2007 Louis Vuitton Cup
| 7th Louis Vuitton Cup Valencia, Spain | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 25, 2007 – June 11, 2007 |
| Winner | Emirates Team New Zealand |
| Location | Port America's Cup, Valencia, Spain |
| Coordinates | 39°28′N 0°18.5′W / 39.467°N 0.3083°WCoordinates: 39°28′N 0°18.5′W / 39.467°N 0.3083°W |
| Official website | http://32nd.americascup.com |
The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain, from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, two semi-finals and a final. The winner was Emirates Team New Zealand, who challenged the defender Alinghi in June 2007 for the America's Cup.
Teams
| Team name | Yacht club | Country | External link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emirates Team New Zealand | Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron |  New Zealand |
|
| BMW Oracle Racing | Golden Gate Yacht Club |  United States |
|
| Luna Rossa Challenge | Yacht Club Italiano |  Italy |
|
| Desafío Español 2007 | Real Federación Española de Vela |  Spain |
|
| Victory Challenge | Gamla Stans Yacht Sällskap |  Sweden |
|
| Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia | Italy |
|
| Team Shosholoza | Royal Cape Yacht Club |  South Africa |
|
| Areva Challenge | Cercle de la Voile de Paris |  France |
|
| +39 Challenge | Circolo Vela Gargnano | Italy |
|
| United Internet Team Germany | Deutscher Challenger Yacht Club |  Germany |
|
| China Team | Qingdao International Yacht Club |  China |
|
Round robin
Round robin 2 was completed on May 9, 2007. Teams had accrued bonus points based on their results in the Louis Vuitton Acts which took place in the preceding years. For the round-robin races, two points were awarded for a win and zero for a defeat. The first four boats then progressed to the semi-finals stage of the Louis Vuitton Cup and the remainder were eliminated. As winner of the round-robin events Emirates Team New Zealand won the right to choose their opponent.
| Team name | Races | Won | Bonus pts. | RR1 pts. | RR2 pts. | Total pts. | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emirates Team New Zealand | 20 | 17 | 4 | 14 | 20 | 38 | 1 |
| BMW Oracle Racing | 20 | 17 | 3 | 18 | 16 | 37 | 2 |
| Luna Rossa Challenge | 20 | 16 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 35 | 3 |
| Desafío Español 2007 | 20 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 29 | 4 |
| Victory Challenge | 20 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 26 | 5 |
| Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | 20 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 6 |
| Team Shosholoza | 20 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 7 |
| Areva Challenge | 20 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 8 |
| +39 Challenge | 20 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 9 |
| United Internet Team Germany | 20 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| China Team | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
Round robin 1
The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup started slowly with all races postponed for the first four days of competition due to light and variable winds. There were rumors that BMW Oracle was planning on rotating the crew off the boat because they were running out of stories to tell as they sat in the boat waiting for wind. To entertain fans, some teams came up with interesting stunts. For instance, United Internet Germany came up with a way to wakeboard, by having their largest sail trimmers pull on the wakeboarder using the jib trimming system . +39, an Italian challenger, used the windless days off to continue making repairs to their mast, which shattered in a starboard-port situation with Internet Team Germany two weeks earlier, and completed mast repairs by the time racing had commenced.
The highlights for the week were not on the water, but rather off it. The Measurement Committee released the final rule interpretations. The rules state that any cup team can request an interpretation and remain anonymous. Additionally, any interpretation by the committee stays private for 6 months. Every cup team and all the media was trying to find out more about two of the final interpretations. It seems that one boat may have found a significant advantage, but everyone would have to wait until the end of the Cup to find out who and exactly what had happened.
Racing was scheduled to start on April 16, 2007, but did not get underway until April 20, 2007.
| Date | Team 1  |
Team 2  |
Winner | Delta | Timings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 20, 2007 | Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | Emirates Team New Zealand | Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | 0:15 | |
| +39 Challenge | Areva Challenge | Areva Challenge | 1:09 | ||
| United Internet Team Germany | BMW Oracle Racing | BMW Oracle Racing | 2:00 | ||
| Team Shosholoza | Victory Challenge | Victory Challenge | 0:46 | ||
| China Team | Luna Rossa Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 2:07 | ||
| Desafío Español | +39 Challenge | Desafío Español | 2:45 | ||
| Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | Areva Challenge | Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | 1:41 | ||
| United Internet Team Germany | Team Shosholoza | Team Shosholoza | 1:10 | ||
| China Team | BMW Oracle Racing | BMW Oracle Racing | 4:36 | ||
| Victory Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 1:07 | ||
All the scheduled races for April 21, 2007, were postponed by the race committee to April 22, 2007, due to light winds.
