SAN DIEGO, CA - The America’s Cup World Series kicked into high gear today on San Diego Bay with the Energy Team from France shooting out into the front of the standings. Racing started in typical San Diego fashion with 12 knots of breeze and amazing sunny blue sky. Checking in to race committee boat today were 9 boats from 7 countries. Oracle Racing (Bundock) ran away with the first race and Artemis Racing posted a bullet in the second race. But the Energy Team’s consistency over all 3 races contributed to their success. The French boat finished first overall with a 3rd, 5th and a 1st to earn a overall total of 24 points.
New skipper, Yann Guichard of the Energy Team posted three nice finishes inside the top five to end the day with the lead. “It was a perfect day for us,” said an elated Guichard after racing. “I’m really happy. The team has done a fantastic job. I’m getting more comfortable each day and I can really feel the boat well now.”
The day started out quite promising for Darren Dundock of Oracle Racing. Dundock led the parade of boats at all marks, and finished 51 seconds ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand. But consistency was the name of the game today. Emirates Team New Zealand posted a 3rd, 5th and 5th to finish 3rd overall. “Any time it’s a competition you want to win it. All teams are very capable. Happy to be in top 3", said Dean Barker Skipper of NZL.
Oracle Racing’s, James Spithill was had a rocky start to the day by digging himself into an early hole after he fouled Artemis Racing before the first gun. “It was pretty hectic. We had a pretty horrible start on the first race. We were pushing to hard, but at the end of the day our crew work was pretty good. We just have to get off the line”. Spithill climbed up from last place to finish 5th in first race. Spithill continued, “We had a lot of opportunities. Tough little race track. Pretty challenging. Start was critical.”
The top 3 teams from today are qualified for the Semi-Finals of the Match Racing Championships. The remaining 6 teams will be paired up in tomorrow’s qualifying matches. They will be competing in a knockout format to earn the forth and final Semi Final berth.
After the conclusion of the fleet races today, the AC45's put on a show for the crowd with the AC 500 Speed Trials. Each team got 2 tries to post the fastest time with a 500 meter drag race. The boats were cruzin at 20 knots. Emirates Team New Zealand posted the fastest time of 45.78 seconds on its first try. The speed trials do not count towards the Fleet Racing or Match Racing Championships but are a great way to show off the AC45's to the fans.
Racing continues tomorrow with the Match Racing Championship qualifing series. The bottom 5 boats will duke. The Donkeys will play at 5:15pm along with Silent Comedy at 8pm. Parking is very hard to find off of North Harbor Drive. Pay lots are about $5 per hour. Parking metered sports are only for 2 hours. A great alternative to paying for parking is to ride the trolly.
Fleet Racing Results
Day 1
1. Energy Team, France (Guichard) - 24 points
2. Emirates Team New Zealand (Barker) - 23 points
3. Oracle Racing, USA (Spithill) - 22 points
4. Artemis Racing, Sweden (Hutchinson) - 21 points
5. Team Korea (Draper) - 19 points
6. Oracle Racing, USA (Bundock) - 18 points
7. Green Comm Racing, Spain (Zbogar) - 14 points
8. Aleph, France (Pennec) - 12 points
9. China Team (Ogletree) - 9 points
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