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AC45s Foiling It Out in Portsmouth, UK – July 22-24
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AC45s Foiling It Out in Portsmouth, UK – July 22-24

Americas Cup

AC45s Foiling It Out in Portsmouth, UK – July 22-24

The races are back in Portsmouth, UK, home of Ben Ainslie Racing (Land Rover BAR) after one year of globetrotting to Sweden, Bermuda, Oman and two stops in the U.S.A. Portsmouth is hosting the July 22-24 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series regatta. Check out the Events Guide and don’t miss the BMW Blokarts. Schedule:

Fri., July 22 – Opening Ceremonies & Practice Racing
Sat., July 23 – Race Day 1 – Racing begins at 1:30pm (1330 hrs)
Sun., July 24 – Race Day 2 – Racing begins at 1:30pm (1330 hrs); Awards Ceremony 4pm (1600 hrs)
Land Rover BAR – Photo/Ricardo Pinto – ACEA 2016

Skipper and team principal Ben Ainslie has his eye on winning the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series this weekend, not to mention bringing the trophy home for the first time in the America’s Cup 165 year history in 2017. However, both BAR and Emirates Team New Zealand (in first place overall) lost crew to the Olympics in Rio. Yet, it did not seem to make any difference today as BAR took first place by one minute in practice Race 1 , as seen in this brief video by Portsmouth Locals. They took a first in Race 2 and two thirds in practice Race 3 and 4. Conditions were tricky today with light winds and negligible opportunities for foiling most races.

Race 4 is the practice race that will be substituted should conditions prevent racing on Saturday. Race 4 results: Emirates Team New Zealand took first and SoftBank Team Japan beat out BAR for a second place.

Skipper Dean Barker, SoftBank Team Japan – Photo/Shawn Roster/Team Origin 2016

Prior to the weekend, skipper & CEO Dean Barker with Softbank Team Japan reflected on this past year and the progress made by his new team. “It’s been massive changes since we were here last year. The whole team is assembled, we’ve grown to have over 40 people in Bermuda, feels like we’ve been making some real progress in how we’re competing in the World Series (americascup.com).” In the Chicago World Series in June 2016,

Photo/Ricardo Pinto – ACEA 2016

Softbank took an exciting first place in Race 4 and came in 3^rd overall, placing them at the podium for the first time.

Overall results after Chicago’s regatta for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series:

Emirates Team New Zealand 295
Land Rover BAR 285
ORACLE TEAM USA 285
Artemis Racing 262
SoftBank team Japan 259
Groupama Team France 234

The races gear up tomorrow at 1:30pm.

Photo/Ricardo Pinto

By Mary Lou Thiercof|2016-07-22T14:37:30-07:00July 22nd, 2016|Tags: America's Cup, BAR. SoftBank, Emirates Team New Zealand, Portsmouth, World Series|0 Comments

Artemis Racing Prevail in World Series Regatta in Chicago
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Artemis Racing Prevail in World Series Regatta in Chicago

Americas Cup

Artemis Racing Prevail in World Series Regatta in Chicago

Crowds fill Navy Pier in Chicago/Photo – Ricardo Pinto/ACEA 2016

After an exciting Super Sunday of racing, Artemis Racing win the regatta with 61 points, followed by Land Rover BAR with 58 and SoftBank Team Japan with 56 points. It’s the first time SoftBank is at the podium (in the top three) in the 2015-16 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series. Skipper Nathan Outteridge led the Swedes in this well-deserved victory.

Photo – Ricardo Pinto/ACEA

They seemed to sail perfectly in the seven leg races, despite near collisions, penalties and what looked like drag racing all around them. Artemis Racing steered clear of the crowds most of the time and maintained a steady course.

The Sperry Play of the Day on Super Sunday is Artemis Racing’s spectacular win in Race 3 of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Chicago. They had strong placement in the other three races – two 2nd place wins and one 4th place, which helped secure the weekend win. This is Artemis Racing’s first event win since the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Bermuda in 2015.

Photo- Ricardo Pinto/ACEA 2016

SoftBank Team Japan, the newest team to join the America’s Cup competition, really started to shine on Lake Michigan with ceo/skipper Dean Barker and crew taking first place in the practice/substitute race on Fri. (their first win). This race did count on Saturday, as racing was abandoned due to lack of wind in the windiest city. On Sunday, Mother Nature looked favorably upon the regatta with perfect weather for sailing and SoftBank took another first place in the third race of the day.

Barker commented, “We took away a lot of self confidence. I’m really happy with the progress…starting with winning the substitute race. ” SoftBank Team Japan will be one to watch as we go forward.

