PUMA to outfit ORALCE Racing

By ORACLE Racing Comms // Aug. 4, 2011

Two days before the start of the America's Cup World Series - Cascais ORACLE Racing announced PUMA as its Official Sportswear and Technical Supplier.

The global sportlifestyle brand will provide technical performance wear as well as training apparel and footwear for ORACLE Racing's world-class team. Additionally, PUMA will produce ORACLE Racing Team fan wear available for purchase during in-port activities and online.

Watch a video: ORACLE Racing presents PUMA

"For PUMA, this is a great opportunity to align with a team on the cutting edge of innovation," said Antonio Bertone, Chief Marketing Officer for PUMA. "ORACLE Racing is not only defending the Cup, but they are taking sailing to the next level - the boats are fast, the crews are dynamic and the racing is exciting to watch. This is the next step in developing the performance aspects of the sailing gear, along with connecting to a larger audience to spread the passion and joy of the sport."

Following the announcement Bertone joined the ORACLE Racing Spithill crew winging around the waters off Cascais on the No. 4 catamaran. "Twenty-three knots on a trampoline, that's insane!" said Bertone. "Those dudes are working their asses off."

Watch a video: Insane! 23 knots on a tramp

ORACLE Racing 2nd, 4th in Preliminary Round

ORACLE Racing's two crews in the America's Cup World Series - Cascais won three of the four fleet races held on the preliminary weekend and placed second and fourth.

ORACLE Racing Coutts won Sunday's final race to capture second, moving up from third after the first day. It was a great comeback win for skipper Russell Coutts and his boys, who could be heard working hard on the live stream.

Watch a video: ACWS Cascais Day 2

"We're a lot happier today, we did not have a good day yesterday," said Coutts. "It was a great little race. I don't know how it looked from the outside, but it was spectacular from the inside."

ORACLE Racing Spithill won two of the three races sailed on Saturday and placed third in Sunday's race, but had to settle for fourth on the leaderboard. Skipper James Spithill and crew were disqualified from the first race on Saturday when they were deemed to have been outside the course boundaries with less than 2 minutes to the start.

"We had a problem with the (race communications) system," said Spithill. "We were outside of the boundary with 2 minutes to go but our screens were blank. The screens came back on after we went around the first mark and obviously it said, 'You're disqualified.' I was like, really?

"Anyway, that's just sorting out a few bugs in the system and getting used to the boundaries," Spithill said.

Watch a video: ACWS Cascais Day 1

The DSQ meant ORACLE Racing Spithill scored 0 points in the first race, which would prove a difference maker when they missed third by 1 point and first by 7 points.

After the fleet race the speed of the AC45 was on display as the nine crews took three passes each through the AC 500 Speed Course. The 500-meter, one way race track was oriented approximately 90 degrees to the wind direction and allowed each crew to light-up their craft and the winning yacht clocked more than 42 kilometers/hour.

"It would be even more fun if it was windier, the wind was a bit light," said Coutts. "The course should be even closer to shore."

Related articles: Emirates Team New Zealand double winners
All guns blazing to start the AC World Series

ACWS - Cascais Preliminary Round Results
1. Emirates Team New Zealand/Dean Barker 3-2-2-2 - 35 points
2. ORACLE Racing Coutts/Russell Coutts 4-3-5-1 - 31
3. Artemis Racing/Terry Hutchinson 1-4-3-7 - 29
4. ORACLE Racing Spithill/James Spithill DSQ-1-1-3 - 28
5. China Team/Mitch Booth 6-6-6-4 - 22
6. Team Korea/Chris Draper 5-7-4-6 - 22
7. Energy Team/Lo?ck Peyron 2-8-8-5 - 21
8. Aleph/Alain Gautier 7-5-9-8 - 16
9. Green Comm Racing/V 8-9-7-9 - 13
(Scoring: 1st = 10 points, 2nd = 9, 3rd = 8, 4th = 7, 5th = 6, 6th = 5, 7th = 4, 8th-9th = 3)

ACWS - Cascais Speed Trial
1. Emirates Team New Zealand - 42.35 km/h
2. Team Korea - 39.28
3. China Team - 37.43
4. ORACLE Racing Spithill - 37.16
5. Artemis Racing - 35.10
6. Aleph - 35.02
7. ORACLE Racing Coutts - 34.05
8. Energy Team - 30.99
9. Green Comm Racing - 24.77

China Team helps open Cup's audience

The inclusion o f China Team as a challenger syndicate gives the America's Cup the potential to reach an audience of 1.3 billion people. News reports such as this one on CCTV Sports help tap into that audience. In this report filed by Julie Sheier, she speaks with ORACLE Racing CEO Russell Coutts as well as China Team skipper Mitch Booth and crewman Wu Liang who says, "Everyone knows sailing is at the beginning stage in China. So we try our best to promote sailing and the America's Cup is a good platform to do that."

