Calmer Conditions on Day 2, America’s Cup World Series SF

San Francisco (October 4, 2012) – Artemis Racing White (Terry Hutchinson) and Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) scored convincing wins in the quarterfinal round of the match racing championship at the America’s Cup World Series San Francisco.

Racing on a relatively calm San Francisco Bay – with the wind blowing 9 to 13 knots and a flat sea – Artemis Racing White defeated young upstart Team Korea (Peter Burling) while Emirates Team New Zealand beat Energy Team (Loick Peyron).

Both matches were won by the more experienced crews, who opened big leads on the upwind legs after holding slim advantages through the leeward gate. In the case of the New Zealanders, they regained the lead after losing it on the downwind leg.

“We had a nice start and were going well, but we jibed in a light spot and they had a good jibe and came out quick,” said Barker. “We had a piece of them at the first cross upwind and got back in front, and from there sailed a solid leg to the windward mark.”

Hutchinson and the Artemis Racing White crew welcomed back tactician Iain Percy in a wire-to-wire win. “Iain brings a sound platform to throw ideas off of, particularly in pre-start. He’s one of the best sailors in the world,” said Hutchinson. “These races are good opportunities for us to develop our relationship for the future.”

The day’s racing program was interrupted after the two matches to allow the Blue Angles an opportunity to practice over the Bay for Fleet Week this weekend. When match racing got underway at 5:10pm PDT, the first two of seven scheduled races in the fleet racing championship were sailed. Overall standings at the end of two races: J.P. Morgan BAR, 21 pts, Oracle Team Racing USA Spithill, 16 pts, and Artemis Red, 16 pts.

The two remaining quarterfinal matches are scheduled for Friday afternoon, with Artemis Racing Red (Nathan Outteridge) racing ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS (Russell Coutts) at 4:05 pm PDT, and J. P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie) meeting ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL (Jimmy Spithill) at 4:22 pm PDT. — Check Results.

Race schedule

Tips on how to follow the AC World Series in San Francisco (Oct. 3-7):

• LIVE: broadcast commentary can be heard on marine VHF channel 20.
• MOBILE: the ‘AC Race Tracker’ app by CupExperience brings the LiveLine data to both Android and iPhone mobile devices.
• BROADCAST: 35 networks throughout the world are carrying the races. In the U.S., commentators Gary Jobson and Todd Harris will host the YouTube broadcast Thursday through Saturday, moving over to NBC to host the ‘Super Sunday’ final races.