Energy Team ends ‘perfect day’ on top of standings

With a new skipper at its helm, the Energy Team captured the final seeding race of the day Wednesday to finish atop the standings at San Diego Match Racing Championships of the America’s Cup World Series.

Skipper Yann Guichard posted three top-five race finishes to end the day one point clear of Emirates Team New Zealand. ORACLE Racing Spithill, plagued by penalties and starting trouble all day, recovered strongly in each race to hold on to third place.

The Energy Team along with Team New Zealand and Oracle racing Spithill all advanced to the semifinals of the Match Racing Championship.

The remaining six teams will be paired up to race inThursday’s qualifying matches, competing in a knockout format to earn the fourth and final semifinal berth.

“It’s a perfect day for us,” said an elated Guichard after racing. “I’m really happy. The team has done a fantastic job. I’m getting more comfortable each day and I can really feel the boat well now. We had some good starts and were very fast today. The small teams like us are improving each day.”

Conditions couldn’t have been better for racing on Wednesday. The winds were in the 9-13 knot range with flat water in San Diego Bay, leading to boat speeds near 20 knots.

The sun was out, and it was a warm November day, allowing the sea breeze to build.

After the fleet races, the teams captivated the crowds perched on Broadway Pier for the AC 500 Speed Trials.

Team New Zealand, in the very first run, posted what would stand up as the quickest time down the 500-meter runway. The two ORACLE Racing entries, Spithill and Coutts were second and third respectively. Artemis Racing was in fourth place in both the seeding race standings and the Speed Trials.

“Over all it was a hard day, but it was good the way we battled as it would have been easy to go backwards,” said Artemis Racing skipper Terry Hutchinson. “It is about doing things consistently and working through the process.”