The results of the first fleet races in the World Series in San Francisco, which were dominated by Ben Ainslie, will not be ones to remember for Energy Team (seventh). But there was nothing alarming, as the team sailed well. But they are going to have to get off to a better start. Maybe tonight in the next fleet races…

Fleet Race 1
Magnificent light, twelve knots of wind strengthening towards the end of the race, choppy seas… the conditions were almost perfect late on Thursday afternoon in San Francisco Bay (midnight GMT) for the first fleet race. With the fantastic backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge, the eleven AC45s competing (55 sailors in all) certainly put on a show. Unfortunately, Energy Team got blocked back in the second group in the preparation phase… and ended up starting out at the rear. Not much to celebrate there, particularly as the crew skippered by Loïck Peyron had just their duel against Dean Barker’s Kiwis in the match racing, which they had dominated until choosing the side of the race course that was not favoured. So the race was underway with Artemis Racing Red (Nathan Outteridge) and Oracle Team USA Coutts initially in the lead. For Energy Team, the task was clear: they really had to push hard to chase after the others to attempt to limit the damage. The French did this remarkably well gradually moving up one or two places to finish in sixth place, which was beyond their hopes after the poor start. The big success story of the day was the victory achieved by the four-time Olympic champion, Ben Ainslie, who crossed the finishing line at more than twenty knots. It has only taken Big Ben one act (in August) to find himself up there with the big guns. An amazing performance.

Fleet Race 2
The wind was now clearly much stronger reaching almost twenty knots at times and the sea was heavier with a very big current, as the tide went out in San Francisco Bay. Unfortunately, there was a lot of confusion at the start, which gave rise to a series of penalties for boats crossing the line early: Energy Team, Luna Rossa Swordfish and Team New Zealand were punished and therefore got off to a disastrous start. James Spithill could not have asked for more to make his getaway way out in front with his Oracle Team USA. After that, he just kept going, managing his lead and avoiding any mistakes. The French led by Loïck Peyron repeated the performance of the first race. Once again, they had to chase after the frontrunners and ended up in the middle of the fleet (7th). But once again, they could not have hoped for better after the second poor start. What is positive is that they were able to avoid any panic and did make it back in the race, interestingly even after being severely penalized. All they need to do is get off to a better start and they will be up there with the frontrunners. Behind Spithill, two other boats coped well: Terry Hutchinson’s Artemis Racing White, second and once again Ben Ainslie, who finished third, enabling him to finish the day at the top of the championship.

Loïck Peyron’s reactions:
“In the fleet races both our starts were disastrous, but that did not stop us making it back up to the middle of the fleet. At the front, the leaders sailed very cleanly. The match race against the New Zealanders was really interesting, as we managed to overtake them on the downwind leg, although they had got off to a better start. It’s is in fact all quite logical as we have only been sailing for a year on the AC45, which is much less than the other competitors.”

Fleet race rankings after 2 races (out of 7)
1. J.P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie) 1-3 – 21 points
2. ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL (Jimmy Spithill) 8-1 – 16 points
2. Artemis Racing – Red (Nathan Outteridge) 4-4 – 16 points
2. ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS (Russell Coutts) 3-5 – 16 points
5. Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) 2-8 – 14 points
6. Artemis Racing – White (Terry Hutchinson) 10-2 – 12 points
7. Energy Team (Loïck Peyron) 6-7 – 11 points
8. Team Korea (Peter Burling) 5-9 – 10 points
9. Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper) 9-6 – 9 points
10. China Team (Phil Robertson) 7-10 – 7 points
11. Luna Rossa Swordfish (Iker Martinez) 11-11 – 2 points