United States driver Jimmy Spithill has debriefed a ‘difficult’ first day of racing in Chicago, which saw the home team finish ninth after three fleet races.
The Americans finished the day with a 9-10-6 racing record - behind Erik Heil’s newcomer Germany in its F50 racing debut. Only Switzerland finished behind the U.S. with a 10-6-10 record.
Reflecting on the day, Spithill said Lake Michigan provided ‘great conditions’ and a ‘fun racetrack’, but admitted it was a ‘frustrating’ day for the home team.
Despite a ‘great start’ in the first fleet race, the team fell behind after fluffing a maneuver on the approach to the first reach mark. “We were up there and fighting it out and then we just couldn’t pull off the first jibe,” Spithill said.
The second race was a similar story, with the U.S. making a promising start but failing to get the board on the lock to tack. “We need to go back and figure out why that happened, because that really ended the race,” Spithill said.
The third race of the day ‘ironically’ saw the team make its ‘worst start’ but pick up its best result - ‘it just goes to show there are a lot of opportunities out there,’ Spithill said.
Spithill admitted he was frustrated with the day’s results but looked ahead to racing resuming on June 17.
“You’ve just got to keep going back, we’ve got to take the lessons from it, come out and try and get a few good ones.”
Racing resumes at 4pm CDT on Saturday, June 17. Please CLICK HERE for a full live stream of the Race Day 2 action, or visit our How to Watch page for broadcast information for your region.