Unfortunately, in that same substitute race on Fri., the home team capsized, recovered

Photo- Ricardo Pinto/ACEA 2016d, recovered

quickly, but still landed in 6th place. On Sat., ORACLE fans who turned out in throngs, hung in there though there was no wind. When the winds finally did come up, it was after the official Race 3 start time, but they raced anyway and it was classified as a substitute race. In that race, ORACLE TEAM USA took a strong 2nd place and the crowds roared.

Next Stop: England. Back to Portsmouth, HQ to Land Rover BAR, Jul. 21-24, with race days Jul. 23-24.

Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Overall Standings:

Emirates Team New Zealand – 295
Land Rover BAR – 285
ORACLE TEAM USA (tied for 2^nd) – 285
Artemis Racing – 262
SoftBank Team Japan – 259
Groupama Team France – 234

By Mary Lou Thiercof|2016-06-14T07:38:00-07:00June 13th, 2016|Tags: America's Cup, World Series|0 Comments

Countdown to Louis Vuitton AC World Series Races on Lake Michigan
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Countdown to Louis Vuitton AC World Series Races on Lake Michigan

Americas Cup

Countdown to Louis Vuitton AC World Series Races on Lake Michigan

Beginning at 1:30pm CDT (11:30am PDT) Sat., June 11, Chicago and The America’s Cup will make maritime history as six teams hit the first time ever-fresh water racecourse for the foremost international sailing event.

07/06/16 - Chicago (USA) - 35th America's Cup Bermuda 2017 - Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago - Setup Day -3

Boats were launched into Lake Michigan today. Practice racing will take place on Fri., June 10. Day One of Competition is Sat., June 11 and Day Two of Competition is Sun., June 12 at 1:30pm. Stay tuned. Results will be posted after watching the races live via the AC App.

Why Chicago?

Chicago, located on the shoreline of beautiful Lake Michigan, the 5th largest body of fresh water in the world at over 100 miles wide and 300 miles long, is the ideal city-front racecourse for America’s Cup. Chicago’s expansive shoreline is on display in its full glory from the Lakefront Trail, an impressive 26-miles of

uninterrupted lakefront, including 18.5 miles of lakefront path and 15 miles of beaches. Racing inside the break-wall gives them four true walls to form the stadium for viewing. Plus, with Chicago’s reputation for ‘windiest city”, there is not much fear of cancelation due to light winds.

Navy Pier

Navy Pier provides first hand viewing on the waterfront for fans all in one spot – where they can hang at the beer garden, experience the thrill of seeing AC45 catamarans racing at speeds of up to 40 mph and watch them cross the finish line – only an arm’s length away.

Points

The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series uses a high-point scoring system. On Sat. the winner of each race scores 10 points, 2nd place earns 9 points, 3^rd place collects 8 points, and so on. On Sun., point scoring is doubled: 1st = 20 points; 2nd = 18 points; 3rd = 16 points, etc. The overall results reflect the total points scored across all races at all events to date.

The ranking positions from the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series events determine the seeding and bonus points for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers. The team in 1^st place begins the Qualifiers with 2 points and 2^nd place starts with 1 point. The Challenger Qualifiers will take place in 2017 at the Great Sound in Bermuda.

Defender Oracle's container arrived in Chicago - Photo Ricardo Pinto

The Challenger program begins with the America’s Cup Qualifiers, a double round-robin series between May 26 and June 5, 2017, that the Defender (Oracle) participates in. The top four Challengers advance to the Challenger Playoffs between June 7 and 12, which consists of best of 9 Semi-Final and Final matches to determine the Challenger to compete in the 35th America’s Cup to face off Oracle, defender of The Cup, in a best of 13 series scheduled for June 17-27, 2017.

Schedule

The remaining 2016 World Series regattas:

Chicago, USA – Jun. 10-12, 2016;
Portsmouth, UK – Jul. 22-24, 2016;
Toulon, France — Sept. 10-11, 2016
Fukuoka, Japan — Nov. 18-20, 2016

Results at the close of the NYC World Series regatta May 8, 2016:

Emirates Team New Zealand 244
ORACLE TEAM USA 236
Land Rover BAR 227
SoftBank Team Japan 203
Artemis Racing 201
Groupama Team France 194

By Mary Lou Thiercof|2016-06-11T03:22:34-07:00June 9th, 2016|0 Comments

Kiwis Win AC World Series Regatta in NYC!
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Kiwis Win AC World Series Regatta in NYC!

Americas Cup

Kiwis Win AC World Series Regatta in NYC!

