Calm winds are not everyone's cup of tea, but at the Toulon regatta of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series, they ensured that all six teams had their chances. The Swedish team Artemis made the most of the balmy breezes on the glittering summery Côte d'Azur. The team with team manager Iain Percy and the Australian helmsman and Olympic 49er silver medallist from Rio, Nathan Outteridge, sailed to three wins, two third places and a fifth place in six races over the two days of the regatta. That was enough for the Swedish team to win the regatta.
And sweet revenge for Nathan Outteridge. The Australian, who had won 49er gold off Weymouth in 2012, had to admit defeat to the New Zealanders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in Rio with Iain Jensen, who were defeated at the Olympics four years ago. However, the new Olympic champions Burling/Tuke did not cope well in the light winds off Toulon, recording a disappointing fifth place for Emirates Team New Zealand.
Only the Cup defenders with substitute helmsman Tom Slingsby were even weaker. The 2012 Laser Olympic champion could only put his head in his own hands after the last race and try to come to terms with the knockout blow he had suffered. Without skipper Jimmy Spithill, who was recovering from a lengthy elbow injury, his Oracle Team USA was unable to finish higher than sixth and last. You wouldn't have wanted to be in Slingsby's shoes on Sunday evening, but the Australian said bravely: "At Oracle Team USA we expect a high standard from ourselves. If we don't deliver, we'll be hard on ourselves. But we also learn from our mistakes and come back stronger. That's what I'm focussing on now. And on what I can do for the comeback and for our team so that we can win the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series."
Of the top three teams in the ACWS overall standings so far, only Sir Ben Ainslie's Team Land Rover BAR managed to finish on the podium in French waters. And even the Brits didn't look good at first. The most successful Olympic sailor in the sport's history and his team with the returning tactician and Finn Dinghy Olympic champion Giles Scott had opened the regatta with two last places before the first liberating blow followed with a win on the day. With places 3, 1 and 4 in the final sprint on "Super Sunday", it was finally enough for the Brits to finish third in the Toulon regatta. Accordingly, Ainslie took stock with one crying and one laughing eye: "We would have liked to have come a little closer to winning the regatta. But I think Artemis sailed really well. On the other hand, the fact that we were able to extend our points lead ahead of the final regatta in Japan is a great deal for our team." Land Rover BAR (437 points) will start the final in Japan with a 14-point lead over the American Cup defenders (423 points). Lurking just behind is Emirates Team New Zealand (420 points).
Second place behind the Swedes was secured off Toulon by Dean Barker and his SoftBank Team Japan, who are now in fourth place overall and confidently looking forward to the last ACWS regatta of the year in Fukuoka in November. For Franck Cammas' Groupama Team France, who are hosting the event in Toulon, it will be difficult to catch up with the others in the Japanese final after finishing fourth overall in their home waters. "The goal for Japan is clear," says Cammas nevertheless, "we want to improve as a team." However, they share this goal with the five teams ahead of them.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
