America’s Cup World Series Portsmouth 2015
We bring you a selection of great photos from the first event in the latest America's Cup cycle
Crowds on Southsea Common were treated to some high-powered yacht racing as the six teams competing for the 35th America’s Cup took to the Solent for the first event in the cycle.
Land Rover BAR, Oracle Team USA, Groupama Team France, Emirates Team New Zealand, Artemis Racing and Softbank Team Japan were all raring to go following Friday’s practice session.
The home favourites certainly had the support of the crowd, with thousands of fans flocking to the site to watch the action.
Ben Ainslie and his crew claimed victory at the event after finishing first and second in the two races on Saturday.
Emirates Team New Zealand were not far behind, with only a point less than Land Rover BAR, while Oracle Team USA rounded the podium off in third place.
Ainslie and his team were congratulated on their win at the official prize giving by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who were on site all day on Sunday and met with all of the teams, presenting the awards for the regatta. Michael Burke, the CEO of Louis Vuitton, was on hand to present each of the skippers with a gift.
“We’re absolutely delighted to win the first Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series event here in Portsmouth. This is a great start for us in our America’s Cup journey,” said Ben Ainslie, skipper of Land Rover BAR.
“With the conditions that we saw yesterday and the standard these teams are sailing at, it’s absolutely amazing racing and looks wonderful on TV. In my sailing career, I’ve never seen anything like it – the amount of people who came out on the water, on the shoreline, supporting the event, supporting us as the home team…
“It’s a real shame we couldn’t race today considering all the effort that’s gone into the event and the support we’ve had from the local fans here in Portsmouth. But that is the weather and we can’t control it.”
Emirates Team New Zealand Glenn Ashby’s said of skipper Peter Burling: “For a 24 year old, what a great opportunity for him to come through as a young guy. His skill level is really, really, high. This fast-paced, quick action, quick decision making really suits him.”
“The racing was great. We had some good sailing out there. Lots of lead changes, six competitive teams, the level is really, really high,” said skipper Jimmy Spithill. “We’re disappointed we couldn’t get out there again today.”