| Date | Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Winner | Delta | Timings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 22, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge | United Internet Team Germany | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:50 | |
| Victory Challenge | China Team | Victory Challenge | 3:50 | ||
| BMW Oracle Racing | Team Shosholoza | BMW Oracle Racing | 0:47 | ||
| Areva Challenge | Desafío Español 2007 | Areva Challenge | 2:06 | ||
| Emirates Team New Zealand | +39 Challenge | Emirates Team New Zealand | 2:41 | ||
Some of the scheduled races for April 22, 2007, and all of the races on April 23, 2007, were postponed by the race committee until April 24, 2007, due to poor wind conditions.
Some of the scheduled races for April 27, 2007, were postponed by the race committee until April 28, 2007, due to very light and variable winds.
| Date | Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Winner | Delta | Timings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 28, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge | Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:49 | |
| Emirates Team New Zealand | Victory Challenge | Emirates Team New Zealand | 1:42 | ||
| BMW Oracle Racing | Desafío Español 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | 1:00 | ||
| Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | Victory Challenge | Victory Challenge | 0:28 | ||
| Luna Rossa Challenge | Desafío Español 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:37 | ||
| Emirates Team New Zealand | BMW Oracle Racing | BMW Oracle Racing | 0:38 | ||
Round robin 2
The following week brought a little wind, and although most days the race committee postponed races for wind, they were able to race most days. Although many of the results were easy to predict, a few upsets occurred in the first round robin. In the first race of the first flight, the powerhouse from New Zealand lost to the Mascalzone Latino, an Italian challenger. In the fourth flight, Shosholoza, the underdog from South Africa, beat Luna Rossa from Italy, a three time cup veteran.
Due to the lack of wind the first week, the second round robin began without any lay days after the first. The first surprise of the second round robin was by China Team, who beat the favored BMW Oracle Racing team by 3 minutes and 15 seconds, the only team yet to achieve a win against BMW Oracle. The win was due to a delamination on the American team's headsail foil which caused the headsail to become partially detached making the sail totally ineffective for part of the race. Also, the Americans gave their best crew members a holiday and sailed against the Chinese with a less experienced crew. The following day several of the China Team members arrived at the compound with bald heads. Reportedly they bet one another that if they beat the Americans, they would shave their heads.
The final round of round robin competition featured a race for the top place. Both Emirates Team New Zealand and the United States had lost one race in the first round and zero in the second round robin. Because of Bonus Points from previous acts, New Zealand had a one-point advantage over the United States. Each race counted as two points, so a win for either team would result in the first-place finish in the round robins. The final race was expected to be an exciting match between the two. However, after the start, the race quickly became disappointing for BMW Oracle fans, with New Zealand stretching their early lead. The result was New Zealand winning the round robin, and was able to choose its opponent for the subsequent semi-final round.
| Date | Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Winner | Delta | Timings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 29, 2007 | BMW Oracle Racing | United Internet Team Germany | BMW Oracle Racing | 3:17 | |
| Victory Challenge | Team Shosholoza | Victory Challenge | 0:52 | ||
| Luna Rossa Challenge | China Team | Luna Rossa Challenge | 2:57 | ||
Some of the scheduled races for April 29, 2007 were postponed by the race committee until April 30, 2007 due to lack of wind.
| Date | Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Winner | Delta | Timings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 30, 2007 | Team Shosholoza | United Internet Team Germany | Team Shosholoza | 1:23 | |
| BMW Oracle Racing | China Team | China Team | 3:15 | ||
| Luna Rossa Challenge | Victory Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:27 | ||
| +39 Challenge | Desafío Español 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | 0:10 | ||
| Areva Challenge | Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | Areva Challenge | 2:06 | ||
| Emirates Team New Zealand | Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:25 | ||
| Areva Challenge | +39 Challenge | Areva Challenge | 1:11 | ||
All races scheduled for May 1 were postponed to May 2 due to excessive wind.
