Race Highlights, April 21 – ACWS Naples 2013 – Day 4

[Source: Oracle Team USA] Three America’s Cup World Series regattas this season, and three match racing titles for ORACLE TEAM USA. On Sunday in Naples, Italy, skipper Tom Slingsby and crew secured the third, defeating Luna Rossa Swordfish in the match race final. After a second-place finish in the Super Sunday fleet race, ORACLE TEAM USA also wraps up a successful season and claims the overall ACWS 2012-13 season championship.

“We are really proud to be getting the trophy for ORACLE TEAM USA,” said Slingsby. “Obviously, Jimmy Spithill and his team really set it up for us and we just had to come here, do our best. Luckily, they gave us a big enough points lead to take home the trophy.”

ORACLE TEAM USA entered the ACWS Naples carrying a 44-point lead in the season standings with skipper Jimmy Spithill at the helm. While he remained in San Francisco to prepare for the team’s second AC72 to launch, Slingsby took the reins. With today’s results, ORACLE TEAM USA captures the ACWS season championship with 245 points, followed by Luna Rossa Piranha (191) and JP Morgan BAR (181). Spithill guided ORACLE TEAM USA to the inaugural ACWS championship last year.

On the match race final start, Luna Rossa Swordfish pinned ORACLE TEAM USA inside to lead off the line. Slingsby was behind through the first four gates. On the fifth leg, the crew made up ground, closing what was once a more than 100-meter gap, to gain the advantage. ORACLE TEAM USA rounded the final two gates in the lead, and extended across the finish line to win by more than 30 seconds.

Tom Slingsby and crew celebrating their sweeping victory in America’s Cup World Series. Naples, 21 April 2013, Photo copyright Gilles Martin-Raget / America’s Cup

“A great win for the team,” Slingsby said. “Luckily it was a long race, and half way through we were quite a bit behind. But, I said to the boys, we’re still in this. Slowly, but surely, we caught up and made the passing maneuver on the last beat, and went on to hold it from there.”

ORACLE TEAM USA won each of the match racing titles at ACWS events this season. Russell Coutts guided a crew to the win at the ACWS San Francisco in August 2012, and Spithill and crew took the win at the ACWS San Francisco in October 2012.

Slingsby carried course knowledge learned from the match race into the Super Sunday final fleet race, where bonus points were on the board. After a slingshot start, ORACLE TEAM USA took the early lead. Energy Team moved ahead at the third gate, and Slingsby met Luna Rossa Swordfish again at the mark.

On the fifth leg, ORACLE TEAM USA moved ahead, taking advantage of a big lift of wind. But, following the sixth gate, Slingsby was forced to bear away from China Team and lost ground. Luna Rossa Swordfish took the late lead and carried it across the finish line. ORACLE TEAM USA finished second.

“The racing was so shifty, the positions were changing all the time, going up the last beat I felt we had it in the bag,” Slingsby said. “But, unfortunately we fell into a bit of a hole up the last beat, we took the wrong mark at the top, didn’t lay the mark we wanted, and we paid the price. Swordfish passed us and they took the overall honors.”

ORACLE TEAM USA and Luna Rossa Swordfish finished tied with 80 points in the overall regatta fleet race standings, but the tiebraker went to Luna Rossa Swordfish for the win in the final race. Emirates Team New Zealand finished third at the ACWS Naples with 71 points, followed by Luna Rossa Piranha (70) and JP Morgan BAR (65).

The team now turns attention to the launch of their second AC72 on Tuesday, April 23, in San Francisco, marking the start of the next phase of training for the 34th America’s Cup Final in September.

The nine boat fleet: Artemis Racing White (Charlie Ekberg), China Team (Mitch Booth), Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker), Energy Team (Yann Guichard), HS Racing (Roman Hagara), J.P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie), Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper), Luna Rossa Swordfish (Francesco Bruni), and ORACLE TEAM USA SLINGSBY (Tom Slingsby).

Race Highlights, April 20 – ACWS Naples 2013 – Day 3

[Source: America's Cup] Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand won today’s fisticuffs on the Bay of Naples, but it was ORACLE TEAM USA’s Tom Slingsby who is on the verge of securing the season-long battle for the 2012-2013 America’s Cup World Series Championship in Jimmy Spithill’s No. 4 boat.

Spithill led ORACLE TEAM USA to the inaugural America’s Cup World Series season championship last year, and opened a 44-point lead through the first two regattas in the second season of racing.

He couldn’t attend this week’s regatta because the team is about to launch its second AC72 in preparation for the upcoming 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco (Sept. 7-21) so in stepped Slingsby, the Laser class Gold medalist at last summer’s Olympics.

Slingsby has shown a steady hand in his first America’s Cup World Series regatta, leading the team into tomorrow’s match racing championship and also eyeing a chance to win the fleet racing championship. But regardless of how he finishes tomorrow, ORACLE TEAM USA is in a strong position for the overall season championship (barring an unforeseen circumstance).