Watch the video: CCTV Sports Scene (report starts at 12:40)

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 2

The second episode of America's Cup Uncovered, the weekly news magazine leading up to the 34th America's Cup, came out on Saturday in the midst of Day 1 of the ACWS - Cascais.

The episode includes features on Cascais, an extremely revealing visit with Paul Cayard and his parents, Pierre and Francis, who dug up his sailing roots, an interview with the man dubbed Mr. Multihull, Lo?ck Peyron of France's Energy Team, and a trip to Asia to examine China Team and Team Korea.

Link to video: America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 2

America's Cup thrives without Alinghi

By Paul Logothetis, AP // Aug. 7, 2011

Good weather conditions finally allowed the America's Cup to get off to its promised flying start as a new era of the sailing classic began without two-time winner Alinghi.

ORACLE Racing Coutts won a close fleet race as the 45-foot (13.5-meter) long carbon-fibre boats tore through Atlantic waters showing off their power, precision and speed - with Emirates Team New Zealand even losing one of its sailors around a marker.

The Kiwis clocked 42.35kph to win the inaugural speed event for these yachts, which showed why the monohull model was left behind after light wind had given the World Series event a sputtering start Saturday.

Alinghi's absence is noted but gradually being forgotten as the 34th edition picks up steam.

The Swiss syndicate bowed out of the competition after losing the Auld Mug in a one-off showdown with Oracle Racing in February 2010, and owner Ernesto Bertarelli has made no moves to rejoin a competition he felt was wrestled away from him.

In Sunday's fleet race, Emirates Team New Zealand was second, ahead of ORACLE Racing Spithill with China Team fourth. Team Korea edged China Team for second in the speed race.

"There are still a lot of things to improve but the basic, fundamental things are working," ORACLE Racing No. 5 skipper Russell Coutts said.

Link to full article: America's Cup thrives without Alinghi
Photo: The AC45's scream towards the first reaching mark in Sunday's final fleet race (Gilles Martin-Raget/ACEA).

Interview with Lo ?ck Peyron

Source: Energy Team // Aug. 7, 2011

Energy Team finished this weekend of racing in Casca?s feeling satisfied that they had done as much as they could after just ten days of learning to sail the AC45. At the conclusion of these four races, even if the top teams are the favourites, this first weekend is seen as satisfactory for the French team, after their battle alongside the big names in the
long race today. The skipper of Energy Team tells us more.

How do you feel about this first weekend of racing?
Lo?ck Peyron: I feel fine. Really. I'm quite pleased. Yesterday (Saturday), it's true that it wasn't that great with the lack of wind and we were only just discovering these boats in such light conditions. No, yesterday wasn't wonderful for several reasons. Firstly, because the whole of the crew were suffering from food poisoning, so we were only really at 50% of what we are capable of and then there was the question of our experience in light conditions. We did in fact have a great race to start off with. Ending up second just behind the Kiwis was fantastic. And today for the long race, it was good, as we got off to a great start and there was a wonderful battle out on the water. We decided to take a few more risks today, which is what we did by getting within 20 cm of the committee boat at the gun, which was a great idea. And then, we went on to race with the top teams always in the lead, but that is what you should expect.

Are you worried about the gulf between you and the top teams, as there is quite a gap?
LP: Yes, we're a long way behind in a lot of areas, but sometimes we have managed to get back up there very quickly. Today's long race was really interesting, as we were always battling it out with ORACLE Racing, Team New Zealand and some other good teams. I'm not trying to make excuses, even if that is probably true, but given the time and work, it is within our grasp... We're still working out things and we should be watching what's happening around us. At the helm, I still have to watch closely what's happening on board to give some help to everyone. Normally, I should be beyond that stage watching what is happening out on the water, and for the moment, that is not easy, but it will come in time...

Link to full interview: Interview with Loick Peyron
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget/ACEA

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