A familiar perspective?  It is if you were racing an AC45 Saturday. Emirates Team New Zealand won both Fleet Races. Photo:©2013 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget
 

From America's Cup Event Authority:
 

Photo:©2013 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget
 

Oracle Team USA Slingsby Poised for Season Championship Day 3

Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand won today’s fisticuffs on the Bay of Naples, but it was Oracle Team USA’s Tom Slingsby who is on the verge of securing the season-long battle for the 2012-2013 America’s Cup World Series Championship in Jimmy Spithill’s No. 4 boat. 

Spithill led Oracle Team USA to the inaugural America’s Cup World Series season championship last year, and opened a 44-point lead through the first two regattas in the second season of racing. 

He couldn’t attend this week’s regatta because the team is about to launch its second AC72 in preparation for the upcoming 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco (Sept. 7-21) so in stepped Slingsby, the Laser class Gold medalist at last summer’s Olympics. 

Slingsby has shown a steady hand in his first America’s Cup World Series regatta, leading the team into tomorrow’s match racing championship and also eyeing a chance to win the fleet racing championship.  But regardless of how he finishes tomorrow, Oracle Team USA is in a strong position for the overall season championship (barring an unforeseen circumstance). 

“It’s great for the team, winning the America’s Cup World Series for the second year in a row,” said Slingsby.  “I’m glad I could help in some way, but this championship doesn’t belong to me.  It belongs to Jimmy and his team for setting it all up.  I came in with a nice big lead.”

In some of the most challenging conditions seen yet at America’s Cup World Series Naples, Emirates Team New Zealand showed jet-like speed in winning both of today’s fleet races.  The wind strength ranged between 7 and 12 knots but there was a nasty chop on the bay that placed added emphasis on smooth boathandling. 

After scoring the double firsts, Emirates Team New Zealand is the third overall leader of the series in as many days.  Barker’s crew led the first race from start to finish and then pulled off a nifty pass on Luna Rossa Swordfish (Francesco Bruni) to win the second race. 

“I feel like all through training and racing we’ve had good pace through all the conditions,” said Barker.  “But there’s a bit of a mistral pushing a little bit of seaway into the bay.  It makes these boats nasty to sail, they don’t like waves.  But it rewards good crew work and I think that’s a strength of our team.”

Slingsby placed 2-5 in the two fleet races and trails Emirates Team New Zealand by 5 points.  The Oracle Team USA tactician/strategist began his day with a victory in the match racing semi final over Ben Ainslie’s J.P.  Morgan BAR.  Although the two are brothers in arms in Oracle Team USA, there was no quarter given in their quick, 11-minute match race. 

The pair was locked in battle up the first beat when Slingsby won the first cross.  He gained a bit of control over Ainslie but almost gave it away at the windward mark.  Ainslie was on port tack in the three-boatlength circle ahead of Slingsby on starboard tack.  Under the racing rules Ainslie had rights to round the mark, but Slingsby crossed and rounded the left-hand mark while Ainslie bore away to round the right-hand mark. 

“We peeled off on the gate.  The left-hand side of the course seemed to be working.  It was pretty close,” said Ainslie.  “Full credit to them, hopefully they can win tomorrow.”

Oracle Team USA races Luna Rossa Swordfish in tomorrow’s match racing championship.  Bruni also won an in-house battle in the semi finals when he beat Chris Draper and the Luna Rossa Piranha crew.  The two squared off after an extended training period in New Zealand. 

“I feel comfortable, I feel all the training we have done in Auckland was very useful,” said Bruni.  “We really put a lot of hours into our match racing skills.  I think Chris has improved a lot and I’ve improved a lot steering.”

Slingsby, who has overcome the pressure of winning a Gold medal as a heavy favorite, has his sights set high for tomorrow. 

“I want to win tomorrow,” Slingsby said.  “New Zealand has a nice lead right now, but if we win tomorrow we’ll take the glory.  For the team it’s great, but for me personally my job’s not done yet.  I want to win tomorrow. 

“This is my one chance in an America’s Cup World Series.  Who knows when the next event will be so I’m trying to make most of it,” he said. 

Tomorrow’s broadcast begins at 14:30 local time (CEST) and will be streamed live worldwide on the America’s Cup YouTube channel (subject to territorial rights agreements). 

