Emirates Team New Zealand retains lead as Oracle Racing Spithill moves up on Day 2 of America’s Cup
Despite the troubling weather conditions at Plymouth on Day 2 of America’s Cup World Series, Emirates Team New Zealand managed to finish second in the only race of the day to retain their
overall top position in the standings of the event. As for a change in the standings, America’s Oracle Racing Spithill squad sailed tremendously on Day 2 and won the race to jump up to number two position.
The Oracle Racing Spithill squad had a superb sail under such harsh wind conditions, as according to local forecast the south westerly breeze blew around 25 to 30 knots along with heavy
gusts that wafted with speeds of 40 knots to throttle the sailors. However, Oracle Racing Spithill squad’s consistent sail brought them on top at the end of Day 2 and they moved one place up replacing Artemis Racing.
While speaking to the reporters after the end of second day’s proceedings, skipper Oracle Racing Spithill James Spithill said, “They were beautiful conditions. It was fantastic racing,
a lot of fun. We had fun racing Team New Zealand and Artemis was in there for awhile, too. The conditions were strong, but we were nowhere near the limit of the boats.”
He further added, “I think we can race these boats in a lot more wind. The reason you saw boats go over today was because of sailor mistakes, not because of too much wind. This is the
way it should be. The racing should be hard, should be challenging. Once you got the gennaker out, it was just so good.”
The overall standings at the end of Day 2 are given below:
1. NZL Emirates Team New Zealand, Dean Barker 10, 8, 10, 9 = 37 points
2. USA ORACLE Racing Spithill, James Spithill 9, 10, 7, 10 = 36 points
3. SWE Artemis Racing, Terry Hutchinson 8, 9, 9, 3 = 29 points
4. USA ORACLE Racing Coutts, Russell Coutts 3, 7, 8, 8 = 26 points
5. CHN China Team, Charlie Ogletree 5, 6, 5, 6 = 22 points
6. FRA Aleph, Bertrand Pace 7, 4, 6, 3 = 20 points
7. FRA Energy Team, Loick Peyron 3, 5, 4, 7 = 19 points
8. KOR Team Korea, Chris Draper 6, 3, 3, 5 = 17 points
9. ESP Green Comm Racing, Vasilij Zbogar 4, 3, 3, 3 = 13 points
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