- Land Rover BAR take double victory in Fukuoka and the overall Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series
- The British team have 2-point advantage over rivals going into America’s Cup Qualifiers in Bermuda 2017
- Land Rover BAR team aims to bring home the world’s oldest sporting trophy to Britain for the first time in its 165-year history
Sunday 20th November 2016, Japan: Land Rover BAR win the final regatta in Japan to take the overall Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series title, putting them in a commanding position going into the America’s Cup Final next year in Bermuda.
Land Rover BAR fought hard for their victory and beat closest rivals and the current Defender, ORACLE TEAM USA in a dramatic and intense final race this weekend in Fukuoka, Japan.
Saturday’s strong sailing meant that the team headed into the final day in a commanding position. After a long and tense first race on Super Sunday, Land Rover BAR fought hard against Oracle Team USA as they sailed a very aggressive race showing Land Rover BAR no mercy and leaving the regatta wide open. The team kept supporters on their toes as they broke the line early in race two, with Emirates Team New Zealand and Oracle Team USA clear leaders at the start gun. A stunning recovery on the first lap saw them back into the pack, and with an incredible final leg pass of the Americans, Land Rover BAR sealed the World Series win. Securing third place in the final race meant the full champagne moment for Ben Ainslie and crew winning the Fukuoka regatta and the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series.
Land Rover BAR will enter the America’s Cup Qualifiers, two points clear, giving them an early advantage for the first set of round-robin races starting on May 26.
It was an amazing day for the team because our core goal was to win the overall series, that is what we came here to do. To achieve that and come out on top in the final event to get four regatta wins in the overall series, that is a huge achievement from a completely new team.
Two and a half years ago we had absolutely nothing, so what we have achieved in building the team, the infrastructure, and this performance in the World Series is something we should all be incredibly proud of - but at the same time it’s just one step in our journey to the America’s Cup. Our objective was to get the two bonus points and we’ve got that, and now the focus is clearly on the race boat and the performance next summer in Bermuda.
I am absolutely delighted by how things have gone, but at the same time I know our team and how focused they are on the America’s Cup. We will be straight into training in Bermuda and getting best prepared for the America’s Cup to try and bring it home after a 167 years of hurt.
Ben Ainslie
Team Principal and Skipper
It’s a fantastic result for the team and we are very proud to have been with them on this journey so far – taking this World Series win is such a huge achievement.
The next steps are still to come as the design team and our Land Rover engineers finalize the race boat codenamed R1 which will be launched early next year. It’s an extremely exciting and intense project and the countdown is now on for us to make our boat a winner in Bermuda.
Mark Cameron
Land Rover Experiential Marketing Director
The 35th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, hosted in Bermuda, starts on Friday May 26 and continues until the final starting on Saturday June 17.
Japan America’s Cup World Series weekend results:
- Land Rover BAR - 75
- Artemis Racing - 75
- ORACLE TEAM USA - 70
- Emirates Team New Zealand - 65
- SoftBank Team Japan - 61
- Groupama Team France - 59
Overall leader board results:
- Land Rover BAR - 512
- ORACLE TEAM USA - 493
- Emirates Team New Zealand - 485
- Artemis Racing - 466
- SoftBank Team Japan - 460
- Groupama Team France - 419
