America’s Cup Match Racing Off to an Exciting Start with Surprise WIns, Collisions and Penalties at the Start

Today – The 2017 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers are now on Race Day 7 in Bermuda. Elimination of qualifying teams begins.

Fri., May 26 – the start of the LVACQ  was delayed due to fierce winds.

Sat., May 27 – The winds were cooperating and this is how Race Day 1 started out – each team just waiting for the other to make a mistake. The day was full of surprises and collisions.

1. Off to a good start in Race 1 USA wins over France by 2 min 11 sec. To be expected with France being a newer team and much the underdog with no wins in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series, advancing to the Qualifiers with 0 points.
2. Next race Sweden wins over Japan with an exciting race. SoftBank was in the lead from the start, then 17 sec. ahead coming around gate 4 when Artemis came around on the 5^th leg landing side by side with Japan and Dean Barker had to move out of the way and give Nathan Outteridge’s team the advantage and a win for Sweden by 13 sec.
3. New Zealand wins over France by 2 min 33 sec. The French team’s weaknesses seemed to be losing time with their tacks and jibes.
4. In Race 4 Great Britain takes the win over Sweden. What a surprise and good for Ben
   

   America’s Cup Qualifiers, Day 6 Photo/Giles Martin-Raget

   Ainslie’s team beating the favored Artemis Racing by 11 sec. (Artemis had the most wins during all the practice races before the Qualifiers.)

5. Next USA wins over New Zealand after a fiercely fought start between the two. NZ was 20 sec. ahead around gate 3 but USA caught up around gate 5 and took the lead and win by 7 sec.
6. In the final race of the day, Japan wins over Great Britain. A major collision occurred between the two boats 20 sec. prior to the start penalizing Great Britain who could not recover and SoftBank, the newest team, took their first win in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers.

“The racing today was better than I expected,” writes Paul Cayard in Cayard Sailing Reports May 27. “Four of the six matches were very closely contested and five of the six teams seemed fairly even with only the French off the pace. The boats are very fast, 35-40 knots today and it is impressive to watch them live.“

A Double Round Robin with more races to go. Stay tuned to NBC Sport Network as the energy heats up with five teams clamoring to be the Challenger against ORACLE.

June 2, 2017, Standings

Team                            Wins               LVACWS                   Total

Emirates Team NZ               8                      0                                  8

USA                                         6                      1                                  7

Land Rover BAR                   3                      2                                  5

Artemis Racing                     3                      0                                  4

SoftBank Team Japan         3                      0                                  3

Groupama Team France     2                      0                                  2

Sun., May 28 was a fantastic day for the French! Franck Cammas and his team won their first race. And it was against Artemis Racing, who appeared  to be the strongest team during the practice races. The elation in Franck’s voice reflected the morale boost for his team. The next day on the 29^th in Race 1 France beat Great Britain, another of the older favored teams. On June 1 they were actually tied with Artemis Racing!

Fri., June 2 Unfortunately, on Race Day 7 the French, after a mediocre start, made that one bad maneuver on the way to the first gate and could never catch up. New Zealand was quite aggressive with their tacking and foiling with their hulls 100% out of the water (the first team to do it). Amazing to watch the Kiwis cross the finish still at 100% and take the lead in the race standings. And sadly, the French are now out.

At the end of the Qualifiers, the AC World Series final standings will be used to break ties. This could affect which challenger is eliminated, the pairings for the semi-finals and whether a team earns a bonus point for the America’s Cup Match. At the end of the LVACWS Great Britain’s Land Rover Bar had 2 pts. and ORACLE TEAM USA had 1 pt. Watch the Helmsman Conference on Race Day 6, June 1.   Watch the video of two penalties.

One more day of racing and then the America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs begin.

 

Sailing Terms (courtesy of stuff.co.nz)

The skipper needs to make split-second calls while operating at high speed and under enormous pressure . A calm demeanour is crucial, as is the ability to work with management and design.

The helmsman handles the steering of the boat via the wheels at the back of each hull. He’s usually the skipper but not always.

The trimmer will look after the massive wingsail, constantly shaping it to generate maximum speed. It’s a specialist job, needing total attention.

The four grinders are basically the engine of these power-hungry beasts and their arms (or legs in Team NZ’s case) will be going like pistons for the entire race.

The tactician is the sailor who reads the elements and pieces together a strategy from them. But the reduction in crew numbers means there’s no luxury of one man bouncing around the trampoline, constantly scouring the waters and opposition to maximise windshifts and opportunities. This person will have to do that while also grinding for long periods.

The bowman will also principally be a grinder but will also need to look after the headsails and provide feedback to help judge distances during the tricky pre-start.