Boating and Sailing News 22 Nov 2011
YachtPals has been out on the San Diego Bay over the last several days, catching the latest edition of the America's Cup World Series. It was a thrilling event, and although we started out in our foulies with rain and light breezes on the water, it ended with a flourish of sunny skies and winds over 20 knots - spectacular sailing conditions for the AC45 boats.
This highly anticipated sailing event brought AC45 wing-sailed catamaran racing to the United States, affording the fans sitting at Broadway Pier some rare views of high end multihull racing. With nine teams competing, the tension was palpable on the water as the crews set out to prove which was at the top of their game.
Emirates Team New Zealand, Energy Team, and Oracle Racing Spithill each qualified for the semi-finals via the seeding races on Wednesday, but Artemis Racing had to fight hard for their spot on Thursday, narrowly beating out Aleph team. The semi-finals on Friday were not so close however, as both pairings saw clear 2-0 sweeps for the winners. The Oracle Racing Spithill crew were thrilled to beat out top ranked Emirates Team New Zealand, and although owner Larry Ellison was disappointed that he was not able to steer during the races, he seemed particularly happy with his team's win, saying: "The guys did a fantastic job!" Energy Team also did well during the semis, easily beating out Artemis Racing to advance to the final of the match racing championship at the America’s Cup World Series.
With Oracle Racing Spithill the clear favorites as the holders of the America's Cup, and with excellent showings at the previous two America's Cup World Series events in Cascais and Plymouth, Energy Team had a big challenge ahead of them as they geared up for the match racing finals on Saturday. Unfortunately, they weren't able to win out over the Oracle team, who swept the finals with a 2-0 win on Saturday afternoon (see sailing video below), earning them victory in the match racing championship at the AC World Series in San Diego, and applause from the crowds gathered under the sun at Broadway and Navy Piers.
Spithill was overjoyed at the win, saying: "We’re really happy. We worked very hard after the last regatta on our match racing; the sail design team, the shore team, our preparation was second to none, so it’s great to reward the team with victory. Energy Team have had great speed and been sailing very well… We did a good job of hanging tough, keeping composed and really keeping close. When we found the opportunity we took it and didn’t look back. I’m very happy." Although smiling with his team's result on Saturday, Spithill was already focused on the final day of racing on Sunday, hoping to win the double. "There’s no question we want the double [winning both the fleet and match racing events]. We want to be the first team to win both events. So we’re going to do everything we can tomorrow to get a victory."
The sun was shining again on Sunday, and for the first time during the event the winds finally kicked up, gusting above 20 knots as all the AC45 catamarans took to the water for the fleet racing championship. Sailing fans gathered around San Diego bay to see some high speed cat action, and the teams didn’t disappoint – the competition was tight, with lots of lead changes on the course, and plenty of near misses and thrills to keep the crowds on the edges of their seats.
Although Emirates Team New Zealand exploded off the starting line, leading the fleet of nine AC45s at the beginning of the race, in the end the winners were once again Oracle Racing Spithill, who came from behind to take the fleet racing championship and become the first team to secure a double win at the AC World Series. "We really wanted to win the double," said skipper James Spithill following the final race. "We started okay, but got mixed up in the pack. But JK [tactician John Kostecki] got us back into it and then the boys did a fantastic job. We were able to stretch away and use our speed."
San Diego was the last event of the calendar year for the America's Cup World Series. The sailing teams will now have over four months of training before the next AC World Series resumes in Italy in April of 2012. Meanwhile, the AC72s, the real America's Cup boats, are starting to be built, and if you think racing these AC45s looks exciting, wait until you see the comparatively gigantic AC72s in action, and wait we must, because there's never been anything quite like them on a race course, and match racing is about to change in a big way. As they say: We "ain't seen nothin' yet!"
- by YachtPals Crew for YachtPals.com, all photos by Stacy Childers
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