The Olympic break seems to have done Nathan Outteridge some good. The helmsman of the Swedish America's Cup team Artemis Racing, who was Olympic champion in 2012 and won silver in the 49er a few weeks ago in Rio after a thrilling duel with Berliners Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel, was able to shine with two wins and a third place in his Cup comeback off Toulon. With a total of 28 points, the Swedes have taken the lead at the ACWS regatta in France ahead of "Super Sunday".
Mr America's Cup tells us what's at stake before Toulon and who's worth keeping an eye on. The Cup revolutionary also talks about the teams' strengths and weaknesses
In contrast, four-time Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie and his team Land Rover BAR, with Finn Dinghy Olympic champion and tactician Giles Scott back in the boat, experienced an almost surreal start: the Brits were only the last of the six teams to finish in the first two races. Accordingly, Sir Ben Ainslie could be seen at the helm of his AC45 catamaran, who initially didn't know what to do with the flat regatta day. But those who know him also knew that in race three he would do everything in his power to erase the dishonour. The leaders of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series were clearly fed up with being left behind. They won the third and final race on Saturday with aplomb and now start the final day with another three double scored races in fifth place. At the finish line, Ainslie could be heard laughing loudly and with relief.
In extremely light winds, in which the otherwise so attractive catamarans appeared sluggish and slow, it was not only the British who struggled with themselves and the course. In front of their home crowd, the French team Groupama France with skipper Franck Cammas at the tiller was obviously over-motivated or nervous and made two early starts in succession in the first two races. In the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series, the teams do not have to return to the line and clean up in this case, but must allow all opponents to pass before they are allowed to resume sailing themselves. The fact that the French team still managed to finish fourth and third in these two races, before ending Saturday with a second place, a total of 24 points and second place in the intermediate classification, speaks volumes for their already well-known sailing skills in light winds.
Emirates Team New Zealand (2, 2, 6), with the 49er Olympic champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke and 23 points on their account, are in third place in the intermediate classification at the halfway stage going into the final day. The Kiwis lacked a bit of punch, but impressed with strong positioning, just like in the Olympics. When all teams sailed a total of ten manoeuvres in the last race of the day, the New Zealanders only needed six.
In fourth place on Saturday evening were the Cup defenders with their new helmsman Tom Slingsby. The 2012 Laser Olympic champion and Oracle Team USA initially had to be satisfied with 3rd, 5th and 4th place, but were not. Slingsby stood in for skipper Jimmy Spithill, who was recovering from an old elbow injury and had to sit out. Dean Barker's SoftBank Team Japan had also hoped for more than 5th, 4th and 5th place, after which the Japanese only finished sixth and last for the time being on Saturday evening.
German fans can follow the races via Facebook and with German commentary here can also watch the pre-show live on Sunday from 2pm.
Tom Slingsby and his team are visibly happy: Oracle Team USA can now also tack on foils and are only too happy to show this to their fans after SoftBank Team Japan was the first to go first
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
