Cup Experience Monday News | BAR and Oracle Take Bonus Points |Video: Ruthless Move in Final Race | ACWS Final Standings |Fukuoka Results
Cup Experience News
Issue 41 | Monday 21 November 2016
In this issue:
Leaderboard for the round robin AC Qualifiers that begin 26 May 2017 in Bermuda:
Land Rover BAR and Oracle earned the bonus points from the AC World Series. At the end of the Qualifiers, ties will be broken according to the final results of the AC World Series.
After clinching the AC World Series with one race to spare, Ben Ainslie tried to help Team New Zealand bump Oracle out of second place. Since the winner of the round robin Qualifiers will start the America's Cup Match with a one point lead, Ainslie got right to work trying to make sure Oracle does not win the Qualifiers by trying to help the Kiwis get the bonus point for second place in the AC World Series.
Oracle received a penalty for not keeping clear of BAR, to leeward. Oracle rounded the first mark in last place but managed to finish ahead of New Zealand and hold on to the bonus point. Click the photo to watch the video. You'll see the action and hear the post race interviews. Image: ACTV.
The AC Qualifiers begin on 26 May 2017 and will eliminate one challenger. The winner of the Qualitiers - Oracle or a challenger - will earn a one point lead to start the America's Cup Match.
At the AC World Series in Fukuoka, BAR extended their lead. Oracle stayed ahead of Team New Zealand. Artemis Racing moved ahead of SoftBank Team Japan, the only change in the leaderboard.
Remember that these standings will be used as the tie-breaker at the end of the AC Qualifiers - they could determine which challenger is eliminated and who gets a one point lead in the America's Cup Match.
All six races were run in light, shifty conditions. Land Rover BAR and Artemis Racing tied on points, with BAR winning the regatta by finishing ahead of Artemis in the final race. Oracle finished third. Team New Zealand finished off the podium again and out of the points for the overall series. They were hurt by a poor sail choice in the last race, when they kept their jib in its bag and sailed upwind with their big Code 0 while all the others were using jibs.
In the first race on Sunday, BAR picked up a penalty in the pre-start but were able to push both Oracle and Team New Zealand past the end of the starting line, preventing both of those teams from threatening the Brits' overall series lead.
There were several interesting penalty situations that I'll explain in next week's newsletter.
Remember: the blue light means a boat has a penalty; the green light means they are near a course boundary or a rounding mark.
Here we see how Team France picked up a penalty for not keeping clear and making contact with BAR near the leeward gate in Race 5.
Team New Zealand had a double penalty in Race 5. I'm getting a clarification and will explain it next week. If you want to get a head start on understanding what happened, read Rule 44.4(c) in the Racing Rules of Sailing - AC Edition, which you can download here.
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- from Michael in Massachusetts
- ask jack!
