ETNZ | San Francisco on the Bay

Day One No Wind – Races Canceled. Day Two of Semi-Finals Marred by Broken Wing

Leading up to the first day of racing in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs Semi-Finals:

in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifier races, ORACLE TEAM USA placed first and takes one point with them to the America’s Cup match. Emirates Team New Zealand came in second. The French team has been eliminated and the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs

Peter Burling, ETNZ helmsman, Day 1 – Dock Out show Photo/Ricardo Pinto

Semi-Finals start on June 4.

Because they were second in the Qualifiers, ETNZ was allowed to choose their race mate. They chose Land Rover BAR, who had come in third. This leaves SoftBank Team Japan to face off Artemis Racing in the Semi-Finals

Both of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs Semi-Finals will be decided by a first to five points race format, with the winners of each Semi-Final then facing each other in the Finals of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs. The winner goes on to challenge the Defender ORACLE TEAM USA.

SoftBank Team Japan, Day 1 – Dock Out show Photo/Ricardo Pinto

Sunday:

On Sun., June 4, Semi-Final Racing was delayed due to light winds of only 2-3 knots. The winds did pick up towards the 6knot minimum, but not consistently. Racing was abandoned after two hours of waiting around.

Broken wingsail Photo/Giles Martin-Raget

Monday:

It started out as a day of highly competitive and exhilarating racing but provided heartbreak for Ben Ainslie and his team.

Mon., June 5, the winds are perfect at 14 – 15 knots across the Great Sound. New Zealand and Great Britain off to a strong start and GB cannot make any mistakes. And they did more than make a mistake. The camber arm broke in their sail and they had to stop and forfeit Race 1 to ETNZ.

Photo/Giles Martin-Raget

In the second race Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan had similar starts, but Japan took off. Maneuver smoothness was very important and JPN took the point in their first Semi-Final race.

Land Rover BAR tried to get back to shore and change out their sail before Race 2, but could not, and had to forfeit again to ETNZ.

Race 4 Japan had a great solid start and then Sweden and Japan both were just ripping it across the water at 30 plus knots. Japan at one point was 200 meters ahead, but by the 4^th leg after some solid maneuvers and excellent tacking, Artemis ended up 300 m ahead of SoftBank and grabbed the win.

The day ends with NZ taking 2 wins and JPN and SW 1 win each. The first teams to reach 5 wins will then be in the Challenger Playoffs Finals.

Land Rover BAR plans to be back out on the Great Sound racing on Tuesday. “We have forfeited racing today due to damage to our wing, we will be back tomorrow (Tuesday) to fight another day,” the British team said on Twitter. According to America’s Cup rules, they are allowed to use a spare sail.

Day 2 – Land Rover BAR forced to retire to repair a damage to their wing Photo/Giles Martin-Raget

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