Land Rover BAR – Page 11

June 13, 2016 By Jack Griffin

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:

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.

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.

America’s Cup World Series Leaderboard – June 2016

June 6, 2016 By Jack Griffin

America’s Cup World Series Standings Going into Chicago

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.

May 30, 2016 By Jack Griffin

America’s Cup World Series Standings After New York

It Could Happen

Imagine two teams – let’s call them Purple and Orange. Purple wins the America’s Cup World Series – fleet racing in identical-except-for-the-paint-job, one design AC45F catamarans. Remember, all the points are totaled for all the America’s Cup World Series events. Orange finishes middle of the pack in the AC World Series, since they focused on testing the design for their America’s Cup Class yacht, and on the crew work for the one-on-one match racing in Bermuda. Their strategy pays off. At the end of the double round robin “America’s Cup Qualifiers” in May-June 2017, Orange has a perfect, undefeated record, with 10 points, having won all 10 of their races. Purple did well, too, and finishes 8-2, having lost only their two matches with undefeated Orange.

But guess what?

Purple wins the AC Qualifiers and will start the America’s Cup Match on June 17 with a one point lead. How can that be? Well, as winner of the AC World Series, Purple carried two bonus points into the AC Qualifiers, so they finish the Qualifiers equal on points with Orange, tied at 10 each. How do you break ties? By looking at the AC World Series final standings, where Purple finished ahead of Orange. So Purple wins the AC Qualifiers and will start the America’s Cup Match with a one point lead. It could happen.

You can download a copy of this diagram with the competition overview here.

May 30, 2016 By Jack Griffin

Spanish 49er Ace Xabi Fernandez Joins Land Rover BAR

Land Rover BAR strengthened their sailing team with the addition of Xabi Fernández, who has won Olympic gold and silver medals in the 49er as well as three 49er world championships. He sailed with Luna Rossa in the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco. Fernandez is also an offshore racer, having finished second in the double-handed non-stop round-the-world Barcelona World Race, sailing with his 49er partner Iker Martinez. In addition, Fernandez has a Volvo Ocean Race podium finish to his credit.

May 30, 2016 By Jack Griffin

Land Rover BAR’s T2 Hull is Already a Museum Piece

Visitors to Land Rover BAR’s headquarters can visit their Education Centre, called “The Tech Deck.” Among the 16 exhibits and STEM modules, they can see the hull and part of the crossbeam from T2, the team’s second “AC45X” test boat. The rules for the current America’s Cup cycle allow each team to build an unlimited number of test boats, and there is virtually no limit to the modifications that can be made and no rule on what constitutes a “new boat” rather than a “modified boat.” So now T2 has been retired, and is on display for visitors to Portsmouth. Their T1 boat has the same dimensions and layout as a one-design AC45F. Boat T3 is their current test boat and the launch of T4 is rumoured to be imminent.