LV America's Cup World Series – Pushing for speed in Portsmouth

by Oracle Team USA on 22 Jul 2016 Oracle Team USA finished official practice in Portsmouth on Friday looking to find more speed before racing starts to count on the weekend.

It was a day of mixed results on a practice day that had skipper Jimmy Spithill wanting more when he pushed the pedal down.

'It was tricky today,' Spithill said. 'The first two races went well. The last one I thought we were good off the starting line, but we had a hard time accelerating and the other guys passed us on top and underneath and then we were banged around the race course a bit.

'On a tight track, when you fall out the back it’s a tough climb to get up near the front again.'

Starts proved critical on a day when winds were in the 5-7 knot range, with occasional puffs moving across the race course.

The forecast for Saturday is for slightly stronger winds and three races are scheduled beginning at 1:30pm local time in the UK.

'Every race is different,' Spithill said, looking ahead to the weekend. 'We have to work on some little things, especially our speed and acceleration. We need to sharpen up a little bit.'