Very British AC World Series
Stereotypically variable English summer weather dampened — and shortened — the first regatta in the 35th America’s Cup cycle over the weekend. Held on the Solent in Portsmouth on England’s south coast, the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series was sailed in one-design wingsail foiling AC45 catamarans. This was the first America’s Cup racing on the Solent in nearly 165 years.
After two practice races on Friday in the rain, the sun made an appearance through the clouds for the two real races on Saturday. A northwesterly breeze of 10-14 knots provided marginal foiling conditions and put an emphasis on boat handling, sail choice, and tactics.
The hosting team, Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing, won the first race and Emirates Team New Zealand the second race. "It was a great day for us to be able to put together a good start and a run in both races and be in the lead at the bottom mark in both races," said the Kiwi team’s new skipper, Peter Burling. "We’re pretty green in these foiling boats, so we’re happy to come out of the day in the shape we’re in." The San Francisco team, Cup defenders Oracle Team USA, ended the afternoon in third position, with second and fourth place finishes.
Ainslie described the first race as a tough one. "We had a good start and then got a bit lost on that first downwind leg, but the guys did a great job to get the Code Zero — the downwind sail — up pretty quick, and that pulled us through. Then Giles Scott, our tactician, really sailed well with the wind shifts, and great crew work from the guys to get us into a nice lead and hold on into the finish."
Local fans must have been disappointed when extreme winds, with gusts to 37 knots, forced the cancellation of racing on Sunday, but that letdown was tempered by the victory of their team.
Back in the States, the new AC+ app met with mixed reviews. If Americans wanted to watch the races, they had to pay for the app and use it only on an iOS or Android device — the races were not streamed online or broadcast here. NBC has the TV rights here, and they chose not to cover the event live, yet their rights block the America’s Cup website from streaming live video. NBC Sports Network will show highlights tomorrow night (Tuesday, July 28) and on August 4 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. PDT.
The next ACWS stop will be Gothenburg, Sweden, the homeport of Artemis Racing, on August 27-30.