Oracle Team USA thanks fans, looks ahead to Portsmouth

by Oracle Team USA on 13 Jun 2016 2016 America’s Cup World Series - Over 200,000 fans crowded Chicago’s Navy Pier over the weekend to cheer on Oracle Team USA and share the America’s Cup experience, which featured foiling, flying catamarans, racing at a freshwater venue for the first time.

Artemis Racing won the event, with Land Rover BAR in second place and SoftBank Team Japan taking two race wins for its first podium position. Oracle Team USA finished fifth.

“We were battling all weekend really,” said skipper Jimmy Spithill. “It was a shame. We were in good shape at times, but we couldn’t execute when we needed to. There are no weak links among the teams here and you just get punished when you make mistakes.”

“We have to congratulate the guys on Artemis Racing,” he said. “The results do the talking. Those guys deserved to finish where they did and so did we. But it was great to see Deano and the boys on Japan get up there. They’ve been working so hard and it’s nice to see them rewarded.”

For Spithill, the big takeaway from the two American stops – New York and Chicago – on the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series has been the fan support for the team and the event.

“It was unreal here,” he said. “Let’s hope this becomes a regular stop on the series going forward. The race course is awesome. All weekend we saw huge crowds, great support, it would be great to come back again.”

From here the team returns to Bermuda for more training and development of its America’s Cup Class design. But Spithill says there will need to be a frank and honest debrief of what the team needs to improve ahead of the next event in Portsmouth, UK.

“We’re going to do a lot of work with (coach) Philippe Presti. “We’re going to have to spend some time preparing for the next one. We’ll bounce back. This team is very candid about addressing what needs to change. We’ve been in this position before and we’ll be back no problem.

“We want to go into Portsmouth and grab a win in Ben’s hometown. That would be a highlight and good goal for us!”

Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Chicago leaderboard

(Race points, Overall points)

- Artemis Racing – 9, 18, 20, 14 - 61
- Land Rover BAR – 6, 20, 14, 18 - 58
- SoftBank Team Japan – 10, 16, 10, 20 – 56
- Emirates Team New Zealand – 7, 12, 16, 16 - 53
- Oracle Team USA – 5, 14, 18, 12 - 49
- Groupama Team France – 8, 10, 12, 10 - 40

Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series – Overall leaderboard

- Emirates Team New Zealand – 295
- Land Rover BAR – 285
- Oracle Team USA – 285
- Artemis Racing – 262
- SoftBank Team Japan – 259
- Groupama Team France – 234