The English team skipper beat Jimmy Spithill and Oracle Team USA by 2 points, a secure win for Land Rover BAR who hadn't won a race since the one at home (Portsmouth in summer 2015).
"We kept fighting today. Compared to the teams with established records, we have to prove that we can compete at the top of the fleet and I think we just proved that. We have a great team of designers, boat builders and staff back home, who work very hard for us and want to know that we can succeed." explained Ben Ainslie.
For Oracle Team USA, its second place finish is the result of four consecutive podiums in this Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series race. "We've taken some good steps forward, but we need to move forward. It's good to be on the podium. We're one of only two teams to have been on the podium in every round. But we want to win and there are no two ways about it." explained James Spithill after the race.
Emirates Team New Zealand takes over the 3rd place e place on the podium and thus retains its number one position in the overall Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series standings. But the second place of the American team reduces the gap between the two teams to only 6 points. "The last race was a little disappointing for us." said skipper Glenn Ashby, referring to the 5 e obtained. "But we still have first place in the overall standings. At the end of the day, that's all that matters."
And indeed, the leader at the end of the different stages of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series will win 2 bonus points for the qualifying events (Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers) that will take place in Bermuda in 2017. The second place crew will earn one bonus point.
Groupama Team France managed to pull through on Sunday, February 28, finishing in second place e place, then by a victory. It was Adam Minoprio who replaced Franck Cammas, who had a foot injury. The French team managed to convert two solid performances on the start line into a heat victory. "We've been pretty excited on board. You can see the excitement on the guys' faces. We didn't have the best start to the regatta, but we managed to turn it around over the weekend and pulled out a win on the last race." explained Adam Minoprio.
SoftBank Team Japan and Artemis Racing continued to try, but were unable to get out of the fleet during the day. Bad breaks, combined with poor decisions or maneuvering errors contributed to both teams being at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Results of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series in Oman
Land Rover BAR - 8, 10, 10, 18, 14, 16 - 76 points
ORACLE Team USA - 9, 6, 9, 12, 20, 18 - 74 points
Emirates Team New Zealand - 10, 7, 5, 20, 16, 12 - 70 points
Team Groupama France - 5, 8, 7, 10, 18, 20 - 68 points
SoftBank Team Japan - 6, 9, 6, 16, 10, 14 - 61 points
Artemis Racing - 7, 5, 8, 14, 12, 10 - 56 points
