Land Rover BAR wins America's Cup World Series title

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) Land Rover BAR won the America's Cup World Series title with a third-place finish in Sunday's final race at the Fukuoka regatta.

After Artemis Racing of Sweden won the first two races in Fukuoka, Land Rover BAR needed to finish ahead of the Swedes in the last race of the day to clinch the title. Land Rover was third in the final race, while Artemis was fourth.

''This has been a goal for us for the whole season and for this event,'' said Land Rover BAR skipper Ben Ainslie. ''The guys have done an incredible job. For us as a new team it sends out a strong message for all our supporters that we can do it.''

The Fukuoka event saw Land Rover BAR moving into a tie with Artemis Racing in the final contest, and taking the regatta by virtue of a better result in the last race.

Land Rover BAR finished the series with 512 points, 19 ahead of Oracle Team USA, the two-time defending America's Cup champion, in second place.

Emirates Team New Zealand, the hard-luck loser to Oracle in the 2013 America's Cup, finished third overall with 493 points.

Artemis Racing was fourth and SoftBank Team Japan was fifth.

Land Rover BAR earned two bonus points to carry into the qualifiers in June, while Oracle Team USA earned one bonus point.