What unbelievable races today! A continually changing case of who’s in first (check out the first leg of Race 1). Big wind shifts, changing currents and then a lucky puff of wind propelled Emirates Team New Zealand to the finish line in Race 3 to win the NYC Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series regatta. ETNZ now maintains its lead in the LVACWS with 52 points and an overall of 244. ORACLE Team USA placed second with 50 points and an overall of 236, followed by Groupama Team France (44), Softbank Japan (42), Land Rover BAR (42) and Artemis Racing (40).

ORACLE Team USA/photo Rob Tringali

Overall ETNZ is in 1st place, followed by ORACLE in 2nd and BAR in 3rd. An exciting day on the Hudson River waterfront in NYC.

Due to the elements, the Hudson was an unpredictable, challenging racecourse venue, and at the same time beautifully situated against the Manhattan skyline. Over a hundred thousand spectators showed up over two days to witness the return of the America’s Cup racing to NYC after 96 years.

Fun highlights:

Dramatically shifting winds and unpredictable conditions mirrored by Artemis Racing winning 1st and Groupama Team France finishing 6th in Race 1 and then in Race 2 Groupama finishes 1st and Artemis came in 6th.
Key to success in Race 1 win for Artemis Racing may have been communication – seating the tactician (Ian Percy) next to the skipper according to Nathan Outteridge, “We were yelling at each other. Rather than shouting back and forth, we can sit next to each other and chat.”
Race committee expected 20 knot winds and designed a nine leg course. Day 1 of racing and the winds did not even reach 5 knots. Day 1 of racing was canceled. Day 2 the winds were confused and just puffed up whenever and wherever they wanted. Race 1 on Day 2 took so long that the race committee cut the course almost in half – from 9 legs to 5 legs and then had to skew the whole race course around.

The day went on and the Kiwis still lead the LVACWS which will grace the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago – another USA non-traditional venue – June 11 and 12. Stay tuned!

Groupama Team France wins Race 2 as the Statue looks on/Photo Rob Tringali

I rooted for France today as they had a major win that they have not seen in a very long time (Watch leg 1 of Race 2). Of course they were pumped – according to their tweet #FranckIsDriving #TeamSpirit. Franck Cammas, Skipper of Groupama Team France, returned to his team after a long rehabilitation from an accident that almost required his foot to be amputated. He steered his team into a first place win. Vive la France! More photos.

NYC – thousands turned out to watch the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series/Photo- Ricardo Pinto

By Mary Lou Thiercof|2016-05-10T16:06:02-07:00May 8th, 2016|Tags: America's Cup, ETNZ, NYC, Oracle|0 Comments

NYC Welcomes the America’s Cup World Series Races May 7-8
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NYC Welcomes the America’s Cup World Series Races May 7-8

Americas Cup

NYC Welcomes the America’s Cup World Series Races May 7-8

Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series New York – Setup Day -2/photo Ricardo Pinto

Breaking News: Saturday’s racing was canceled due to wind conditions. Racing starts on Sunday, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT.

New York City’s a buzz with preparations for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series to be held on the Hudson River. It’s the first time the America’s Cup has returned to NY in almost a century.

Six teams are currently practicing in the 35^th America’s Cup AC45 Fs, which have evolved since the 34^th and now are designed and equipped for foiling.

Going into Saturday’s first race, the Kiwis (Emirates Team New Zealand) are in first place with 192 points followed by ORACLE TEAM USA with 186 and Land Rover BAR with 185. Behind them are SoftBank Team Japan, Artemis Racing and Groupama Team France.

Media Day -1 – Skippers Press Conference/photo Ricardo Pinta

With only two days before the America’s Cup class racing returns to New York Harbor, NBC Sports personality Bob Costas hosted the six competing skippers in a public press conference at Brookfield Place Winter Garden in Battery Park City.

“The America’s Cup is a great international event,” said Costas. “I can tell all of the skippers are of a ‘hail fellow, well met’ variety. It’s a tremendous event that’s a scenic event. People are fascinated by it. You don’t have to know everything about it to be enthralled by it.”

NBC Sports Group’s more than four hours of coverage begins Sat., May 7, at 2pm ET and continues at 2pm ET on Sun., May 8.

Here’s the schedule:

May 7, 2pm ET – Live – NBC Sports Live Extra ( NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs.)

May 7, 2pm ET – Live – SportsNet New York

May 8, 2pm ET – Live – NBC Sports Network and NBC Sports Live Extra

May 21, 2pm ET – Highlights – NBC Network

Stay tuned for the race highlights.

(World Series Schedule)

By Mary Lou Thiercof|2016-05-08T08:56:06-07:00May 6th, 2016|0 Comments