Slingsby helms Oracle Team USA to the 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series champion title. Naples, 20 April 2013. Photo copyright Gilles Martin-Raget / America’s Cup

“It’s great for the team, winning the America’s Cup World Series for the second year in a row,” said Slingsby. “I’m glad I could help in some way, but this championship doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to Jimmy and his team for setting it all up. I came in with a nice big lead.”

In some of the most challenging conditions seen yet at America’s Cup World Series Naples, Emirates Team New Zealand showed jet-like speed in winning both of today’s fleet races. The wind strength ranged between 7 and 12 knots but there was a nasty chop on the bay that placed added emphasis on smooth boathandling.

After scoring the double firsts, Emirates Team New Zealand is the third overall leader of the series in as many days. Barker’s crew led the first race from start to finish and then pulled off a nifty pass on Luna Rossa Swordfish (Francesco Bruni) to win the second race.

“I feel like all through training and racing we’ve had good pace through all the conditions,” said Barker. “But there’s a bit of a mistral pushing a little bit of seaway into the bay. It makes these boats nasty to sail, they don’t like waves. But it rewards good crew work and I think that’s a strength of our team.”

Slingsby placed 2-5 in the two fleet races and trails Emirates Team New Zealand by 5 points. The ORACLE TEAM USA tactician/strategist began his day with a victory in the match racing semi final over Ben Ainslie’s J.P. Morgan BAR. Although the two are brothers in arms in ORACLE TEAM USA, there was no quarter given in their quick, 11-minute match race.

The pair was locked in battle up the first beat when Slingsby won the first cross. He gained a bit of control over Ainslie but almost gave it away at the windward mark. Ainslie was on port tack in the three-boatlength circle ahead of Slingsby on starboard tack. Under the racing rules Ainslie had rights to round the mark, but Slingsby crossed and rounded the left-hand mark while Ainslie bore away to round the right-hand mark.

“We peeled off on the gate. The left-hand side of the course seemed to be working. It was pretty close,” said Ainslie. “Full credit to them, hopefully they can win tomorrow.”

ORACLE TEAM USA races Luna Rossa Swordfish in tomorrow’s match racing championship. Bruni also won an in-house battle in the semi finals when he beat Chris Draper and the Luna Rossa Piranha crew. The two squared off after an extended training period in New Zealand.

“I feel comfortable, I feel all the training we have done in Auckland was very useful,” said Bruni. “We really put a lot of hours into our match racing skills. I think Chris has improved a lot and I’ve improved a lot steering.”

Slingsby, who has overcome the pressure of winning a Gold medal as a heavy favorite, has his sights set high for tomorrow.

“I want to win tomorrow,” Slingsby said. “New Zealand has a nice lead right now, but if we win tomorrow we’ll take the glory. For the team it’s great, but for me personally my job’s not done yet. I want to win tomorrow. This is my one chance in an America’s Cup World Series. Who knows when the next event will be so I’m trying to make most of it,” he said.

America’s Cup World Series Naples Championship Standings
(Provisional, after 6 of 7 scheduled races)
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) – 60 points
2. ORACLE TEAM USA (Tom Slingsby) – 55
3. J.P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie) – 52
4. Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper) – 50
5. Energy Team (Yann Guichard) – 42
6. Luna Rossa Swordfish (Francesco Bruni) – 40
7. Artemis Racing White (Charlie Ekberg) – 31
8. HS Racing (R. Hagara/H.S. Steinacher) – 26
9. China Team (Mitch Booth) – 22

2012-2013 America’s Cup World Series Season Championship
(Provisional, after 20 of 21 races)
1. ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL/SLINGSBY – 220 points
2. Luna Rossa Piranha – 171
3. J.P. Morgan BAR – 168
4. Emirates Team New Zealand – 160
5. Artemis Racing White – 151
6. Energy Team – 144
7. Luna Rossa Swordfish – 111
8. Team Korea – 105
9. ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS – 98
10. Artemis Racing Red – 90
11. China Team – 65
12. HS Racing – 26

Race Highlights, April 19 – ACWS Naples 2013 – Day 2

[Source: America's Cup] Helmsman Tom Slingsby led ORACLE TEAM USA into the top spot in the standings with finishes of 1-2 in today’s two fleet races. Slingsby, filling in for team skipper Jimmy Spithill, also won his first competitive match race, a 34-second victory over HS Racing led by co-skippers Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher.

“It was an ideal day for us, we’re really happy,” said Slingsby, the 28-year-old Australian who won the Gold medal in the Laser class at last year’s Olympic Regatta.

“The wind was a bit steadier today so you just had to worry about getting a good start, boathandling and positioning,” Slingsby continued. “You didn’t have to read into watching the wind and everything it did. It was a beautiful seabreeze with small shifts and made things a bit easier.”

Slingsby’s performance impressed even the U.S. Ambassador to Italy, David Thorne, who was guest racer aboard ORACLE TEAM USA.

“Looking at the racing, it’s really spectacular,” said Thorne. “Being in it, doing it, it’s so much fun to get engaged in something like this. These are not really sailboats, they’re airplanes. It’s a spectacular feeling of speed and movement. It’s completely thrilling.”

