With the second stop for the America’s Cup World Series in Plymouth reaching a thrilling conclusion on Sunday, with ORACLE Racing Spithill’s Fleet Racing Championship win punctuated by capsizes and collisions, attention now shifts to the next event in San Diego, November 12-20.
Pack-up started in the Race Village on Sunday night and continues throughout the week, with the cargo ship HR Constitution being loaded with the lifeblood of the America’s Cup World Series, including the AC45 race boats, 102 shipping containers, 20 support boats, and one of the cranes used to hoist the AC45s into the water. The ship is scheduled to depart Plymouth Sound on Sunday and to arrive in San Diego by October 24, approximately three weeks ahead of the first race day. Read more
America’s Cup Uncovered – Episode 8
The America’s Cup World Series has reached Plymouth, England. Local boatbuilder Will Stirling compares his traditional handcrafted boats to the AC45 and goes onboard with Greencomm for a speedtrial. We meet the skippers at a press conference and go behind the scenes with the LiveLine team during a fleet race in extreme conditions. Watch the episode
Spithill wows the crowds with windy win in Plymouth
18 September. ORACLE Racing Spithill won the Plymouth Fleet Racing Championship after an action-packed final day of the America’s Cup World Series in south-west England. Crowds on Plymouth Hoe were treated to thrills and spills, capsizes and collisions, as well as some great racing on a blustery Sunday.
Watch Sunday’s highlights
Sailors in the spotlight
18 September. Hearing the roar of the crowd is not something most sailors are familiar with but America’s Cup crews in Plymouth are getting a taste playing in front of the fans.
Thousands of people have lined the Hoe and other vantage points overlooking the natural arena of the Sound, cheering on the crews as they streak around the racetrack.
Kiwis beat Korea for the match racing title
17 September. Emirates Team New Zealand won the Plymouth Match Racing Championship after halting the rapid rise of Team Korea with a 2-0 victory in wildly variable winds on Plymouth Sound.
“It’s nice to win the match racing here after coming second in the last one,” Barker said after the sweeping victory. “It’s pretty cool to see this many people up on The Hoe. Hopefully we’re putting on a good show, and now we’ll get ready to do it all again tomorrow. It would be nice to get the double. It’s a winner-takes-all race and anything can happen, as you saw today.”
Read more
Watch Saturday’s highlights
Naples, Italy to host two America’s Cup World Series events
14 September. Naples, Italy, has agreed in principle to host two stops on the America’s Cup World Series; the first will be in April 2012, the second in May 2013.
Designed to expose millions more people to the sport of high-performance racing, the new professional circuit was created to bring the America’s Cup experience to top international venues. Read more
Photo: 2011 ACEA/ Ricardo Pinto
Conservation and sustainability take center stage in Plymouth
12 September. The America’s Cup community devoted time and energy on Monday’s ‘day off’ from racing to focus on coastal conservation and marine protection, both locally in Plymouth, as well as in a global context.
In the morning, representatives from the teams, including the skippers, along with the event organizers, gathered at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth to participate in Coastal Conservation, removing debris and plastics from two local beaches. This follows on from a similar conservation effort in Portugal during the America’s Cup World Series – Cascais. Read more