Jimmy Spithill (AUS) gives the thumbs up at winning the RC44 World Match Racing Championship. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
by Tim Jeffery
BMW ORACLE Racing's two crews at the RC44 World Championship Islas Canarias Puerto calero today won the gold and bronze medals in the match racing portion of the regatta.
Team skipper Jimmy Spithill and his crew aboard the yacht 17 - Skip Baxter, Jonas Hviid-Nielsen, Kyle Langford, Joey Newton, Bryce Ruthenberg, Piet van Nieuwenhuyzen and Matt von Bibra - won the gold medal with a 2-0 victory over Artemis of Sweden.
It is the first match racing victory for Spithill on the RC 44 circuit this year. Previously in 2005, Spithill won the ISAF World Match Racing Championship.
BMW ORACLE Racing ahead of Ceeref in match racing. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
"It feels fantastic, very satisfying," said Spithill, who skippered the team to victory in the 33rd America's Cup. "We did a lot of preparation beforehand with our coach, Philippe Presti, and our teammates on BMW ORACLE Racing. We're feeling a lot better than when we first got in the class this year.
"I'm really pleased with how the boys went," Spithill said.
The team's second entry at the world championship, BMW ORACLE Racing led by Russell Coutts, won the bronze medal.
BMW ORACLE Racing leads Ceeref downwind. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
Coutts and crew - Juan Jose Calero, Dirk de Ridder, Ryan Godfrey, Ross Halcrow, Colin Orsini, Revelin Minihane and Chris Schirmer - also scored a 2-0 victory with a win over Katusha of Russia.
"We're prety happy with the result," said de Ridder. "The conditions were pretty dodgy, but we sailed better than Katusha and that was good enough for third."
The regatta continues tomorrow with the 13 boats lining up in a fleet race series that continues through Saturday. The difference between that and the match racing series is that amateurs are on the helm.
Jimmy Spithill at the helm of 17. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
Anders Myralf of Denmark will be on 17, as he was at the RC44 Valencia Cup, and Juan Jose Calero of Lanzarote will helm BMW ORACLE Racing.
“It’s all to play for in the fleet racing,” said de Ridder. “Normally Artemis is very strong, so they’ll be hard to beat. 17 has had its ups and downs, so hopefully they’ll continue that. We’re happy with our boatspeed so we feel competitive. Juan Jose does good job driving, so we have to play it safe and be smart.”
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