Perfect winds, cooler temperatures greeted the sailors on the final day of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Chicago, an incredible finale for foiling action in the USA.
In race two, the first of Sunday’s action on the water, Land Rover BAR took the honors after a very strong start, putting more air between them and the pack at the first mark and then leading from the front throughout the rest of the race.
Race three started with Groupama Team France first across the start line, but Artemis Racing continued their strong weekend form and grabbed the lead early and, despite pressure from ORACLE TEAM USA right to the end, crossed the finish line first for the second time over the Chicago weekend. The second place finish would be a high point for the home team.
Race four, the last competitive action of the weekend, began with five of the six teams crossing the start line together, but after a slew of penalties were handed out to a number of boats after the first mark, it was SoftBank Team Japan who were in clear air and would lead the pack though to the finish, recording their second race win of the weekend.
“To be honest I’m a bit relieved!” said Artemis Racing skipper Nathan Outteridge. “We finally had a very good day of weather and our team rose to the occasion. We recorded nothing worse than a fourth all week, and we said at the start of the week that finishing top three in every race would be good enough to win, and we did just that.
“The champagne at the end tasted very sweet. I quite like champagne, especially the Moet that was given to us, and when you get to spray a huge bottle of Moet over all your teammates when you’ve won, that’s a very special feeling.”
Emirates Team New Zealand retains its position at the top of the overall Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series ahead of Land Rover BAR and ORACLE TEAM USA.
“It was sensational racing today and to come away with our overall lead still intact is fantastic,” said skipper Glenn Ashby. What we take out of this weekend is what a fantastic regatta this has been. I don’t know exactly how many people were out there watching us, but I am sure they will all have had a really good show.”
“This weekend has been good for the sport,” Cammas said. “The venue was great. Today we had really good winds and big crowds and we have been made very welcome in Chicago. We have all enjoyed this event, but now we must look ahead to Portsmouth and improving our performance there.”
Next up it is back to the UK for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth on July 23-24.
Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Chicago leaderboard (race points, overall points)
61 Artemis Racing 58 Land Rover BAR 56 ORACLE TEAM USA 51 SoftBank Team Japan 49 Emirates Team New Zealand 40 Groupama Team France
Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series – Overall leaderboard
295 Emirates Team New Zealand 285 Land Rover BAR 285 ORACLE TEAM USA 262 Artemis Racing 259 SoftBank Team Japan 234 Groupama Team France
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