America's Cup - Land Rover BAR take the day and increase overall lead

by Land Rover BAR on 19 Nov 2016 Land Rover BAR sailed a brilliant opening day at the final round of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series (ACWS) in Fukuoka, Japan.

Ben Ainslie and his team opened with a wire-to-wire win to put down a marker for the rest of the fleet. A second row start in race two saw them dig deep to recover to a third place, repeating the move with a fine third race fight back to second place. The three podium places made them top scorer for the day.

The results mean that Land Rover BAR go into tomorrow – the final day of racing for the 2015-16 ACWS –with a fifteen point overall lead from the current holder of the America's Cup, Oracle Team USA. Super Sunday races count double though, so they will still need a solid final day to take the series win, and the two bonus points that carry forward into the America's Cup Qualifiers in Bermuda next May.

The conditions were demanding with some big gusts and shifts, but conditions saw the boats up on their foils downwind. It was great action for the big crowds gathered on the city waterfront and beaches – the first time America's Cup racing has been seen in Japan.

Thoughts on the day

Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Team Principal: 'It's been an amazing day, we had a great first race, from the start we were in the lead and the guys did a fantastic job sailing the boat around a very tight course.

'After that, things got a little more tricky. We didn't have a very good start in race two, we were at the back of the fleet but we really fought hard and dug ourselves out at the last minute towards the finish line. In the final race of the day we had a better start but it was a close race. Again, we had to fight really hard, but we came through and got a second place which puts us in the lead for this event and extends our lead in the overall America's Cup World Series – that's ultimately our goal for the weekend.

'I think it is inevitable that Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand will take any chances to herd us and slow us down. We left the door open for them to do that in race two. I guess we did the same thing to them in Portsmouth, so it was a bit of a pay back. It's tough racing, everyone is fighting – you've got to expect those manoeuvres.

'Tomorrow the forecast is potentially for slightly less wind, but if it is anything like today, we had good racing and a good course and I think that our team are able to deal with any conditions. We have just got to keep focused, keep being consistent which I think we are good at. The objective is to win the World Series. We'd love to win this Fukuoka event but for us it is really about the final overall result for the series.'

Giles Scott, tactician: 'It was good to get three podium finishes today. We had a really good start in the first one, managed to get into the lead and hold onto it. For the last two races, it felt like a real dog fight. Lots of sails up and down, a really, really hard day on all of the crew. I think we managed to pull through the fleet really well, and I think a lot of that is just being able to execute the tough manoeuvres pretty consistently. I think the boys sailed really well today.

'We are in a great place, we put one point on Oracle Team USA today so we've held the lead that we came into this regatta with – but it's double points tomorrow and I don't think we can rest on our laurels.

'If you ask all the other guys where they want to be going into the final regatta, they'd be lying if they said they didn't want to be in the lead. We are certainly no different and happy to be in the place that we are in, and I think you take that pressure.'

Louis Vuitton America's Cup Worlds Series Fukuoka Results:

Land Rover BAR, 27 points
Oracle Team USA, 26 points
Emirates Team New Zealand, 23 points
Artemis Racing, 21 points
SoftBank Team Japan, 21 points
Groupama Team France, 17 points

Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Overall Results:

Land Rover BAR, 464 points
Oracle Team USA, 449 points
Emirates Team New Zealand, 443 points
SoftBank Team Japan, 420 points
Artemis Racing, 412 points
Groupama Team France, 377 points

Land Rover BAR Fukuoka line up

Ben Ainslie - Skipper and Team Principal
Paul Campbell-James - Wing Trimmer
David 'Freddie' Carr - Floater
Nick Hutton - Trimmer
Giles Scott - Strategist
Ed Powys - Floater/Strategist
Jono Macbeth - Sailing Team Manager
Jo Lees - Boat Captain
Ian Pattison - Shore support
James Chapman – Rib driver and Shore support
Ben Williams - Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach / Safety support/ Shore support
Rob Wilson - Coach
Luc du Bois - Performance Analysis