It was an action-packed week of events in Plymouth last week for the second leg of the America’s Cup World Series 2011. Organisers estimated that over 115,000 people lined up along the Hoe to see some of the most exciting racing to ever come to British waters, which culminated in an exciting 40-minute fleet race in challenging weather conditions on the final day. Collisions and capsizes added the necessary dose of the drama to the high speed racing between the nine boats.

While Emirates Team New Zealand emerged to win the Plymouth Match Racing Championship, James Spithill scored an emphatic victory for ORACLE Spithill in the final winner-takes-all race racing. With winds reaching up to 30 knots (55 km/h / 35 mph) the sailors struggled to avoid capsizing or a collision. In the minutes leading up to the start, Energy Team capsized trying to avoid Team Korea. Moments later there was a dramatic collision with Artemis Racing riding up over the back of Green Comm Racing, with the skipper Vasilij Zbogar falling off the back of the Spanish boat and suffering a minor injury to his hand. With their boat damaged in the collision, Green Comm retired without crossing the start line.

Steering clear of trouble in the pre-start, the two ORACLE Racing boats and Emirates Team New Zealand burst off the start line with other teams following behind. At the first mark China Team capsized but got up and running again. In fact when Artemis capsized later in the race, Charlie Ogletree’s Chinese team moved past and managed to cross the finish line 9 minutes and 54 seconds after the winner, just six seconds inside the finishing time limit. With boats touching speeds in excess of 50km/h, it was a wild ride, and while the Kiwis battled hard with the two ORACLE boats, Spithill moved clear on the final lap.
The America’s Cup World Series now moves on to San Diego, with the first races kicking off on November 16. To see a full list of results and for more information, visit  www.americascup.com