Americas Cup World Series at Plymouth, UK - Day 1

America's Cup World Series in Plymouth day 1 © Tom Gruitt / www.fotoboat.com

America's Cup World Series in Plymouth day 1 © Tom Gruitt / www.fotoboat.com

Crowds out in force for opening day

Emirates Team New Zealand won two of three fleet races to open the event. Not to be outdone, Russell Coutts and his ORACLE Racing crew set the pace in the AC500 Speed Trials, posting the fastest time over the 500 meter runway.

The race course was set up in the Sound, just meters offshore from the Plymouth Hoe, making day one of the event pure ‘stadium sailing’.

"It was pretty awesome to see a crowd like that supporting the sport,” said Artemis Racing skipper Terry Hutchinson. “There were a lot of public on the Plymouth Hoe and around the course. I don’t think anyone expected something like that. Imagine what could happen with a sunny day.”

With the wind blowing in excess of 20 knots at times, boat handling was the key skill today, combined with brave starting. Dean Barker and the Kiwis took the first race with their big rivals from Cascais, Portugal. ORACLE Racing Spithill, in hot pursuit. James Spithill’s colleagues on ORACLE Racing Coutts were disqualified for being over too early on the start line.

Even in these big breezes, getting a great start was proving critical, and this time Spithill managed to control the Kiwis, keeping his rivals slow while he shot away to an early lead that grew as the race continued. In a big pile-up at the downwind gate, just meters away from the spectators on the sea wall, French team Aleph was forced to bail out to avoid a collision. With the breeze at its highest, some teams were really struggling with controlling the high-speed cats, and Artemis Racing narrowly avoided a capsize at one mark rounding. Team Korea meanwhile was forced to retire from this race with equipment problems.

Dean Barker learned his lesson from the previous start and this time had a great launch from the downwind end of the line to lead around the first mark, narrowly in front of Artemis Racing and Spithill. The American defender kept up the pressure until he got caught up in an altercation with a local sailor watching the proceedings from his small cruising yacht. Spithill was forced to bring his catamaran to a grinding halt while he waited for the yacht to motor clear of the course.

By the time ORACLE Racing Spithill was up and running again, the Kiwis were long gone. Now the race was with the other ORACLE boat, and they were shown no mercy by Russell Coutts who closed them out and sailed in front. Meanwhile Artemis had pounced on the ORACLE mishap to move into second place.

Emirates Team New Zealand’s two race wins on the day gave them the lead in the fleet racing, and Dean Barker did a fly-by for the crowds as he waved his appreciation to the people of Plymouth who had come to watch. Artemis finished the day on equal points with Spithill.

Immediately afterwards the nine teams lined up for the AC500 Speed Trial, and Russell Coutts and his experienced crew showed the younger teams how to get maximum speed out of an AC45 in a straight line. Coutts scored a time of 39.69 seconds, with a top speed of 28.18 mph, 1.48 seconds faster than second-placed Emirates Team New Zealand.

Start time for Sunday’s fleet race has been moved up to 1300 local time (GMT+1).

Day 1 Highlights:

All racing can be seen live on www.youtube.com/americascup

Results after Day 1:

ORACLE Racing Spithill takes 3rd in ACWS Plymouth preliminaries (from ORACLE Racing)

Today’s preliminary round of the America’s Cup World Series Plymouth gave spectators an up close visual treat to racing. In the case of one particular spectator boat that closeness resulted in physical contact on the racecourse with ORACLE Racing Spithill in Race 3.

Joe Newton (AUS) and Dirk de Ridder (NED) fended off the 22-foot cruising boat from the AC45 after it had strayed onto the course area, with no damage done and a little friendly banter exchanged.

“We went around the guy and he got a little confused and went forward, so we ended up alongside him,” explained skipper James Spithill. “I said ‘Put it in reverse mate,’ but he didn’t have reverse!”

It harmed ORACLE Racing Spithill’s result in Race 3, dropping them to fourth for the heat. Sptihill’s crew finished third today and ORACLE Racing Coutts sixth, but Russell Coutts’ team took top honors with the fastest time in the 500m Speed Trial event.

In weather conditions that alternated between broken clouds and full rain with windspeeds between 10 and 20 knots, the second America’s Cup World Series event commenced with a flurry of action.

Three quick-fire fleet races of approximately 20 minutes each were held, followed by the ACWS Plymouth Speed Trials. It was all taken in by a crowed estimated in excess of 10,000 people lining the cliffs of Plymouth Hoe, perched 200 to 300 feet above the racecourse, the action at their feet.

“We expected the Hoe to offer an opportune vantage point and today’s crowd proves that belief,” said ORACLE Racing CEO Russell Coutts. “AC45 racing is fast, strenuous and exciting, and the fans got all of that today.”

The wind strength at times today was the strongest that the America’s Cup teams have seen on the racecourse. Bows were digging in at mark roundings and crews could be heard gasping for every breath of oxygen possible. The onboard microphones broadcast the wind whistling through the rigs, enhancing the immersive experience for those watching online.

ORACLE Racing Spithill scored a 2-1 in the first two races and was hunting down Race 3 leader Emirates Team New Zealand when misfortune struck with the small cruiser.

