Oracle Team USA returns to Portsmouth one year on

by Peter Rusch on 22 Jul 2016 2016 America’s Cup World Series - One year on from the opening event of the series, Oracle Team USA is looking forward to racing in the 2016 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth.

Last summer, the team earned a third-place podium position here and following a challenging regatta in Chicago last month, skipper Jimmy Spithill says his team has worked hard to improve its performance.

“We’ve spend a lot of time with our coach Philippe Presti, going over the video from the last regattas, looking closely at ourselves and studying the other teams,” Spithill said.

“We can look at the different styles, playbooks, strategies, and learn from the teams who did well. We’ve worked hard to learn what we can and take it on board ahead of racing here.

“The fact is that the standard across the fleet is high. The team that can piece together a good consistent series, especially in the double-point races on Sunday, is the team that is going to succeed.”

On Thursday, following the opening press conference, the team took to the water for a media and pro-am sail. On Friday, it’s straight into official practice racing ahead of six scheduled races over the weekend. The forecast is for good racing conditions each day.

“It’s challenging when you come to these events and you have to perform with such limited practice time,” said trimmer Joe Newton. “But that’s the same for each team. We have a good plan for our time on the water and we’ll look at making adjustments each day, with a goal to be more consistent and post better results.”