| Date | Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Winner | Delta | Timings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | Areva Challenge | Desafío Español 2007 | 0:30 | |
| +39 Challenge | Emirates Team New Zealand | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:45 | ||
| United Internet Team Germany | Luna Rossa Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 1:02 | ||
| China Team | Victory Challenge | Victory Challenge | 11:49 | ||
| Team Shosholoza | BMW Oracle Racing | BMW Oracle Racing | 0:43 | ||
| Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | Desafío Español 2007 | A resail was ordered by the race committee | - | - | |
| Emirates Team New Zealand | Areva Challenge | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:59 | ||
| China Team | United Internet Team Germany | United Internet Team Germany | 2:16 | ||
| Luna Rossa Challenge | Team Shosholoza | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:25 | ||
| BMW Oracle Racing | Victory Challenge | BMW Oracle Racing | 0:14 | ||
All races scheduled for May 3 were postponed to May 4 due to thunder storms.
Knock-out stage
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| Emirates Team New Zealand | 5 | |||||
| Desafío Español 2007 | 2 | |||||
| Emirates Team New Zealand | 5 | |||||
| Luna Rossa Challenge | 0 | |||||
| Luna Rossa Challenge | 5 | |||||
| BMW Oracle Racing | 1 | |||||
Semi-finals
As winner of the round-robin events Emirates Team New Zealand won the right to choose their opponent in the semi-finals and chose Desafío Español 2007. Hence BMW Oracle Racing raced against Luna Rossa Challenge in the other semi-final. The first team in each semi-final to win 5 races then qualified for the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Each pairing had raced against each other twice in the preceding round-robin events.
In their previous meetings, Emirates Team New Zealand had a 2–0 record against Desafío Español 2007 with winning margins of 1:12 and 0:43. In their semi-final competition Emirates Team New Zealand always led at the 1st mark and beat Desafío Español 2007 5–2, advancing to the finals.
Likewise, BMW Oracle Racing had a 2–0 record against Luna Rossa Challenge with winning margins of 0:06 and 0:19 but were comprehensively beaten 1–5 by Luna Rosa Challenge in their semi-final. Superior tactics by Luna Rossa Challenge in the pre-start sequences were a significant factor in their semi-final win. Luna Rossa Challenge advanced to face Emirates Team New Zealand in the finals.
| Date | Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Winner | Delta | Score | Timings | Race summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 14, 2007 | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 2:19 | 0–1 | Teams split tacks from the start and sailed to opposite sides of the race course. For most of the race the boats sailed well apart on very different courses but LRC took much better advantage of very variable wind patterns to win. | |
| May 14, 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:43 | 0–1 | ETNZ won the start and sailed a defensive race keeping a loose cover on DE2007 throughout the race. | |
| May 15, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:40 | 2–0 | ETNZ won the start and easily controlled the race throughout. | |
| May 15, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge | BMW Oracle Racing | BMW Oracle Racing | 0:13 | 1–1 | LRC was again strong in the pre-start manoeuvres, won the start and lead throughout until the last leg. A tense struggle resulted on the last downwind leg to the finish resulting in a win for BOR. | |
| May 16, 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Desafío Español 2007 | 1:14 | 1–2 | ETNZ incurred a penalty by not keeping clear when DE2007 was executing a gybe during the pre-start engagement. DE2007 lead at every mark and increased their lead on the final leg to the finish | |
| May 16, 2007 | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:31 | 1–2 | LRC again won the start and were 29 seconds ahead at the first mark and 49 seconds ahead at the final mark. BOR narrowed the gap slightly on the last leg race to the finish line. | |
| May 18, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:42 | 3–1 | ETNZ won the start and extended their lead as the race progressed. | |
| May 18, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:23 | 3–1 | LRC lead the race at each mark through to the finish. | |
| May 19, 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Emirates Team New Zealand | 1:49 | 1–4 | DE2007 was ahead at the start but a small wind-shift gave the advantage to ETNZ who extended their lead through to the finish. | |
| May 19, 2007 | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 1:57 | 1–4 | LRC won two penalties against BOR during the pre-start. The first a 'port and starboard' incident. The second penalty was given when BOR was bearing away and their stern touched LRC. | |
| May 20, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Desafío Español 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | 0:15 | 2–4 | Teams split tacks away from each other at the start. DE2007 narrowly lead when they came back together again and it was an extremely close race all the way to the finish. | |
| May 20, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:33 | 5–1 | BOR changed helmsmen for this final race but LRC were easily fastest away at the start and lead at each mark through to the finish. LRC qualified for the LVC final and BOR were eliminated. | |
| May 23, 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Emirates Team New Zealand | 1:18 | 2–5 | Race sailed in winds approaching 20 kts. ETNZ lead over the start line and extended their lead through to the finish. ETNZ qualified for the finals of the LVC and DE2007 were eliminated. | |
Final
The finals of the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup pitted Luna Rossa Challenge against Emirates Team New Zealand. Both boats had decisive results in the semi-finals, where Luna Rossa Challenge defeated BMW Oracle Racing 5–1, and Emirates Team New Zealand defeated Desafío Español 2007 5–2.