Led by skipper Yann Guichard, France’s Energy Team posted a 2-1. They were overtaken by Slingsby on the second upwind leg in the first fleet race, but rebounded for a 26-second win in the second race.

“Yesterday was difficult to understand the race course, it was very shifty. Today the wind was very steady so I could really focus on the speed of the boat, especially on the start,” said Guichard, who led Energy Team to 4th place at last year’s AC World Series Naples.

“It will all come down to Sunday, but it’s really important to do well day after day so we can be confident going into the last day,” Guichard said.

Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand crash at the top mark. Naples, 19 April 2013. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa

While the fleet races were tame in terms of boats banging off each other, the same cannot be said of the day’s first match race between Luna Rossa Swordfish and Emirates Team New Zealand.

The rival crews who spent the winter training on AC72s in New Zealand were involved in a collision at the windward mark that flattened the starboard bow of Luna Rossa Swordfish and damaged the port stern scoop of Emirates Team New Zealand.

Dean Barker got Emirates Team New Zealand off to a good start when he forced Francesco Bruni and Luna Rossa Swordfish over the start line early. Barker led by 5 seconds around the leeward mark but Bruni steadily chipped away at that lead upwind.

As the two crews aimed to round the left side windward mark, Barker approached on starboard with Bruni on port. Video replays show that Bruni got to the three-boatlength circle a split second before Barker, which gave Bruni rights to round the mark free of interference from Barker.

Barker, however, continued sailing straight to the mark and Bruni crashed into him as he started to tack towards the mark. Barker was penalized on the ensuing run and Bruni won the match.

But the damage to the boats was done and later Luna Rossa Swordfish retired from the second fleet race due to the damage despite finishing 3rd in the first fleet race.

“We are happy with our win over Team New Zealand because they are one of the best teams on the water so to beat them is a nice thing to do,” said Luna Rossa Challenge skipper Max Sirena, a trimmer aboard Swordfish.

“In the second race we broke the headstay bracket on the bowsprit, it dragged back 10 centimeters. We think it’s because of the damage in the collision,” Sirena said.

Barker was upset that Luna Rossa Swordfish didn’t do more to avoid the collision.

“Normally, even if you’re in the right you avoid collisions resulting in serious damage and it doesn’t seem like they did a lot,” said Barker, a past match racing world champion. “I think it’s pretty poor to be honest. But the umpires see it the way they see it and our guys have a long night to fix the boat.”

Both boats were hauled from the water for their shore teams to affect repairs.

America’s Cup World Series Naples Championship Standings
(Provisional, after 4 of 7 scheduled races)

1. ORACLE TEAM USA (Tom Slingsby) – 38 points
2. Energy Team (Yann Guichard) – 36
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) – 36
4. J.P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie) – 35
5. Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper) – 33
6. Luna Rossa Swordfish (Francesco Bruni) – 23
7. Artemis Racing White (Charlie Ekberg) – 21
8. HS Racing (R. Hagara/H.S. Steinacher) – 17
9. China Team (Mitch Booth) – 14

Race Highlights, April 18 – ACWS Naples 2013 – Day 1

[Source: Artemis Racing] Sunshine and great wind conditions for the first day of the America’s Cup World Series in Naples. The wind was about 10-12kts, which provided steady conditions for today’s three match race qualifiers and two fleet races. The first match was China Team versus HS Racing won by the Austrians, followed a win for Ben Ainslie Racing/ JP Morgan over France’s Team Energy and lastly, Artemis Racing White lined up against Luna Rossa Piranha with Olympic medalist Chris Draper at the helm.

Today was the first official day of AC45 racing for 23-year-old helmsman, Charlie Ekberg onboard Artemis Racing White. The young Swede, who is the leader of the Swedish Youth Challenge for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup team, overtook Luna Rossa on the first downwind leg despite their best efforts to stall the team and gain at the start.

Ekberg made extensive strides in his match racing skills today and managed to keep himself between the finish line and Chris Draper’s team at all times and was ahead in all maneuvers.

First day of official AC45 racing for the young Swedish helmsman Charlie Ekberg. Naples, 18 April 2013. Photo copyright Gilles Martin-Raget / America’s Cup

It was at the final leeward gate however, where Artemis Racing incurred a penalty against for not giving way to the Italians who were on starboard on the downwind leg…. it proved to be a very costly penalty, at a critical time in the race with just a short sprint to the finish leaving no time to recover. Luna Rossa Piranha gybed past Artemis and went on to take the victory.

“We developed a lot from yesterday and the main goal for today was to learn and we want to exit this regatta with a couple good scores,” says Ekberg. “We are looking forward to tomorrow and we will be further up the results the further into the regatta.”

Alongside Ekberg is his coach for Swedish Youth Challenge, Björn Johansson. “For Charlie this experience couldn’t be more valuable. The chance to sail against the top sailors in the world in preparation for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup will give him the knowledge and skills to compete in September.”

Racing continues tomorrow with the match racing quarterfinals and two more fleet races.