America’s Cup World Series Naples Championship Standings
(Provisional, after 6 of 7 scheduled races)
1.  Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) 60 points
2.  Oracle Team USA (Tom Slingsby) 55
3.  J.P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie) 52
4.  Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper) 50
5.  Energy Team (Yann Guichard) 42
6.  Luna Rossa Swordfish (Francesco Bruni) 40
7.  Artemis Racing White (Charlie Ekberg) 31
8.  HS Racing (R. Hagara/H.S. Steinacher) 26
9.  China Team (Mitch Booth) 22

2012-2013 America's Cup World Series Season Championship
(Provisional, after 20 of 21 races)
1.  Oracle Team USA Spithill/Slingsby 220 points
2.  Luna Rossa Piranha 171
3.  J.P. Morgan BAR 168
4.  Emirates Team New Zealand 160
5.  Artemis Racing White 151
6.  Energy Team 144
7.  Luna Rossa Swordfish 111
8.  Team Korea 105
9.  Oracle Team USA Coutts 98
10.  Artemis Racing Red  90
11.  China Team 65
12.  HS Racing 26

Sunday’s Match Racing Schedule
Final: Oracle Team USA Slingsby vs. Luna Rossa Swordfish

Provisional Match Racing Standings
1st TBD Sunday
2nd TBD Sunday
3rd J.P. Morgan BAR,
4th Luna Rossa Piranha,
5th Emirates Team New Zealand,
6th Artemis Racing White,
7th Energy Team,
8th HS Racing,
9th China Team

Also see Full Results and Schedule

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  Photo:©2013 Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi
 

Sun and partially cloudy skies, stronger wind, 12-14 knots from 210° with 1 meter waves

Match Race 1

The day started with the “in-house” semi -final between the two Luna Rossa.  Luna Rossa Swordfishes’ damages incurred in yesterday’s collision were repaired throughout the night.

At the start both boats are penalized for OCS (early over the line), with Luna Rossa Swordfish on leeward.  When accelerating again Luna Rossa Swordfish is in the better position, inside the mark and rounding both the reach and the leeward gate in front.  On the windward leg, at the first cross, Draper closes the distance on Bruni but, being on port, is forced to give way.  Bruni then chooses to sail on the left of the course where he finds more pressure, thus increasing his lead on Piranha.  Swordfish will maintain his position up to the finish and qualifies for tomorrow’s match race finals.

Fleet Race 1

Luna Rossa Piranha starts free in the middle of the line but is penalized for OCS (early over the line), whereas Swordfish on pin end is rolled and at the reaching mark lies 4th right behind Emirates Team New Zealand, Oracle and Artemis.  On the first windward leg Piranha chooses the right of the course and closes the gap with the leaders who went for the offshore option.

Half way on windward leg Luna Rossa Piranha also tacks offshore and finds stronger pressure.  At the windward mark Luna Rossa Piranha rounds in 3rd place whereas Luna Rossa Swordfish loses contact with the leaders.  At the leeward mark the positions are mostly unchanged.  During the second windward leg Luna Rossa Swordfish, with careful tactics, gains positions and rounds the mark in 5th place, overtaking Artemis.  On the final downwind the ranking is unchanged and Luna Rossa Piranha finishes 3rd, Luna Rossa Swordfish 5th.

Fleet Race 2

Luna Rossa Swordfish starts well on the Committee boat whereas Luna Rossa Piranha, mid line, despite a good timing, is rolled.  Luna Rossa Swordfish is first to round the reaching mark and at the leeward gate chooses the right side of the course, followed by Emirates Team New Zealand and Ben Ainslie Racing.  At the first windward mark these positions are unchanged, with Artemis 4th but penalized for not giving way to Luna Rossa Piranha who then takes his position.  On the downwind, sailing on the right of the course, Emirates Team New Zealand gains on Luna Rossa Swordfish and rounds the mark in front, followed by Ben Ainslie Racing and Luna Rossa Piranha.  On the second windward and the following leeward leg the positions will not change, with Luna Rossa Swordfish finishing 2nd and Luna Rossa Piranha 4th.

Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena said: “Our first victory of the day was our shore team’s result; they worked all night and were able not only to repair the damages but to make Swordfish fit to win.  Tomorrow we will sail the match race finals; today’s results also keep us in business for the final fleet podium.”

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From Artemis Racing:
 

Photo:©2013 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget
 

Artemis Update

In a battle on the shoreline of Naples, another two match races and two fleet races took place today.  The weather changed to stronger winds, choppy waters and darker skies.  Every maneuver counted and one wrong one was hard to make up for in the end.

In match race one we saw Oracle Team USA Slingsby defeat J.P. Morgan BAR in one of the best match races of the event so far.  It was neck and neck with only a few meters between the boats.  There was no shortage of experience on this course with both helmsmen having won Olympic gold medals this past summer in London. 

Artemis Racing White, only participating in the fleet racing, ended up with a sixth and an eighth leaving them seventh overall.  All part of the Swedish Youth Challenges helmsman’s valuable preparation for the Red Bull Youth America's Cup in September.

Sunday is the final day of America’s Cup World Series with triple points for the winner of the fleet racing.

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Oracle Team USA Slingsby. Photo:©2013 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget
 

Oracle Team USA sailed clean on a choppy day to advance to the match race final at the America’s Cup World Series in Naples, Italy, on Saturday.  Helmsman Tom Slingsby and crew also sit in second in the fleet race standings heading into Super Sunday’s final race.

