America’s Cup World Series Day 4 - First win for Energy Team

by Energy Team on 26 Aug 2012 On the America’s Cup World Series 2012-13 fourth day of racing in San Francisco Energy Team achieved a remarkable performance with a win and a place on the podium in the two fleet races. The French are now in second place in the overall rankings before Super Sunday and the big race which counts as the equivalent of four races. Before that, the two Oracle boats will be battling it out in the match race final. While we wait for the deciding contests, time to take a look a look at what happened in Saturday’s two races.

We are getting used to it, but it is clear that with eleven boats competing, getting off to a good start is crucial, yet can be very tricky. Fourth as they rounded mark 1, Energy Team managed to get off quite well. But there was still a long way to go starting with the fast downwind leg, which saw the boats racing at speeds above twenty knots. The French moved up one place to the third spot at mark 2 behind Emirates Team New Zealand and Artemis Racing White. On the first upwind leg, Yann Guichard and his men were no longer satisfied with simply warding off the attacks from those chasing them, but moved up one more place to round mark 3 in second place, seven seconds behind the New Zealanders. Energy was a serious contender for victory as they set off downwind again in a 16 knot wind. But they needed to keep an eye on Oracle Team USA Spithill, the clear leader in the rankings before this race. They managed to overtake, but were only just ahead of the French and at mark 4 just five seconds separated the first three boats, now well out in front of the rest of the fleet. The second upwind leg went really well for the French AC45, which took the lead, with just one downwind run to go before the finish. Energy Team kept at it and achieved their first win of the 2012-2013 season, finishing ahead of the top teams. A magnificent performance!

Results of Fleet Race Five
1. Energy Team
2. Oracle Team USA Spithill
3. Emirates Team New Zealand
4. Luna Rossa Piranha
5. Luna Rossa Swordfish
6. Artemis Racing White
7. Oracle Team USA Coutts
8. Team Korea
9. Artemis Racing Red
10. J.P. Morgan BAR
11. China Team

After the huge boost to their confidence after their win in the day’s first race, Yann Guichard’s crew felt ready to tackle the second and remained focused. Getting off to a great start, they rounded the first mark in the lead, before being overtaken by Oracle Team USA Spithill during the first downwind run. At the next mark, Energy was in second place. While the Americans made their getaway during the upwind leg, the French dropped back a place at mark 3, with Team Korea gaining the advantage. Not far behind them, the two Luna Rossa AC45s and Artemis Racing White were determined to get a place on the podium. Meanwhile, James Spithill took off heading for what looked like certain victory by mark 4 with a lead of 55 seconds over Team Korea and more than a minute ahead of Energy Team. The French boat fought hard to remain in third place on the upwind leg, while aiming to catch the Korean team. But the positions would remain the same until the finish. With a win and a place on the podium, only Oracle Team USA Spithill, winner of Fleet Race six, did better on Saturday. Now in second place overall, Energy Team is well placed before the final race, which is more heavily weighted in the Fleet Racing Championship and which is due to take place today, Super Sunday. Yann Guichard, skipper Energy Team : 'Today was a big day for us. It wasn’t easy because the wind is really shifty, but I’m so happy for my team because they did a fantastic job. This morning we changed the setup of the headsail and found some extra speed. It’s so much easier to have good tactics with good speed'.

Bruno Peyron, CEO Energy Team: 'It was a fantastic day for Energy Team, with a win in the first race and a fine third place in the second. Both starts were nigh on perfect, and the speeds were good in comparison to yesterday, with everyone fully focused and with more attention paid to what was going on out on the water. There was just one little mistake in the second race, when they could have ducked behind Team Korea rather than heading off to the left, but overall this was a great day for the team. Let’s try to do just as well on Super Sunday, which counts as the equivalent of four races and will determine the final rankings. This evening, we are in second place in the overall rankings behind James Spithill. The whole team has done a fantastic job and deserves to be congratulated this evening.'

Results of Fleet Race Six
1. Oracle Team USA Spithill
2. Team Korea
3. Energy Team
4. Artemis Racing White
5. Luna Rossa Piranha
6. Oracle Team USA Coutts
7. Luna Rossa Swordfish
8. J.P. Morgan BAR
9. Emirates Team New Zealand
10. China Team
11. Artemis Racing Red

Overall rankings on Saturday 25th August 2012 (after six races)
1. Oracle Team USA Spithill : 61 pts
2. Energy Team: 48 pts
3. Team Korea : 45 pts
4. Luna Rossa Piranha : 45 pts
5. Artemis Racing White: 39 pts
6. Luna Rossa Swordfish: 35 pts
7. Emirates Team New Zealand: 35 pts
8. Oracle Team USA Coutts: 29 pts
9. Artemis Racing Red : 28 pts
10. J.P. Morgan BAR: 26 pts
11. China Team : 9 pts

Energy Team Americas Cup website