For the time being, the surprise team's streak continued yesterday: Chris Draper and his colleagues made short work of the heavy favourites "Artemis Racing" in the semi-final in rather changeable winds. As on Friday against "Energy Team", they were behind in both races but still crossed the finish line as winners. Much to the delight of the numerous spectators, who gave Draper and his two British colleagues on board "Team Korea" the home advantage they had been dreaming of. This highly acclaimed performance gives the small teams hope that they will occasionally be able to compete at the front of the AC45, even if they are short of cash.
In the final, the very good and very reliable New Zealanders then played their lesson, mercilessly putting the underdogs in their place with a 2-0 win to secure the Plymouth match race title. "Nice to win here after a second place last time," said helmsman Dean Barker. "Pretty cool, all the people on the Hoe. Hopefully we give them a good show too, (but) now we're getting ready to do it all again tomorrow (at the Fleetrace). The double would be great, of course."
Draper was happy despite losing the final. "We had the feeling that we had really learnt something in Cascais, we're really pleased that we got it right here and hope that we still have a bit of pep in our step for tomorrow," said the exhausted helmsman, who had to sail a total of seven races with his crew on Friday and Saturday. In the small final, "Artemis" defeated the US team "Oracle Racing Coutts" and benefited from the fact that their opponents had mistakenly sailed beyond the course limit once, which resulted in a penalty. Oracle Racing Spithill" finished in fifth place, elegantly luffing "Energy Team" over the line at the start of the placement race.
Today from 4pm CEST there's the fleet race final, which is easy to follow, because the first one is actually the winner. If the weather forecasters are right, it's going to be a lot of fun, as a lot of wind is forecast.
To the Event page and to the Livestream.
