ACWS SF: Quotes of the Day Saturday
From the Skippers
Match Race Semi-Finals and Final, plus Fleet Races 5 and 6
October 6, 2012
Artemis Red had ETNZ where they wanted them, at least early in their
Match Race Semi-Final, but not at the finish.
Photo:©2012 Guilain Grenier/Oracle Team USA
America’s Cup World Series San Francisco, October 6
Day Four: Match Race Semi-Finals, Final, and Fleet Races 5 and 6
Terry Hutchinson, Artemis
Racing White
We had good position and we defended the position and he
executed the last seven seconds well. But we haven’t really thought
about tomorrow. We have to continue the way we’ve been sailing we’ve
been sailing well and starting well. It’s been great having Iain on
the boat and developing that relationship so it’s onwards and
upwards.
Ben Ainslie, J.P.Morgan/Ben
Ainslie Racing
The first race today was the first race we didn’t have a
good start, but we pulled through to fourth, which was really good.
And we had a really nice start in the second race, the guys did a
great job. That was one of the first starts where we executed the
plan we wanted. We liked the windward end because the wind had come
up with the tide and we thought it would be powerful. We really
nailed the start like we wanted to and it got us the lead. It’s a
nice feeling. Then we just pulled away, so it was a great way to
finish the day.
Dean Barker, Emirates Team
New Zealand
We’re a lot happier than we were last time. We'd still like
to be in the front, so if we can put together a good race tomorrow,
then we have a chance. We'll push really hard, try to do everything as
well as we can and see what happens.
We definitely proved to ourselves that we can
compete a lot better than we did in the last regatta and that’s what
we came to try and do. It’s been a success on that front. We’d like
to have come away with a win in the match race, but it wasn’t to be.
We just tried to do little things better today than yesterday
understanding the currents, the winds, there are so many little
variables going on out there. If you get a good handle on it, you can
do really well. We definitely feel a lot more confident in our
decision making out there.
Nose down attitude for Oracle4 in Fleet Race 5. Spithill scored
a DNF but has had a good enough week to still be hanging in 4th place
overall.
Photo:©2012 Guilain Grenier/Oracle Team USA
Jimmy Spithill, Oracle Team
USA
This was a good test for the team overall and a fantastic
result since the start of the World Series last year, we haven’t lost
a match race to Artemis or Team New Zealand. That says a lot about
our support, Philippe doing a lot of work with us on the match racing
and JK (John Kostecki) has done a fantastic job. We were in a couple
of tough positions out there and he was able to find a way around.
The guy knows the bay better than anyone and I’m just glad to have him
with me.
Regarding the team's capsize in Fleet Race 5: We were confident with the wing. The guys who build these boats are the best in the world. We broke most of the frames on the top of the wing, so well have to repair them tonight. But that’s the beauty of these boats they’re very strong. You can continue racing, even with broken frames.
Johno (Macbeth) gashed his finger really badly and had blood going everywhere, but that didn’t slow him down. The boys were a little bit sore after, but they kept digging deep. I’m really impressed. JK, Joey (Newton) and JD (the guest racer) all went in the water. But I’ve been saying this all along, that the champion teams are the ones that face a bit of adversity and can come back. This team did exactly that we were in the worst possible position, with the wing going into the water and a couple of guys hurting themselves, but we bounced back, got on the fleet racing podium and won the match race.
Regarding match race starts: Philippe’s been
doing a lot of work with us, and Ben, Russell and I have been doing a
lot of training. We’ve got to credit Philippe, he’s been pushing us a
lot, so it’s nice to reward him for all the hard work.
--Diane Swintal for CupInfo/©2012 CupInfo.com