Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Docks in Japan for Last Regatta

Photo/Ricardo Pinto

Six teams take to the water in Fukuoka, Japan – the first time an America’s Cup event has taken place in Asia. And Skipper Dean Barker and his new team SoftBank Team Japan are ready for the last in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series races. Everyone is fine tuning their foiling cats for the challenge.

Schedule:

Good news: Fukuoka is 17 hours ahead of us, so we can watch the races with the app at a decent hour! (Download the America’s Cup App.)

Fri., Nov. 18 – Practice races start
Sat., Nov. 19 – World Series Race 1 starts at 1pm – 8pm, Fri. Nov. 18 our time
Sun., Nov. 20 – World Series Race 1 starts at 1pm – 8pm, Sat. Nov. 19 our time
Photo/Ricardo Pinto

Venue:

Jigyohama, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi. Fukuoka is on the northern shore of Japan’s Kyushu Island.

View map:

Check out details on all events and more details on venue.

Understanding the Math Going into Fukuoka

Status:

Leaderboard at the close of the Toulon Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series regatta in October:

Land Rover BAR 437
ORACLE TEAM USA 423
Emirates Team New Zealand 420
SoftBank Team Japan 399
Artemis Racing 391
Groupama Team France 360
Team Skippers, Fukuoka
Photo/Ricardo Pinto

Read more about the teams.

What the numbers mean:

At the close of the final round of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series regatta in Fukuoka, the overall winner will start the round-robin America’s Cup Qualifiers in May of 2017 with two bonus points and the second place team will start with one bonus point.

At the end of the round-robin, ties will be broken by the LVACWS final standings. Which means that the LVACWS final standings can determine which Challenger team will be eliminated and which one will move on into the America’s Cup Match. It also can determine which team has the one point lead.

On Saturday, the races will yield 10 points for first place, 9 points for second and so on. On Sunday, the points double – 20 points for first place, 18 points for second, etc.

According to AC commentator Jack Griffen, “In spite of breathless reports which explain that the winner of a race on Sunday scores 20 points, it won’t be so easy for any of the teams to move up the leaderboard. Consider this: If the weather cooperates and all races are sailed, the most one team can improve over another is 45 points. And this would mean one team wins every race, scoring a total of 90 points for the regatta, while the other team comes in last in every race, scoring 45.

“Land Rover BAR is in a strong position to win the series and take the two bonus points. Oracle and Team New Zealand will be battling for second place and the remaining bonus point.” Full explanation here.