A SKIPPERS REVIEW: LOUIS VUITTON AMERICAS CUP WORLD SERIES 2015
PORTSMOUTH
July 25th 2015: The first day of official racing in the 2015 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series.
The situation for Emirates Team New Zealand was like any other sailing event- a strong desire to go out and win the regatta.
The reality was a little different to the desire.
The crew of Glenn Ashby, Peter Burling, Ray Davies, Blair Tuke, and Guy Endean were heading out to a race course as a new team having only sailed together collectively for a handful of days on a foiling AC45 just prior to the event and against teams which had the luxury of sailing their test boats for months in advance.
Skipper Glenn Ashby explains: “For us as a sailing team going into Portsmouth we were hoping that we would be able to mix it up with the big teams that had done a lot more sailing than us. Our expectations were to sail as well as we could. In fact we were largely racing ourselves as the boat handling and manoeuvres were, and still are, such a big part of achieving a top result and getting the boats around the track in good shape. “
“For me personally, I was pleasantly surprised how close we came to winning the regatta in Portsmouth. I think the wider team involved with the event in Portsmouth did a really good job to ensure we could hit the ground running and whilst there was not much racing, we sailed and raced relatively well straight off the cuff, whilst other teams made mistakes around us.
Disappointingly the English summer put an end to a chance for Emirates Team New Zealand to make up the one placing to the top of the podium for the regatta after racing was called off due to excessive winds which effectively reduced the regatta to the previous days two races.
Royals known, Champagne corks blown and 60 hours flown.
Result: 2nd
GOTHENBURG
29th August 2015
Fast forward five weeks, the circus is set up and ready to go in Sweden.
“The plan for Gothenburg was to try and continue our boat handling and development to try to give ourselves an opportunity to sail well enough for a solid result. Again with only 2 days on the water allowed before the weekend’s racing, we were up against the other teams that had been training on their test AC45's and other similar catamarans in the month between the Portsmouth and Gothenburg events. We were absolutely needing to make the most of our allowable time on the water to get back into racing and have a chance of being able to get mix it up” said Ashby.
Despite best intentions, the allowable time to practice was severely reduced for Ashby and the crew when in a breezy practice day the under rigging of the boat broke and forced an end to the day and non-participation in the practice racing. The sum of all preparation for the Gothenburg event was a matter of a few hours on the racecourse.
“We sailed OK on the first day of the regatta, Oracle sure looked the business being dominant in both races. But as everyone is quickly learning, it’s how you end the regatta rather than start it which decides who goes home with the biscuits, and we finished really pleasingly.”
Ashby is referring to the winner takes all final race of the regatta, where Emirates Team New Zealand, Land Rover BAR & Oracle Team USA were tied on points, with local heroes Artemis just two points behind.
The secret to success according to the skipper, “Sailing well in the lighter, non foiling, ‘old school’ conditions on the double point Sunday. Going back to basics with light air apparent wind sailing techniques was something I feel that we transitioned into better than the other teams did at this event. Also sailing well enough on the Saturday’s windier races to be in the hunt for the Sundays double point races was important.”
The result: Emirates Team New Zealand won the race and the regatta. Sending them seven points clear on the overall scoreboard after two events.
Post winning the regatta helmsman and newly crowned ISAF World Sailor of the Year Peter Burling was quoted as saying, “Obviously that’s what we are all about now, performing under pressure.”
4 races, smiling faces, Champagne showers, a bunch of flowers and 92 hours in airports and planes.
Result: 1st
BERMUDA
17th October 2015: ‘The big show’ made it to Bermuda- the very waters that will see the 2017 America’s Cup decided on.
The defender Oracle Team USA’s ‘home’ waters, coupled with the fact they had underperformed by their own high standards leading up to the event set a stage for a dramatic event from the start.
“Nothing really changed in our approach to how we were going to tackle Bermuda. Whilst it was a nice feeling leading going into Bermuda, we wanted to sail well especially at this event and learn as much as we could as a sailing team. Again, we did not have the opportunity to train and sail as a group before the Bermuda, so we made sure that we maximized our time on the water on the two training days to the full potential to practice our maneuvers and set ups. We still had a huge amount to learn as a group sailing together and felt that our maneuvers and technique in stronger breeze needed some attention.”
Despite the build up, there was nothing dramatic about the first days racing.
This is sailing after all, and no wind = no drama.
The event began and finished in a day- three races, double points all squeezed into a 90-minute window for television.
“We didn’t get the start we wanted to the day, we were a couple of clicks off the trigger at the gun and we just didn’t help ourselves in the first race. The good thing about our guys is we don’t get hung up on a bad race and we bounced back well in the second and third races.” Explained Ashby.
“While it was satisfactory to finish well, we only missed out on winning the regatta by a single place in any of the three races, so that’s always annoying but it gives us something to work on looking ahead to 2016.”
1 lost day, a long long way. Foot on the pedal, another medal, 10 points clear and a hundred hours in the air.
Result: 2nd
Looking ahead to the 2016 series?
“I hope we can see more events and more racing going into 2016. Compared to other circuits we did not do anywhere near as much racing as we probably could. The effort and cost in getting to the venues and getting set up for such a small time of racing is hard for me to think about as a yachtsman who loves racing and competing. I think I am not the only one with these thoughts. But looking at the travel we have done- we are just very happy to have such a great sponsor in Emirates and such great support from all of our sponsors and suppliers.”
“The thing that a lot of people forget about the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series is that every single point of every single race all add up to rankings going into the America’s Cup qualifiers in 2017. And with that there are actual vital race points on offer to carry into that series and through to the America’s Cup for the team that performs the best.“ explained Ashby
“While the series is viewed as a build up to the America’s Cup, our America’s Cup has well and truly started on the water and we are right where we want to be- at the top.”
The 2015 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series in numbers for Emirates Team NZ
FLIGHTS = 250 hours travelling per team member
60 hours return to Portsmouth
92 hours return to Gothenburg
100 hours return to Bermuda
SET UP & PACK UP = 21 Days
7 Days Portsmouth
7 Days Gothenburg
7 Days Bermuda
OFFICIAL RACING = 9 races in 2015
2 races Portsmouth
4 races Gothenburg
3 races Bermuda
RESULTS = 1st Overall
3rd, 1st In Portsmouth
3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 1st In Gothenburg
5th, 2nd, 1st in Bermuda
OVERALL RESULTS
122 Emirates Team New Zealand
112 Oracle Team USA
109 Land Rover BAR
105 Artemis Racing
100 SoftBank Team Japan
82 Groupama Team France