America's Cup World Series - Ainslie takes opener in Fukuoka, Japan

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 19 Nov 2016 The America's Cup World Series came to Asia for the first time in the opening day of the racing in the Final Round of the Series which counts for points in the Qualifier Round of the America's Cup Regatta beginning on May 27, 2017, in Bermuda.


Land Rover BAR picked up their third successive win to take the first race of the America's Cup World Series.

Yesterday the British team took the final Practice Race and also won the Substitute Race - used for television coverage if there was no wind on the first day of the America's Cup World Series.

Conditions were light 8-10 kts but with streaky pressure.

Ainslie dominates Race 1
Ben Ainslie started the British team at the windward end of the start line, getting a slight edge on the fleet with Emirates Team New Zealand also being another to get a good start - as the leeward boat, but in the middle of the line and with the shortest distance to sai, the to the first mark.

Ainslie was able to use the pressure to climb over the Kiwis and was first to Mark 1.

That was virtually the race with Ainslie never threatened, despite sailing out of a boundary on the penultimate leg - one of a number of unforced errors in the fleet.

Emirates Team NZ gave Ainslie a close run but a snafu during leg four and dropped 30 seconds on the Brits. Artemis finished third.

Foiling in Race 2
The breeze increased minimally to 10kts, but it was sufficient for the whole fleet to foil off the start, and regular be at over 20kts on the downwind legs.

Ben Ainslie started Land Rover BAR to windward again, with Emirates Team NZ taking the leeward slot, but instead of rounding first and second, they were second to last and last respectively, with Softbank Team Japan and Oracle Team USA making the running.

The second race was a re-run of the first, with the Japanese Team scoring an end to end win, with Oracle Team USA never being troubled for second. Behind them, it was a donnybrook for the minor placings with Land Rover BAR trailing the fleet, but staying in contact and then sailing a mistake-free race to move into third overall at the finish.

Emirates Team New Zealand scored numerous penalties on Leg 4, to the point where aside from an unforced error sailing outside a boundary, it was unclear why the penalties were being incurred. That was sufficient to drop them back to last place, and they did well to recover to finish fourth.

Oracle untroubled in Race 3
In the final race of the day, Oracle Team USA had an end to end win after winning the race to the first mark, with Softbank Team Japan tucked in behind and Emirates Team NZ third. Softbank Team Japan was looking good for a second place but dropped rapidly back off their foils on Leg 4 dropping back in the fleet.

Then developed a battle between Emirates Team NZ and Land Rover BAR for second place, with the Kiwis not helping their cause again with another instance of sailing out of the race boundary or sideline, and picking up yet another penalty.

But a brilliant penultimate downwind leg, Emirates Team New Zealand picked some good pressure to stay foiling and picked up into second/third place with Land Rover BAR. On the final upwind they had second place, but a wind shift on the right-hand side of the course picked up the Brits and hoisted them into second place, with Groupama Team France getting a leg up to be third going into the final run.

At the finish, it was Oracle Team USA from Land Rover BAR and Emirates Team NZ just getting ahead of Groupama Team France.

On the points table for the day. Land Rover BAR leads with Oracle Team USA second and Emirates Team NZ in third.

Overall the British team has extended their series lead and look almost certain to be the winner of the America's Cup World Series and take two points into the Qualifiers in Bermuda.