ORACLE TEAM USA earned a spot on the podium to move up to second in the overall Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series standings as the 2015 season came to a close in Bermuda.
The team finished in third place on Sunday in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Bermuda with beautiful sailing conditions on the Great Sound. It marked the third and final event on the year’s schedule.
“It was probably the best Sunday we had yet in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series,” said skipper Jimmy Spithill. “It was beautiful breeze, an awesome course, heaps of spectators, and great racing. We’re seeing a new team winning each of the World Series events, so it’s showing how tight the level is. A few mistakes here and there, and it costs you, and that’s what happened to us. We made too many mistakes in the third race and that took us out of a shot at the win.”
Nearly 2,000 boats filled the Bermudian waters as ORACLE TEAM USA got off to a strong start in the first of three races. Artemis Racing took the early lead, and ORACLE TEAM USA followed within 15 seconds as they covered most of the course. The final gybe proved to be the difference as ORACLE pulled ahead in the closing moments to win the first race. The start of the second race was delayed after a collision between Artemis Racing and an umpire boat. Artemis was able to bounce back, return to racing, and hold on for the win, with ORACLE TEAM USA finishing third.
In the third and final race of the day, ORACLE TEAM USA was pinned heading into the start and crossed the line in the back of the pack. Emirates Team New Zealand took off to an early lead, and never let up, earning the final win of the day. ORACLE finished fifth.
“The day started off really well with a win,” said wing trimmer Kyle Langford. “The second race, we were a little bit behind, but we managed to catch a few boats, so we were really happy with how we were going. “Overall, it was really good racing, and it all came down to the final race. We just got a little bit stuck up in the start with Artemis, which was our own mistake, and we couldn’t quite get it done,” said Langford.
ORACLE TEAM USA finished with 48 points overall on the double-point scoring Super Sunday, behind Artemis Racing (52 points) and Emirates Team New Zealand (50 points).
In the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series standings to date, ORACLE TEAM USA is in second place with 112 points after three events. Emirates Team New Zealand leads the series with 122 points, and Land Rover BAR is third at 109.
“It’s great to move up in the standings, but we’re disappointed. We really felt we could have won this one. We’ve got to look at the lessons learned and move forward,” Spithill said.
“The highlights for us were really today, seeing a full show on the waters where the America’s Cup will ultimately be decided,” he continued. “We were happy to get some great racing in so everyone could see what it’s all about. We were on the podium at every event, and it’s been a great season. The only shame is it has to stop.”
ORACLE TEAM USA will take a day off tomorrow, then resume two-boat testing on the AC45S boats on Tuesday.
