Cup Experience

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Another AC Sailor in Rio / Olympic Race Calendar

Australian Olympic multi-hull sailor Jason Waterhouse will join SoftBank Team Japan after the 2016 games in Rio. He is currently the number three ranked sailor in the Nacra 17, the mixed multihull Olympic class. Waterhouse has sailed with Team Japan their AC45X test boat in Bermuda. He also has AC45 race experience, having been on the Australian team in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013.

We have plenty of reasons to follow the Olympic sailing this summer – Jason Waterhouse and his crew Lisa Darmanin are obviously favorites to medal in the Nacra 17 catamaran. Fellow Australians Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen of Artemis Racing will be battling to defend their 2012 gold medal in the 49er skiff against the current world champion Kiwis Peter Burling and Blair Tuke of Emirates Team New Zealand. In the Finn dinghy, Giles Scott of Land Rover BAR is the favorite for gold.

Olympic Sailing Schedule

  • Finn: racing begins tomorrow, 9 August. Medal Race 16 August.
  • Nacra 17: racing begins Wednesday 10 August. Medal Race 16 August.
  • 49er: racing begins Friday, 12 August. Medal Race 18 August.

Full schedule available on the World Sailing site here.

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Showdown in Rio

Artemis Racing helmsman Nathan Outteridge and teammate Iain Jensen are the underdogs as they try to defend their gold medal from London in the 49er. Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Pete Burling and Blair Tuke took silver in London and then won 24 regattas in a row, including four 49er world championships. The 49er racing begins on August 12th. Racing continues on the 13th, 15th, 16th and concludes with the medal race on the 18th.

2016 Nacra 17, 49er and 49erFX World Championships in Clearwater, Miami

Outteridge and Jensen

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Burling and Tuke Photo: Yachting NZ

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Confusion Reigned at Last Rounding in Race 1

confusion 1

Blue light means Artemis has a penalty. How did that happen? Green light means they are in the three boat length zone at the gate. (Explanation of lights here.)

confusion 2

As they approach the three boat length zone at the mark, you can see Artemis’s bow, just about to enter the zone. Team Japan is overlapped with New Zealand, who are overlapped with Artemis. Rule 18 gives both NZL and JPN rights to round the mark inside Artemis.

confusion 3

JPN has gybed and gone behind NZL, and they still have rights to round inside SWE.

confusion 4

NZL escaped the mess at the mark. SWE has been penalized for not giving JPN room. Meanwhile Land Rover BAR has stayed out of the fray and now has enough speed to round outside. Artemis was in third place as they approached the mark but finished the race last. Ouch!

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Land Rover BAR Wins in Portsmouth and Takes Series Lead

America’s Cup World Series Leaderboard After 7 Events

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America’s Cup competition format and scoring explained here.

Ben Ainslie and his all British crew had three firsts, two seconds and a fifth place to win the Portsmouth America’s Cup World Series. Again. They also won the event here in 2015. The win puts them at the top of the overall series leaderboard. Oracle Team USA got back on the podium, one point behind the Brits for the Portsmouth event.

Oracle takes over second place overall, pushing the Kiwis into third. New Zealand had big gaps on board in the two most important positions: Ray Davies handled wing trim for the first time since wing trimmer Glenn Ashby was on the helm replacing Peter Burling, off in Rio to prepare for the Olympics. Like Team New Zealand, Artemis was without their regular helmsman. Nathan Outteridge is also in Rio, hoping to defend his 2012 gold medal against silver medalist Burling. Francesco Bruni stepped in as helmsman – his first time ever to sail an AC45F. The rules prevent sailing the AC45F’s between events. The conditions were different each day, so there was no chance for Bruni to learn the boat. Artemis finished last in Portsmouth – a frustrating result after their win in Chicago last month.

Dean Barker and his men on SoftBank Team Japan confirmed their performance in Chicago with their second podium finish. Groupama Team France shared the lead after the first day of racing but fared less well in the stronger conditions on Sunday.

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(c)Ricardo PintolAll rights reserved

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Crew Lineups for Portsmouth

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Crew lineups have been shaken up with some of the top sailors off in Rio preparing for the Olympics. Skipper Glenn Ashby will be on the helm for series leader Emirates Team New Zealand replacing Peter Burling. Francesco Bruni will steer Artemis Racing since Nathan Outteridge is in South America getting ready to battle Burling for the 49er gold. More on that next week. Ben Ainslie will once again be without tactician Giles Scott, the favorite in the Finn class. Giles already missed the last AC World Series event, but the Brits showed the depth of their bench, taking second in the Chicago event.

The only opportunity to train in the one design AC45F’s is at the AC World Series events – sailing on Thursday and practice racing on Friday. Francesco Bruni has never raced an AC45F and Glenn Ashby has not helmed in previous racing. Both are top sailors but will have their work cut out for them. Ed Powys will once again handle tactics in place of Giles Scott on Land Rover BAR.