Saturday’s racing opened with a matchup between Slingsby and JP Morgan BAR a team of sailors that is part of the Oracle Team USA roster for the 34th America’s Cup.  Following a close cross on the first beat, Slingsby moved ahead of helmsman Ben Ainslie and crew, maintaining a narrow lead as they rounded the marks.  They crossed the line 20 seconds ahead of Ainslie.

“We were expecting a close one and that’s what we had,” said trimmer Kinley Fowler.  “It was a pretty hard day out there with the sea state and the wind, so we were focused on getting the boat going as fast as possible the whole time.”

The conditions didn’t get any easier on the Bay of Naples for the fleet races.  In the first race, Slingsby moved into second place early behind Emirates Team New Zealand.  While keeping close behind, ETNZ remained on top, crossing the line first with Oracle Team USA about 22 seconds behind in second.

Slingsby was off to a slow start in the second fleet race, while ETNZ was in front of the pack early again.  After rounding the second gate in seventh position, Oracle Team USA improved to finish fifth in the race.

The stage is now set for Super Sunday and the match race final between Oracle Team USA and Luna Rossa Swordfish, with Francesco Bruni at the helm.  Sunday’s fleet race final features bonus point scoring with 40 points on the table for the race winner.

“Our strategy is to win.  We’ve just got to go out there and have a really good race,” Slingsby said.  “Personally, my job is not done yet I want to win tomorrow.”

ETNZ leads the ACWS Naples fleet race standings with 60 points, followed by Oracle Team USA (55) and JP Morgan BAR (52).

Racing begins on Sunday at 14:40 local CET / 5:40 PT for Oracle Team USA with match race final.  The entire nine-boat fleet will then be on the line for the last race of the ACWS 2012-13, and the lone fleet race of the day.

Racing will be streamed live on YouTube worldwide (subject to territorial rights agreements) beginning at 14:00 local time (CEST).

The nine boat fleet: Artemis Racing White (Charlie Ekberg), China Team (Mitch Booth), Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker), Energy Team (Yann Guichard), HS Racing (Roman Hagara), J.P.  Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie), Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper), Luna Rossa Swordfish (Francesco Bruni), and Oracle Team USA SLINGSBY (Tom Slingsby)

CREW LIST

Tom Slingsby (helmsman), Sam Newton (wing trimmer), Kinley Fowler (jib trimmer), Rome Kirby (runner), Piet van Nieuwenhuijzen (bowman)

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From J.P.Morgan/Ben Ainslie Racing:
 

  Photo:©2013 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget
 

J.P.Morgan/BAR Ready for Super Sunday Showdown

After a challenging day in Naples, J.P.Morgan BAR sit in third place overall, eight points from Emirates Team New Zealand who lead after three days of fleet racing.  Tomorrow is Super Sunday and the team is within touching distance of the event title here in Naples, with 40 points on offer for first place, 25 for second and 20 for third from tomorrow’s final fleet race, one small mistake by anyone can mean a big difference on the leaderboard, so there is everything to play for. 

The team started the day going head to head with Oracle Team USA in the first match racing semi-final.  Simon Daubney talked through the race, “We felt we were in a good position at the start but they (OTUSA) managed to approach the line from a bit further back and they were able to pull the trigger and get going with enough speed to roll over the top of us.  We came back at them and made it interesting but we couldn’t do enough to get past, so we were left to settle for third place in the match race, which was a tough way to start the day."

The team rolled into two more fleet races, the conditions in Naples remained inconsistent fluctuating from 7 to 12 knots and big shifts in the wind direction.  The team had a good start on race one, but a gybe at the first bottom gate saw several boats roll past them forcing the team to end up deep in the fleet stuck fighting for clean air.  The crew stayed focused and kept fighting hard, it paid off and they secured fourth place and eight valuable points.

The second fleet race was the best start the team has had since the first day of racing, they rounded the first gate in second close behind Luna Rossa Swordfish with Emirates Team New Zealand chasing in third.  The battle for the top three spots was hard fought, the lead constantly changing hands as the crews pushed each other to the limits.  It was a consistent performance by the crew onboard Emirates Team New Zealand that saw them take their second win of the day, with Luna Rossa Swordfish stealing second from J.P.Morgan BAR after they received a penalty for sailing past the boundary line on the first downwind leg.  But the team did enough to stay third overall.

Skipper Ben Ainslie reflected on the team’s performance, “It was a tough day today, we lost the match racing semi-final which was pretty frustrating.  During the fleet races things didn’t really seem to fall into place today for whatever reason, which was again frustrating for us.  But the guys hung in there we are just eight points from the leader and still in a good position for the overall victory at this event in the final fleet race.  We will regroup, well dig deep and try and have a good one tomorrow.”

Tomorrows Super Sunday final fleet race will start at 1515 CET, bumper points are on offer with 40 points for first place.  For J.P.Morgan BAR it will come down to the wire, they have to win the final fleet race in order to take the event title here in Naples.  The battle for second for the overall series title will be won or lost on tomorrow’s race.

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