Vasilij Zbogar unhappy with bad weather as Emirates Team New Zealand wins preliminaries at Plymouth
Green Comm Racing skipper Vasilij Zbogar seemed extremely unhappy with their finish on Day 2 of America’s Cup World Series, as they were troubled by a heavy gust of wind and their boat
capsized, but they still managed to complete the race. The weather conditions troubled all the sailors including Emirates Team New Zealand but a convincing sail on Day 1 brought them on top of the preliminaries standings.
Strong winds blowing up to 30 knots surrounded the race course at Plymouth from the beginning of the first day, accompanied by heavy gusts. The Green Comm Racing boat was hit by a gust
and capsized but owing to the crew’s efficiency and tactical decisions, they managed to sail it to the finish line at third place.
While speaking to the media after the race, skipper Vasilij Zbogar said, “Today was the very first day we sailed in such tough conditions. We managed to hang on and for most of the race
we were fifth butt under such breeze every small error counts. We are happy we were racing because earlier in the morning we thought we wouldn't be able.”
He added, “The guys are happy the capsize took place right at then end because we showed we could be competitive. We're obviously unhappy with the fact we couldn't cross the finish line.
We weren't willing to abandon and we actually tried to put the boat up but then it swung to the other side and capsized again. We are still learning, especially under these conditions.”
On the other hand, Emirates Team New Zealand collided with Artemis Racing and as a result of that, Artemis Racing broke their wing. However, New Zealand Team finished second in the race
but still they won the preliminaries overall due to a convincing sail on the first day of the regatta.
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
Tags: