Oracle Team USA leads after latest round of America’s Cup practice racing

The latest round of America’s Cup Class (ACC) practice racing finished yesterday, ahead of the 35^th edition of the America’s Cup, due to take place in May and June of this year.

All five teams in the America’s Cup partook in a series of races with varying conditions, with courses designed similar to those of the competition. Oracle Team USA were first, followed by Artemis Racing, SoftBank Team Japan, Land Rover BAR and Groupama Team France.

According to reports from the America’s Cup website, Jimmy Spithill, skipper of Oracle Team USA commented, “I think the racing this summer is going to be incredible. Over this session, we’ve seen every team win at least one race, which is an indication of good match-ups.

“All the teams that are here have taken big steps since the last time we raced in the AC45 Turbo boats. This is the first time we’ve lined up in the new boats and some of the match-ups were really close. The crew work we’ve seen has been pretty impressive across the board. The level keeps going up.”

Nathan Outteridge, skipper of Artemis Racing said of the practice racing, “We’re still getting used to sailing the boat, and the windy and wavy conditions on Friday led to a tough start, losing our first two races. But it was good to finish off the day with a win against Jimmy, just on the line.”

SoftBank Team Japan raced in four practice events, winning two and losing two; Groupama Team France then raced seven events and won one; Land Rover BAR raced in ten events, winning two and losing eight races.

Ben Ainslie, team principal and skipper at Land Rover BAR described the team performance as a “really useful few days sailing against the other teams just ahead of our next design upgrade window.”

For more information, visit America’s Cup.