The two teams raced against each other in each of the two round robins. Luna Rossa Challenge won their race in round robin 1 on 26 April 2007 by 48 seconds. Emirates Team New Zealand won their race in round robin 2 on 7 May 2007 by 36 seconds.
Prior to the final, expert commentators were fairly unanimous that Emirates Team New Zealand were in top form but Luna Rossa Challenge had improved since the round robins as evidenced by their comprehensive beating of BMW Oracle Racing, one of the favourites, in their semi-final. In the best of 9 race final Emirates Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa Challenge 5–0. However to put this into context, Luna Rossa Challenge 'worst' defeat was in race 3 when Emirates Team New Zealand were only 0:1:38 seconds faster in a race lasting 1:35:37 i.e. a 1.71% performance advantage. In the other 4 races the performance margin was even smaller.
Luna Rossa Challenge won the toss prior to the first race of the final which gave them the advantage of entering the starting area from the "yellow" side.
In the results tables below, the team with the advantage of entering the starting area from the yellow side (entering from the right-hand side on starboard tack) is marked with . This is decided for the first race by the toss of a coin; then the advantage of starting from the yellow side alternates race by race.
| Date | Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Winner | Delta | Score | Timings | Race summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:08 | 1–0 | ETNZ led by 12 seconds at the 1st mark and only 8 seconds at the finish. A quote from the LVC organisers press release read, "high-quality match racing of the highest order, the outcome of the race decided on the tiniest of details." | |
| June 2, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:40 | 0–2 | ETNZ crossed the start line at full speed. LRC were squeezed to the right and forced to tack at slow speed away from ETNZ who then controlled the race through to the finish. | |
| June 3, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 1:38 | 3–0 | LRC won the start but ETNZ picked up a favourable wind shift to be ahead at the 1st mark and then extended their lead through to the finish. | |
| June 5, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:52 | 0–4 | A split-tack start, LRC was ahead at the 1st cross. At 2nd cross, LRC did not force their starboard advantage and tacked to leeward. ETNZ took LRC beyond the layline for the first mark, rounded 15 seconds ahead and were never threatened through to the finish. | |
| June 6, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:22 | 5–0 | LRC made a significant change from race four with longer wings on its keel in hopes of better upwind speed but with a penalty of more drag downwind. After remeasurement, both LRC boats did some quick testing. Race 5 began with LRC at full speed and a 1-second lead over ETNZ. However, by the first mark, ETNZ led by 20 seconds. The remainder of the race entailed LRC catching ETNZ but then dropping back. At one point in the last downwind leg LRC were within one boat length but dropped back before the finish. | |
References
See also
External links
- 32nd America's Cup Official Website
- Peter Lester NZ yachting commentator
- AC 32 Challenger Commission Official website of the Challenger Commission for the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia
- Team Alinghi Official website the America's Cup Defender
- BMW Oracle Racing Official website of Challenger of Record of the America's Cup
- BMW Oracle Racing Blog Tom Ehman's Insider Blog
- CupInfo.com America's Cup News and Information for 2007
- America's Cup News, articles & photos
- Valencia Sailing Website with original photos and commentary on all America's Cup related activity
- Cup In Europe web site Exhaustive information, photos and commentary in French.
- Coupe de l'America French website about the competition.
- Mariantic America's Cup News & Views
- 2007AC.com - America's Cup Forums
- South African team website
- The effect of the America's cup on the city of Valencia article at ErasmusPC
- Hundreds of Louis Vuitton Cup photos
- Lyn Hines Marine Marketing America's Cup and sailing news analysis and photos
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