racing. I was their expert commentator in their VIP lounge during the racing in San Francisco. I know this team and genuinely like them. But this is the America’s Cup World SERIES. The bonus points for the “America’s Cup Qualifiers” go for the best score in the SERIES not for the number of podiums.

Look at this table:

ACWSChicagoscore

Artemis won in Bermuda and Chicago. But they are 33 points behind New Zealand. Do a little arithmetic and you will see that even if they finished three places better than the Kiwis in every race in Portsmouth – highly unlikely – they would still be six points behind. Consistency rather than flashes of brilliance wins a series. In 22 races, Artemis has finished last seven times; only Team France has more – 10 last place finishes. Japan has two last place finishes and the three teams atop the leaderboard – New Zealand, BAR and Oracle have one apiece, although Oracle needed a capsize to do it.

AmericasCupWorldSeriesLeaderboard-1024x244

The match racing in Bermuda in America’s Cup Class yachts will bear almost no resemblance to the fleet racing in one design AC45’s in the America’s Cup World Series. And, Artemis has been training for months with their two AC45X experimental boats while Team New Zealand has yet to launch a comparable test boat. Yes, the Kiwis have been using one of Luna Rossa’s modified AC45’s but that is a far cry from testing systems and developing a crew choreography playbook for the racing in 2017.

And yet… Imagine that the America’s Cup World Series ended with the current standings. The Kiwis would start the round robin America’s Cup Qualifiers with two bonus points; Artemis would have none. Imagine further that Artemis’s superior technology helped them go undefeated in the round robin, scoring 10 points. And that the Kiwis lost only their two races with Artemis, winning eight races. With their two bonus points the Kiwis would be tied for first with Artemis. Since ties in the Qualifiers are broken by America’s Cup World Series standings, New Zealand would win the Qualifiers. If Artemis made it through the Challenger Semi-finals and Finals, they would start even with defender Oracle instead of with the one point lead they would have had, if they had won the Qualifiers.

AmericasCupWorldSeriesLeaderboard-June2016
America’s Cup World Series Leaderboard – June 2016

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Video: Capsize in Race 1 – First Time for Oracle to Finish Last

In the substitute race run on Friday Oracle came in last for the first time in the America’s Cup World Series. They were well behind, still on the downwind leg, and did not see Artemis coming upwind with right of way. A crash tack avoided a collision but not a capsize. Oracle bowman, American Matt Cassidy explains.

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Video: Wild Finish to the Regatta in Race 4

Four boats arrived at Mark 1, side by side, up on their foils, at 28 knots! Three of the helmsmen didn’t realize how close the boundary was and got penalties for going out of bounds. SoftBank Team Japan gybed in bounds, then stretched out their lead for a comfortable race win and their first regatta podium. Artemis Racing needed to finish fourth or better to win the regatta, and they did – barely. With less than 100m to go in in last race, the regatta win was still up for grabs! Watch!

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America’s Cup World Series Standings Going into Chicago

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America’s Cup World Series Confirmed for Fukuoka, Japan

The final America’s Cup World Series event in 2016 will be held November 18-20 in Japan’s fifth largest city, Fukuoka.

The schedule for the rest of the year is:

  • June 10-12    Chicago
  • July 22-24      Portsmouth
  • Sep 8-10        Toulon
  • Nov 18-20      Fukuoka

ACEA has discussed a possible event in Q1 2017 but nothing has been confirmed.