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Posts tagged ‘SoftBank Team Japan’

Jun 10

Immense

So what is happening in the Americas Cup you ask. Well the BBC are covering it quite extensively and it is live on BT Sport as well as NBC Sports. However as you asked I will update you.

Today begins the Challenger Play-Off’s Final, a best of 9 series of races that come Monday will give us the challenger to the defenders Team Oracle.

I spent little time at my desk this week and a lot of time up at the Americas Cup Village in Royal Dockyard, and saw some immense racing in some intense weather conditions.

Tuesday we had our first considerable rainfall for months and the Village resembled a huge wet t-shirt contest as thousands of people watched what five time Olympian Sir Ben Ainslie called “the most exciting, exhilarating day of sailing I’ve ever been involved in”.

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Jun 4

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Au revoir

No not another ode to Yann or a post on Patrick Bauer’s potential move back to Germany, but more on the Americas Cup which continues to be the talk of the island.

Saturday saw the end of the Round Robin Americas Cup Qualifiers which meant that the French team had to exit the competition. Groupama Team France and Jose Mourinho look-a-like Franck Cammas over acheived and made a lot of friends during their stay here but after eight defeats but two suprising wins, they finished bottom of the 1st Round standings and will play no further part in the 35th Americas Cup. Although Cammas has said the team will stay and provide practice competition for the now idle Team Oracle.

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May 28

Ship ahoy

Shiver me timbers. Sorry that’s a pirate term, but still…. I have been very lucky to attend a lot of the biggest sporting events, and I have to tell you that the opening day of the 35th Americas Cup will join the list of very memorable days out, and up there with the Masters, The Open, Ashes test matches, Wimbledon and Olympic events. 

The Americas Cup village, built on land that wasn’t even there a year ago, was immaculate and beautifully presented. More than 10,000 people, a sixth of the island’s population, watched the first day’s sail boat racing from various viewpoints and the excitement was plain to see and hear. In Bermuda election year I just wish the politicians would stop trying to score points off each other, and accept that this little island is going to experience something very special and create memories long lasting over these next 6 weeks. 

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May 24

Americas Cup 2017 teams – SoftBank Team Japan 

Kiwi Dean Barker is the team CEO and skipper of SoftBank Team Japan and is competing in his 6th America’s Cup. Five years after making his America’s Cup debut at age of 26 he steered Team New Zealand to victory in 2000. Barker, son of the well-known New Zealand multi-millionaire Ray Barker of the Barkers Clothing retail chain, sailed from an early age, and defected from the New Zealand Team Emirates after a well publicized fall out with the owner to move to the newly founded Japanese syndicate in 2015.

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