Kiwis claim Port Cities Challenge

Posted on 13 November 2011

From America's Cup News:

Ideal racing conditions returned to San Diego on Sunday, with 6-10 knot westerlies and bright sunny skies. Crowds poured into the America’s Cup Village to watch the racing which at time brought the boats just a few yards from the viewing points along Broadway and Navy Piers.

Emirates Team New Zealand may have been the last crew to arrive in town on Friday and skipper Dean Barker had never sailed in San Diego ahead of Saturday’s first race,. But his team didn’t miss a beat, winning the Port Cities Challenge on this opening, preliminary weekend of the America’s Cup World Series.

On Saturday, China Team won a race for the first time at AC World Series, and on Sunday it was the turn of the French teams. First it was Aleph with new skipper Pierre Pennec at the helm, who took a win in race four. But not to be outdone, Energy Team sailed a flawless race six with skipper Yann Guichard to claim their first win.

Representatives of the five Port Cities were on board the race boats during the first contest of the day, with Coast Guard Commander Guerrero winning bragging rights on board ORACLE Racing Spithill, who raced to a second place finish, ahead of the other Port Cities boats.

“It was awesome, just great,” said Commander Guerrero representing Chula Vista. “The boats are phenomenal, and to go that fast, it's amazing. We hear a lot about the technology that's behind these boats, and now I can say I've seen it in action.