Spithill Stays Consistent - Day 3 ACWS Naples - ORACLE Racing Update

ORACLE Racing Spithill rebounded from yesterday’s uneven showing by placing 2-2 in today’s two fleet races at the ACWS Naples.

Photo: Guilain Grenier/Team USA

The two seconds achieved in patchy wind conditions helped ORACLE Racing Spithill to almost halve the deficit it faced at the end of yesterday. The Spithill crew holds second, 5 points behind Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) with six of nine scheduled fleet races completed.

“It was a better day today,” said skipper Jimmy Spithill. “It was a little bit of a minefield out there, but at the end of the day I thought JK (John Kostecki, tactician) did a good job on the breeze and the boys were solid with the boat handling.”

Photo: Guilain Grenier/Team USA

Naples was expected to be a light-air venue but so far it has served up a mixed bag of conditions. The first day saw choppy seas and winds gusting over 20 knots followed yesterday by sunshine, smooth seas and light winds.

Today the wind blew offshore from the east amid heavy rain at times, turning the racecourse around and creating large windless patches that served to separate the leaders from the rest of the fleet. In the second race there was a four-minute gap from first to fourth and more than six and a half minutes to ninth.

Photo: Guilain Grenier/Team USA

“It was a very, very difficult day, but the biggest thing is to remain calm in those situations,” said Spithill. “It’s easy to get frustrated; you just have to chip away. Like yesterday, nothing we seemed to do was right, but then we turned it around today and I’m happy with the guys that they bounced back.”

ORACLE Racing Bundock scored a 4-6 on the day and holds seventh in the standings with 28 points, the crew’s standing hampered from having to sit out Fleet Race 2 on Wednesday with hull damage.

Photo: Guilain Grenier/Team USA

“We struggled to get off the start line again and were getting bounced around a bit by the other teams,” skipper Darren Bundock said. “We could see Jimmy and the leaders up at the front, and once again the leaders got further and further away. Once you’re down in the back you get pushed around and you can’t sail your own race. So it’s a bit tough down there.”

Photo: Guilain Grenier/Team USA

ORACLE Racing Bundock is set to be on the water early tomorrow as before Fleet Races 8 and 9 are sailed, the semifinal and final of the of the match racing championship will be contested. ORACLE Racing Bundock will square off against Italy’s Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper), with the winner advancing to meet either Sweden’s Artemis Racing (Terry Hutchinson) or Luna Rossa Swordfish (Paul Campbell-James) in the final.

Photo: Guilain Grenier/Team USA

ORACLE Racing Bundock advanced to the semis yesterday when the quintet knocked their stable mates on ORACLE Racing Spithill out of the match race part of the competition.

“Darren doesn’t take team orders very well,” joked Spithill, who at age 30 in 2010 was the youngest skipper to ever win the America’s Cup. “Our main goal is to see Darren up there on the podium spraying the champagne around. These guys have done a nice job in match race training. They gave it to us yesterday, and there should be some exciting racing coming up.”

Photo: Guilain Grenier/Team USA

Sunday’s Fleet Race 9 Finale will award significant points (50 for 1st, 30 for 2nd, 20 for 3rd) and leaves the Naples championship within the grasp of nearly every crew in the fleet.

America’s Cup World Series Naples Fleet Racing Overall Standings
Team (Country) R1 – R2 – R3 – R4 – R5 – R6 — Total
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 3 (8) – 1 (10) – 1 (10) – 1 (10) – 7 (4) – 1 (10) — 52 points
2. ORACLE Racing Spithill (USA) 1 (10) – 3 (8) – 7 (4) – 4 (7) – 2 (9) – 2 (9) — 47
3. Luna Rossa – Piranha (ITA) 6 (5) – 6 (5) – 2 (9) – 3 (8) – 3 (8) – 4 (7) — 42
4. Team Korea (KOR) 4 (7) – 2 (9) – 5 (6) – 6 (5) – 5 (6) – 5 (6) — 39
5. Energy Team (FRA) 2 (9) – 4 (7) – 8 (3) – 5 (6) -1 (100 – 7 (4) — 39
6. Luna Rossa – Swordfish (ITA) 7 (4) – 5 (6) – 6 (5) – 2 (9) – 8 (3) – 3 (8) — 35
7. ORACLE Racing Bundock (USA) 5 (6) – DNC – 4 (7) – 8 (3) – 4 (7) – 6 (5) — 28
8. Artemis Racing (SWE) DNF – DNC – 3 (8) – 7 (4) – 6 (5) – 8 (3) — 20
9. China Team (CHN) DNF – DNC – 9 (2) – 9 (2) – 9 (2) – 9 (2) — 8
(Note: Standings reflect race finish and (points scored) in parenthesis)America’s Cup World Series Naples Match Racing Championship

Qualifier 1 // April 12
Artemis Racing d. China Team

Quarterfinal 1 // April 12
ORACLE Racing Bundock d. ORACLE Racing Spithill

Quarterfinal 2 // April 12
Luna Rossa Piranha d. Team Korea

Quarterfinal 3 // April 13
Artemis Racing d. Emirates Team New Zealand

Quarterfinal 4 // April 13
Luna Rossa Swordfish d. Energy Team

Semifinal 1 // April 14
Artemis v. Luna Rossa Swordfish winner

Semifinal 2 // April 14
ORACLE Racing Bundock vs. Luna Rossa Piranha

Final // April 14
Semifinal 1 winner v. Semifinal 2 winner

Tim Jeffery