ORACLE Racing Spithill had an advantage of about 100 meters on third-placed Artemis Racing before the mishap, but after it was over had dropped to fourth, behind Artemis and teammate ORACLE Racing Coutts.

That result dropped ORACLE Racing Spithill into a tie for second on the day with Artemis Racing, but Artemis won the tiebreaker by virtue of finishing second in the day’s concluding race.

ORACLE Racing Coutts placed third in the final race and finished with 15 points on the day and sixth place. But the crew was hampered by an OCS (on the course side) in Race 1, which left them scored with 0 points.

ORACLE Racing Sailors’ Quotes

James Spithill
“It was a fantastic turn-out today, really impressive. The conditions were pretty nice.”
“It seemed like a long day on the water. For the guys in the crew, there are a lot of sore muscles. For the driver, you feel it in the legs through hiking.”

Russell Coutts
“It was fantastic first day. There were a lot people watching and Plymouth proved it was a great choice for a venue.”
“The starts were not very good today but we learnt some things today, so that was good.”

Racing begins at ACWS - Plymouth (from Artemis Racing)

The second America’s Cup World Series event got underway this afternoon as thousands of spectators lined the shoreline to watch the excitement on Plymouth Sound.

Artemis Racing’s Skipper Terry Hutchinson made the call before going out on the water that today’s x-factor would be Mother Nature, but the conditions turned out to be better than the forecast.

Racing started just after 1400 BST under grey skies with gusts up to 30 knots. But by the time Race 3 got underway, the wind had dropped to 15-20 knots and there was even a bit of sunshine to greet the fans and competitors. It was a full afternoon for the nine teams with three fleet races, followed by the speed trial.

The gusty conditions also made the mark roundings particularly exciting. “There was one point when I was worried were going over, but we managed to sit the boat down however, we were only 100mm from the mark!” said Skipper Terry Hutchinson.

Artemis Racing sailed consistently in the fleet races with good starts to finish 3rd, 2nd and 2nd. The Swedish team finished up the day in second overall with 26 points, just two points behind Emirates Team New Zealand and tied with ORACLE Racing Spithill (26 points), but ahead of the US team on count back.

Commenting on today’s racing Terry Hutchinson said; “We’re happy with our results today and our boat handling. The guys did a great job of battling out there. They are working really hard. It was also awesome to see all the spectators on the Plymouth Hoe.”

The team to beat in the speed trials was ORACLE Racing Coutts who set the record at 45.35 km/hr, while Artemis Racing finished up fifth overall.

“We struggled with the speed trials in Cascais and have been working on our set up and release positioning over the last few days. Judging by today, we still have some work to do.”

Racing continues at 1300BST tomorrow.

Green Comm Racing starts racing in Plymouth (from Green Comm Racing)

With less than 10 days racing on AC45's and their first time ever in brisk conditions, Green Comm Racing has a slow start in America's Cup World Series Plymouth.

Plymouth, 10 September 2011: The opening day of the America's Cup World Series delivered the big conditions conditions everybody was hoping for. The breeze was blowing from early in the morning and the nine AC45 yachts raced in winds between 20 and 25 knots. It was the first time the Green Comm Racing crew raced in brisk conditions and this was reflected in the scoretable. With just 11 days of sailing under their belts, the Olympic champions onboard Green Comm Racing can do nothing but improve!

After a one-month break from Cascais and just two days of training in Plymouth, the Green Comm Racing crew didn't want to take huge risks in the opening race of the event. They had a slow start and stayed in seventh place throughout the race.

The second race of the day started with a bang for Green Comm Racing. Vasilij Zbogar hit the starting line at the pin end, hot on the heels of James Spithill, and rounded the first two marks a few seconds behind the winner of the 33rd America's Cup. However, a penalty in the first upwind leg and a small collision with Aleph at the first upwind gate put an end to the Spanish team's hopes. Green Comm Racing crossed the finish line in 8th place, after Team Korea withdrew due to gear failure.

The start of the day's third and final fleet race was again very promising and Green Comm Racing was third in the first leeward gate, sneaking inside James Spithill. Nevertheless, they weren't able to hold on to their position and finished 9th.

Following the conclusion of the fleet races, the nine AC45 teams took part in the 500-meter speed trials where Green Comm Racing finished 7th. The best time of the team's three speed trials was 44.19 seconds, with an average speed of 22 knots.

Quotes of the day

Vasilij Zbogar, helmsman:
“Before docking out this morning we agreed that our goal today was just to sail safe but when all went smooth in the first race we decided to push more in the second and third race. We had a great start in the second race and kept the second place until the bottom mark but then, unfortunately, slipped back.
We still have to work a lot on our maneuvers because in the tacks and gybes we give up some places. However, at the end of the day we are happy with what we achieved, it was only our 11th day on the water. We still have a lot to learn but still it is a much better first day than our first day in Cascais.
Today we got four penalties, three times because we were over the course limits and another because we had a collision with Aleph. There were 3-4 boats coming into the top mark and in the pileup we hit the French.
I wouldn't say it was a bad day for the team. At the beginning our attitude was to keep the boat in one piece but at the end we raced and it didn't turn out well. Tomorrow is another day and we look forward to it. We all are competitive sailors and we want to win. So, we will again do our best and we try to get the best result.”