Please select your home edition
Edition
HALLSPARS_BANNER_SW_660X82-EVAI TOP

America's Cup: Orient Express Racing Team win podium place at their first 37th America's Cup event

by Orient Express Racing Team 18 Sep 16:51 NZST 18 September 2023
Start- America's Cup Preliminary Regatta - Day 3 - Vilanova - September 17, 2023 © Franck Socha

Orient Express Racing Team took their place on the podium after producing a positive performance and gaining valuable experience at the first America's Cup Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain.

Despite having the least time aboard the high-performance foiling AC40 of any America's Cup team, the French Challenger posted a third place overall showing real pace around the racecourse.

As the only team to win a race apart from eventual finalists Emirates Team New Zealand and NYYC American Magic, the French team worked hard to finish best-of-the-rest to take the final place on the podium.

"It felt good out there today," said Kevin Peponnet, who shares piloting responsibilities with Quentin Delapierre alongside flight controllers Matthieu Vandame and Jason Saunders.

"It has been an incredible start for the team to get on the podium with less than 15 days of sailing on the boat. Over the last few days we have been able to analyse the mistakes we have made in sailing or tactics, and aim to erase it the following day."

Orient Express Racing Team showed increasing confidence in their starts over the course of the regatta, said Peponnet, adding: "We had some close calls today, and we got a penalty, so it was pretty intense for us. Of course we have a lot of work to do to catch the top two, American Magic and Emirates Team New Zealand, who were very impressive today. But it has given us a bit more confidence and there is a really good dynamic in the team." Kevin Peponnet, pilot

The New Zealand and US teams qualified for the match race finale, with the American team declared the event winner after the decider was abandoned in a dying breeze.

Orient Express Racing Team went into the third and final day today leading the fleet after their race victory and a third place in light and variable conditions on Saturday which had followed the abandonment of racing on Friday due to thunderstorms.

Two successive fifth places dropped the French team down the order before a highly competitive third place in Sunday's final fleet race saw them move clear of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, Alinghi Red Bull Racing and INEOS Britannia on the overall leaderboard.

"We came here to learn and to test ourselves against the others, something we hadn't done before. We had a lot of questions. We didn't expect to be in the lead or on the podium. Today is a big reward for us because there were some close races. We were able to score points and make very few mistakes.

"We're very proud. We didn't expect to be at this level. We savoured yesterday's first win, which was very nice, and today we said to ourselves that we were going to take our chances."

"We're the underdog, the last to arrive, and we now know that we can play on equal terms, even if there's still lots of work to be done." Stephan Kandler, CEO

The Orient Express Racing Team will return to action in the second America's Cup Preliminary Regatta which is being held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from 29 November to 2 December, in a further warm-up before the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona in 2024.

Related Articles

Cup Spy Aug 22-23: Swiss coy on new system
Brits stop test session after foil cracks identified The week ended with several America's Cup team members competing in the Italy SailGP, with AC co-helms finishing in the top four places on the leaderboard. The testing continued off Barcelona, with the Swiss and Brits testing sails and foils. Posted today at 8:59 am
Cup Spy Aug 21: Brits get into fencing
British tried a new style of wingfoil - equipped with 'Fences' designed to impede foil ventilation Two Cup teams sailed - with American Magic focused on boat maneuvers, while the British tried a new style of wingfoil - equipped with 'Fences' designed to impede foil ventilation. Alinghi Red Bull Racing have repurposed their AC75 as a high dive platform. Posted on 23 Sep
Cup Spy Aug 18-20: Cup teams back in action
Two Cup teams have resumed sailing off Barcelona encountering some testing conditions Two Cup Challengers have been sailing off Barcelona, on three days of this week. Alinghi did sail testing on Monday and capsized at the end of the session. American Magic sailed twice, encountering a building fresh breeze 15kts gusting 23kts on Wednesday. Posted on 21 Sep
Cup Spy Sept 17: A magic day for America
American Magic showed they are back in the America's Cup with a polished performance on Day 3 After being the first team to exit the 2021 America's Cup in Auckland, the New York Yacht Club's American Magic won the first Preliminary Regatta of the 2024 America's Cup. Posted on 18 Sep
America's Cup: Luna Rossa report Day 2
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli places second in Race 1. Unable to recover from foil-fall in Race 2 In light and unstable winds only two races were sailed today. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli placed second in Race 1. They were unable to recover from course conditions in Race 2. Posted on 17 Sep
Cup Spy Sept 16: Day 2 - French win on debut
Rookie French team top leaderboard after the first day of racing - taking some rockstar scalps [Updated] It was the Day of the Underdog in Race 1, with the newest entry Orient Express Racing Team taking the first race win of the 2024 America's Cup Preliminary Regatta. The Kiwis staged a comeback to win Race 2. Luna Rossa reinstated into Race 1. Posted on 16 Sep
Changes to coverage of Preliminary Regatta
Four races will be held today - starting at 1305CET. Catch live video coverage on Sail-World Goven that the first day's racing did not happen, there will now be four races per day starting at 1305hrsCET. We will have live video coverage on the Sail-World home page. Posted on 16 Sep
Cup Spy Sept 15: - Day 1 - The Rain in Spain
Today was the day when the rain in Spain didn't stay "mainly in the plain". Instead it bucketed down After being delayed from the scheduled start time of 1530hrs CET (1330hrs UTC) Race Director Iain Murray decided to pull the pin for the day at around 1610hrs CET (1410hrs UTC) after heavy rain and thunder storms approached Vilanova. Posted on 15 Sep
Red Bull Racing mix foiling and aerobatics
Italian pilot Dario Costa performs a stunning aerial spectacle.over and between two AC40s Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Luna Rossa engaged in a high-speed fly-by with an aerobatic aeroplane flown by stunt pilot Dario Costa mixing the power and grace of a foiling AC40 with the speed and quickness of a stunt plane. Posted on 14 Sep
America's Cup: No surprises in Kiwi AC40 team
Emirates Team NZ have named a six man sailing squad as they gear up for their first AC40 Regatta Emirates Team New Zealand have named a six man sailing squad as they gear up for the first Preliminary Regatta of the 37th America's Cup. It will be contested, in a nine race, three day event later this week in Vilanova. Posted on 12 Sep
SOUTHERN-SPARS-OFFICIAL-SUPPLIER-52-SS728-X-90 BottomC-Tech 2021 SnuffAir 728x90 BOTTOMLloyd Stevenson - Artnautica60 728x90px BOTTOM