Portsmouth

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:

1. Emirates Team New Zealand 295
2. Land Rover BAR 285
3. ORACLE TEAM USA 285
4. Artemis Racing 262
5. SoftBank team Japan 259
6. Groupama Team France 234

The races gear up tomorrow at 1:30pm.

Photo/Ricardo Pinto