Louis Vuitton ACWS, the Super Sunday will be a decider
America's CupBreaking newsEnglishIn evidenzaLouis Vuitton ACWSVela 19 Novembre 2016 Zerogradinord 0
Fukuoka – Hakata Bay in Fukuoka was the scene for the historic first ever day of America’s Cup racing in Japan and it was Land Rover BAR who finished day one of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Fukuoka racing on top, adding one more point to their overall Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series lead.
The Event Village was full of thousands of Japanese fans and the wind helped the six America’s Cup teams put on a spectacular show of America’s Cup racing for the first time ever in Japan, and with a win for SoftBank Team Japan among the day’s highlights, it could not have been a better start to America’s Cup action in Japan.
In race one the start was tightly contested but it was series leaders Land Rover BAR who were quickly into the lead. Groupama Team France crossed the line early, leaving them with a startline penalty and putting them back into sixth, but as the boats headed to gate two it was the British team who were stamping their authority on the pack with only Emirates Team New Zealand giving close chase.
The fight at the front grew closer as the boats headed to mark three, Emirates Team New Zealand closed the gap to Land Rover BAR and then edged ahead as they set off on leg four. That lead was short lived, however, as an unexplained and somewhat dramatic move by the Kiwis halfway down leg four gave the advantage to Land Rover BAR, leaving the New Zealanders in second, Artemis Racing in third, Groupama Team France fourth, having clawed their way back after their startline penalty, and Oracle Team USA and home favourites SoftBank Team Japan in fifth and sixth respectively.
In the end, even a late penalty on leg six could not slow up the British team too much, and they duly won the first race of the day ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand, Artemis Racing, Oracle Team USA, SoftBank Team Japan and Groupama Team France in that order.
Saturday’s second race saw SoftBank Team Japan take the early advantage, streaking into a lead with the boat up on its foils as they headed ORACLE TEAM USA and the rest of the pack to gate two. This time, Land Rover BAR were at the back of the pack, perfectly demonstrating the sheer unpredictability of America’s Cup racing in its modern guise.
Another penalty for Groupama Team France pushed them back behind the British team, but at the front of the pack Oracle Team USA had a brief glimpse of the lead at gate 3 before SoftBank Team Japan regained their advantage as they foiled down leg four. From that point they never looked like losing and as the hometown favourites crossed the line in first place the cheers from the crowd could be heard in Tokyo!
Oracle Team USA finished race two in second, Land Rover BAR, having staged a mighty comeback, were third, Artemis Racing were third and Emirates Team New Zealand and Groupama Team France again brought up the rear.
The final race of the day was race three and even though SoftBank Team Japan had a good start it was Oracle Team USA who rounded the first mark in the lead. Behind them the Japanese and British teams were fighting for second and third and it was Ben Ainslie’s team who took the advantage, moving ahead of Dean Barker’s SoftBank Team Japan crew in third, but only for a short time as the Japanese team pushed themselves back into second on the fourth leg. Halfway towards mark four Land Rover BAR moved back ahead of SoftBank Team Japan who had a halyard failure slow them down and from that point the battle for second place was where the real action took place.
Emirates Team New Zealand had moved up and suddenly Groupama Team France were also in the mix with the Kiwis and the Brits, the race towards second place at the line seeing the advantage change constantly, but in the last race of Saturday it was Oracle Team USA who were celebrating, Land Rover BAR in second, Emirates Team New Zealand in third, Groupama Team France in fourth and Artemis Racing just nudging ahead of SoftBank Team Japan in a photo finish at the finish line in a drag race on the foils for fifth.
The results mean Land Rover BAR heads Oracle Team USA on both the Fukuoka and overall Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series leaderboards.
With bonus points for next year’s Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers in play for the top two finishers in the overall series, it’s still all to play for with four teams in with a shot at earning a head start in Bermuda.
Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Fukuoka Leaderboard
(Team Name — Finish Position — Points)
Land Rover BAR — 1, 3, 2 — 27 points
Oracle Team USA — 4, 2, 1 — 26
Emirates Team New Zealand — 2, 5, 3 — 23
Artemis Racing — 3, 4, 5 — 21
SoftBank Team Japan — 5, 2, 6 — 21
Groupama Team France — 6, 6, 4 — 17
Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series OVERALL Leaderboard
Land Rover BAR — 464 points
Oracle Team USA — 449
Emirates Team New Zealand — 443
SoftBank Team Japan — 420
Artemis Racing — 412
Groupama Team France — 377
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