Darren Bundock (left) and Tom Slingsby (third from left) provide a strong Australian presence on Oracle Coutts. Photo Guilain Grenier/Oracle Racing.

Consistency was the key for the French Energy Team who won the third of three races on Wednesday afternoon (local time) to top the table at the end of the seeding races for the San Diego Match Racing Championships at the America’s Cup World Series.

New skipper Yann Guichard posted three race finishes inside the top five 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.

Those top three teams on today’s ranking are seeded through directly to the semi-finals of the Match Racing Championship. The remaining six teams will be paired up to race in Thursday’s qualifying matches, competing in a knockout format to earn the fourth semi-final 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 early and stay in force throughout the afternoon.

After the fleet races, the teams brought the show to the crowds perched on Broadway Pier for the AC 500 Speed Trials, which took place just yards from the pier. Emirates 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.”

- americascup.com.

Oracle's Aussies

Three races – one of 40 minutes and two of 20 minutes – were held in winds of 10 to 12 knots with plenty of shifts that offered opportunities for passing.

ORACLE Racing Spithill took full advantage of those opportunities to place third on the day with 22 points on finishes of 5-4-2. France’s Energy Team won the day with 24 points.

“It was a nice challenging race track. It wasn’t obvious where to go. I thought we were quick today, especially downwind,” said skipper James Spithill, whose crew advances to the semifinal round of the match racing championship.

Spithill and crew used their speed to absorb critical blows such as penalties, early starts and even a tangled gennaker. They regularly fought their way out of trouble.

“You either learn how to fight or you get punched around,” said Spithill, who uses boxing as a form of physical training. “With the gennaker we just pushed it too hard into the leeward mark. At the end of the day I thought our crew work was pretty good, but we have to get off the start line better.”

ORACLE Racing Coutts, skippered by Darren Bundock, placed sixth with 18 points. His crew’s performance illustrated how quickly fortunes turned on the day.

Bundock and crew came out blazing in the first race, nailing the start and winning by 51 seconds, the largest margin of the day. In Race 2, however, ORACLE Racing Coutts was penalized for a pre-start infraction and could only claw back to 8th. The crew then finished 6th in Race 3.

“The day started off great but then seemed to go downhill from there,” said Bundock. “We had a perfect start in the first race and the worst start in the second race: hero to zero stuff.

“We were really psyched in that first race but at the end of the day we didn’t do as well as we’d hoped. The reaching start is tricky,” Bundock said.

ORACLE Racing Coutts returns to the water tomorrow to contest the match racing Qualifier Round where the crew will meet Green Comm Racing, the combined Spanish/Italian entry, in a one race sail-off with the winner advancing.

“Tomorrow is match racing so the start won’t be as crowded,” Bundock said. “We showed if we can get off the start line we can extend away.”

ORACLE Racing Spithill is next scheduled to race in Friday’s semifinal round against rival Emirates Team New Zealand. The two crews will sail a best-of-three match with the winner advancing to Saturday’s final.

- Oracle Racing

Slingsby having fun

Triple world Laser champion, Tom Slingsby, sailed his first America's Cup races today, crewing for Darren Bundock on Oracle Coutts. They won the first race of the day but struggled in the remaining races to finish sixth overall for the day.

" To win the first race was great," Slingsby said in an email to me after coming ashore. "We had a good start and the sailing is easy when you're out in front. Basically the 2nd and 3rd race we didn't get off the line well enough and just struggled to find lanes. We got tacked on a lot and couldn't make up any positions.  

"All in all, very happy and enjoying the challenge."

- Roger McMillan

Results – San Diego Match Racing Championship (seeding fleet races)

Results – AC 500 Speed Trials
Emirates Team New Zealand - 21.22 knots
ORACLE Racing Spithill - 21.10 knots
ORACLE Racing Coutts - 19.86 knots
Artemis Racing - 19.65 knots
Energy Team - 19.36 knots
Team Korea - 19.18 knots
China Team - 18.54 knots
ALEPH - 18.33 knots
Green Comm Racing - 17.91 knots