Lighter winds and a mixed crowd at the top were reported from Plymouth on the third day of the America's Cup World Series. The Swedish "Artemis" syndicate with the American Terry Hutchinson at the helm was waved off as the winner twice yesterday by Prince Michael of Kent. In between, one race surprisingly went to the Korean boat, which is crewed by Brits, New Zealanders and Australians.
"We sailed with the gybes," said the English helmsman of Team Korea, Chris Draper, a world champion in the 49er skiff. "The course limit makes it difficult to regain your footing if you lose your rhythm."
The collective early start of "Team New Zealand" and "Aleph" in the third race showed just how far apart the top and bottom teams actually are. While the French remained in trouble, Dean Barker and his Kiwis were able to sail up to second place. There has been little to celebrate so far for the two Oracle teams, who are currently in fifth (James Spithill) and sixth place (Russell Coutts). At the bottom of the standings are the "China Team" and "Green Comm", who tore themselves apart with telegenic capsizes during training on a rather windy Tuesday.
Today there will again be three fleet races in Plymouth from 15:10 CEST, followed by the match race. It was also announced yesterday that the ACWS will be held in Naples in April 2012 and May 2013.
To the Event page with the live broadcast.
