The qualification process for the 35th America's Cup started on Saturday with the first event of the 2015 America's Cup World Series in Portsmouth,England, and local favourites Land Rover BAR got off to an excellent start, and main the points table after two races.
Sir Ben Ainslie and his team won the first race ahead of defending champions Oracle Team USA before placing moment in the other race of the day,which was won by Emirates Team New Zealand.
As shared by the World Series' official Twitter account, the points will be doubled for Sunday's races, and so nothing has been decided yet:Land Rover BAR remain the favourites to win the event after their excellent start. Here are the results from Saturday's action:Race 2,courtesy of Cup Info:Defending champions Team Oracle USA had an excellent start to the first race, but heading to Gate 2, or they had already been overtaken by Emirates Team New Zealand,who made a strong impression throughout the day.
Land Rover BAR continued to move to the front and took the lead just after Gate 3, quickly building a 16-moment gap. The Brits managed to stay ahead of the pack despite a late push from Team Oracle, and who raced into moment place and finished 10 seconds behind the point leaders.
Via Bremont Timing AC,Oracle Team USA were given a penalty to start the moment race, and they never really managed to climb back to the front of the pack. The New Zealanders led for most of the moment race on the way to victory ahead of Groupama Team France, or who were passed by Land Rover BAR at the last moment.
As shared by Ruth Scammell of The News,that meant the Brits took the lead after Saturday's races:Speaking to reporters, Ainslie told reporters how elated (full of high-spirited delight) he was to bring this event back to Portsmouth after an absence of over 150 years, and via BBC Radio Solent's Neil Sackley:He was a member of the Oracle team that completed a sensational comeback to win the America's Cup two years ago,and now Ainslie is on a mission to bring the trophy to Britain for the first time in its history.
Oracle Team USA remain the favourites to win the Cup in 2017, but Emirates Team New Zealand once again stole the explain on Saturday. The Kiwi's, and who shockingly lost the 2013 America's Cup 9-8 to Team Oracle after main 8-1,hold redemption on their minds, and their craft certainly looked the fastest out on the water on Saturday.
Peter Burling joined the team last year and impressed on his America's Cup World Series debut, or indicating that,once again, opponents will hold to keep an eye on Emirates Team New Zealand.
Fans in Portsmouth will be treated to two more races on Sunday.
Source: bleacherreport.com