America's Cup - Britain takes the double in the World Series Fukuoka

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com NZ on 20 Nov 2016 Land Rover BAR took the double - overall Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series title and also won the Fukuoka Round of the LVACWS, after a day of unforced errors by her rivals.

Add into that the undoubted class and talent of skipper, four times Olympic Gold Medalist Ben Ainslie, and despite holding a handy lead in the overall series before the final day's racing, the British sailed superbly and were clearly hungry for both wins.

They now take two points into the America's Cup Qualifiers in six months' time. More importantly the Brits sent a clear signal to the other teams that they'd better have faster boats for the America's Cup, because they were no match for Ainslie and his crew, who almost played with the fleet.

Errors were always punished by Land Rover BAR and the two lead contenders, Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team NZ both had brain explosions at vital times on the course, and paid the price for their distraction.

Drama starts on the start-line
Race 1 of the final day of the America's Cup World Series Fukuoka began in dramatic style with Land Rover BAR ( Ben Ainslie) being penalised at the start. But the Brits continued to sail aggressively against her two key rivals, Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team NZ - the only competitors with a mathematical chance of taking the top spot in the overall series points.

Emirates Team NZ gave Ainslie a bonus by picking up a penalty before starting. The three top boats trailed the fleet off the start line.

Sailing in a light sea-breeze which precluded foiling, Ainslie forced Emirates Team NZ and Oracle Team USA above the start line, before easing down and starting, with the Kiwis and the USA in her wake.

The race looked to be over - based on what we had seen yesterday, but the New Zealanders, helmed by 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, Peter Burling got an extra puff of breeze and rolled over the top of Land Rover BAR and Softbank Team Japan to move into second place, behind Artemis Racing (SWE).

The first two placings remained the same for the remainder of the race, but Ainslie was able to claw his way back into third place getting over Oracle Team USA and Groupama Team France on the final run, but then lost his momentum right on the final mark, dropping a place to Oracle Team USA, with Softbank Team Japan fifth and Groupama Team France bringing up the rear.

Aggression in Race 2:
Race 2 saw another congested startline, with the competitors almost sailing parallel to the start line and with two - overall leader Land Rover BAR being penalised, and letting Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team NZ away on the reach to the first mark.

An aggressive luff by Jimmy Spithill (Oracle Team USA) pushed the Kiwis up to windward, however the two looked to sail on the wrong side, allowing the van of the fleet to come in and form a meatball which allowed the British to break ranks with the fleet and then close back up with the fleet.

Artemis Racing again moved into the lead for their second win of the day. Behind them, the place swapping and aggressive tactics in the light airs continued.

Emirates Team NZ and Groupama Team France were both caught at the bottom mark with Ainslie managing to use his match racing skills to score penalties off the relatively inexperienced match racers in the form of the Kiwi and French team skippers.

Emirates Team NZ took an eternity to clear their penalty and were dropped back to last place by the umpires. However, the Kiwis recovered again to be up in the play in third or fourth.

But as the race went into its final stanzas the two experienced match racers Ainslie and Jimmy Spithill locked horns at the final rounding mark, with Ainslie giving a luff to Spithill, who was forced up as the windward boat, allowing the British to drop down and push Spithill back into third, with the New Zealanders in fourth place overall.

The finish line fiasco delivered overall lead for Land Rover BAR in the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series, and the Brits will go into the Qualifiers in Bermuda on May 27, 2017, with a two point or two-win start - and with a race to spare in the double points scoring final day in Fukuoka.

No quarter given in Race 3:
Ben Ainslie didn't back off in the start of Race 3, going after Oracle Team USA at the start and trapping the British boat to windward and scoring a penalty off the America's Cup Defender.

The Brits admitted after the race that their intention was to deprive Oracle Team USA of any points going into the Qualifier Rounds, which if the Defender wins that phase of the Challenger Series, then they carry a one-point lead going in the America's Cup Match.

The British favour to the Kiwis should have set the Antipodean team up, but as in the previous two races of the day, the Kiwis proved to be penalty-prone, pushing it too hard with an upwind cross with Oracle Team USA - being forced by the umpires to drop back to last place. The Kiwis compounded their woes by trying to carry the Code Zero up the final beat and were slightly slower for significant periods relative to their competitors.

Up front, Groupama Team France made the running for a welcome respite from a string of back-end places in a race where the breeze increased slightly to the point where foiling was possible at times on the downwind leg, but in the fickle breeze the fleet was back down onto displacement sailing and Code Zeros at the end of the run.

Artemis blotted their two-win copy book trailing in fourth to fifth place, while Softbank Team Japan revived their form of Race 2 on Saturday to hold second place at the top for the last time. Land Rover BAR held third while Artemis Racing held a narrow margin to be fourth ahead of Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team NZ.

The positions remained unchanged on the final two legs, with Land Rover BAR taking the Fukuoka Round win after tying overall points with Artemis Racing, but breaking that tie-break by virtue of beating the Swedish crew in the sixth and final race of the series.

Land Rover BAR will take two points into the Qualifier Series in Bermuda, with Defender Oracle Team USA taking one point into the Challenger Series. Emirates Team New Zealand top the also-rans and finish in third place in the America's Cup World Series and fourth place in the Fukuoka Round.