Many America's Cup fans say this is their best source of information.
Leaderboard for the round robin AC Qualifiers that begin 26 May 2017 in Bermuda:
Land Rover BAR and Oracle earned the bonus points from the AC World Series. At the end of the Qualifiers, ties will be broken according to the final results of the AC World Series.
Each team is allowed 11 people who can “touch the boat” – the five man (highlighted in yellow) crew plus shore team and possibly a spare sailor (highlighted in red).
Standings going into the AC World Series Fukuoka:
At the end of racing on Sunday, we’ll know who won the bonus points for the AC Qualifiers next May (dates here). The Qualifiers will eliminate one challenger and give Oracle or a challenger a one point lead to start the America’s Cup Match.
For this final AC World Series event, the obvious competition is between Land Rover BAR and Oracle for first place and two bonus points. With a 14 point lead BAR are in a good position to win the series. Let’s take an example to see why this is true: If Oracle were to finish one place ahead of BAR in each race on Saturday and two places ahead of them in each race on Sunday, Oracle would score 15 more points than BAR and just squeak into first place. Who wants to bet on that? For our Kiwi fans, to win the series, ETNZ would need to finish two places ahead of BAR in every race, Saturday and Sunday to get ahead of BAR.
I’ll be watching the battle between Oracle and ETNZ for second place, with its one bonus point reward. With only three points between them, that looks like where the real action will be.
Oh, by the way… They sailed a “reserve race” today, Friday. It will count if there is no racing on Saturday – quite possible with the forecast for very light wind. Who won that race? BAR, with Oracle second. Anyone want to bet against BAR to win the series?
You can hear team owner Larry Ellison’s comments on the practice racing here:
The final AC World Series is happening during the last Basho (Grand Tournament) of the 2016 sumo season at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Land Rover BAR visited with some of the wrestlers at their heya (training stable). Jono Macbeth, Ed Powys and Giles Scott decided to enter the dohyō (ring). When you see the video you’ll probably agree that Jono, Ed and Giles should stick to sailing. Click the photo below to watch.
In spite of breathless reports which explain that the winner of a race on Sunday scores 20 points, it won’t be so easy for any of the teams to move up the leaderboard. Consider this: If the weather cooperates and all races are sailed, the most one team can improve over another is 45 points. And this would mean one team wins every race, scoring a total of 90 points for the regatta, while the other team comes in last in every race, scoring 45. I give a full explanation of the standings here. Short version: Land Rover BAR is in a strong position to win the series and take the two bonus points. Oracle and Team New Zealand will be battling for second place and the remaining bonus point.
