2007 Louis Vuitton Cup

Last updated
7th Louis Vuitton Cup
Valencia, Spain
DateApril 25, 2007 – June 11, 2007
Winner Emirates Team New Zealand
LocationPort America's Cup, Valencia, Spain
Coordinates 39°28′N0°18.5′W / 39.467°N 0.3083°W / 39.467; -0.3083
Official website

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.

Contents

Luna Rossa Challenge (left) and Emirates Team New Zealand (right) during the finals of the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup (start of race 3) Louis vuitton cup 2007.png
Luna Rossa Challenge (left) and Emirates Team New Zealand (right) during the finals of the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup (start of race 3)

Teams

Team nameYacht clubCountryExternal linkSkipper/Helmsman [1]
Emirates Team New Zealand Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Dean Barker
BMW Oracle Racing Golden Gate Yacht Club Flag of the United States.svg  United States Chris Dickson
Luna Rossa Challenge Yacht Club Italiano Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Francesco de Angelis
James Spithill
Desafío Español 2007 Real Federación Española de Vela Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Karol Jabłoński
Victory Challenge Gamla Stans Yacht Sällskap Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Magnus Holmberg
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Vasco Vascotto
Team Shosholoza Royal Cape Yacht Club Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Mark Sadler
Ian Ainslie
Areva Challenge Cercle de la Voile de Paris Flag of France.svg  France Thierry Peponnet
+39 Challenge Circolo Vela Gargnano Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Iain Percy
United Internet Team Germany Deutscher Challenger Yacht Club Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Jesper Bank
China Team Qingdao International Yacht Club Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Pierre Mas

Team New Zealand

Managed by Grant Dalton and skippered by Dean Barker, the crew included Terry Hutchinson; navigator Kevin Hall; strategist Ray Davies; Adam Beashel; Barry Mckay; Tony Rae; Don Cowie; Chris Ward  ; Grant Loretz; Robert Salthouse; James Dagg; Rob Waddell; Andrew Hemmings; Jono McBeth; Matt Mason; Richard Meacham and Jeremy Lomas.

Ben Ainslie and Kelvin Harrap sailed the trial boat. [2]

BMW Oracle Racing

Skippered by Chris Dickson, the crew included Gavin Brady, Phil Jameson, Paul Westlake, [3] Scott Crawford, [4] Alberto Barovier, [5] Brad Webb, Brian MacInnes, [6] Joe Spooner, Ross Halcrow, Robbie Naismith, [7] Bertrand Pacé, Craig Monk, Carl Williams, [8] Peter Isler and owner Larry Ellison. [2]

Luna Rossa Challenge

Luna Rossa Challenge was led by Francesco de Angelis and helmsman James Spithill. The crew included Peter Gilmour, Francesco Bruni, mid-bowman Max Sirena, Emanuele Marino, Manuel Modena, Marco Montis, Benjamin Durham, Andy Horton, [9] Michele Cannoni, Gilberto Nobili, [6] Joey Newton, [6] Shannon Falcone, [6] Christian Kamp, Romolo Ranieri, Emanuele Marino, Andrew Taylor, Matteo Plazzi, [10] Simone de Mari, Massimo Gherarducci, Paolo Bassani, Alan Smith, [11] [12] and Olympians Torben Grael, Philippe Presti, Michele Ivaldi, Magnus Augustson and Charles and Jonathan McKee. [13] [14] [15]

Desafío Español 2007

Skippered by Luis Doreste, the boat was helmed by Karol Jabłoński and John Cutler was the teams tactician and technical director. The team was coached by Paul Cayard. [2]

Victory Challenge

Magnus Holmberg skippered Victory Challenge. The afterguard included Stefan Rahn, Santiago Lange, Thierry Fouchier, [16] and Morgan Larson. [2] The crew also included six members of the former GBR Challenge; traveller/strategist Neal McDonald, Simon Fisher, David Carr, Nik Pearson, Richard Sydenham and Ian Weighell. [17] Jeremy Scantlebury was the sailing team manager.

Mascalzone Latino

Vasco Vascotto was the skipper for Mascalzone Latino, which included helmsman Flavio Favini, Cameron Dunn, [18] Jes Gram-Hansen, [19] Andrea Pavan, [20] Chris Dougall, [21] Pierluigi De Felice, Giuseppe Brizzi, [22] Davide Scarpa, [23] Nacho Postigo, Giulio Giovanella and funder Vincenzo Onorato. [24]

Team Shosholoza

South Africa's first challenge, Team Shosholoza was skippered by Mark Sadler and Ian Ainslie. The crew included Italians Paolo Cian and Tommaso Chieffi. [2]

Areva Challenge

Managed by Dawn Riley, Areva Challenge was led by Thierry Peponnet and included Sebastien Col, Tanguy Cariou, Frederic Guilmin, Jean François Cuzon, [25] Jim Turner, [26] and Wade Morgan. [2]

+39 Challenge

From Italy, +39 Challenge included non-sailing skipper Luca Devoti, helmsman Iain Percy, and other Olympic competitors such as Rafael Trujillo and Ian Walker.

The rest of the crew was navigator Bruno Zirilli; afterguard Andrew Simpson; traveller Gabriele Bruni; runner Anthony Nossiter; trimmers Stefano Rizzi and Christian Scherrer; grinders Michele Gnutti, Chris Brittle and Pawel Bielecki; mast Alejandro Colla; mast/pitman Massimo Galli; sewerman Piero Romeo; mid-bowman Corrado Rossignoli; Andy Fethers; and bowman Jacek Wisoski.

Team Germany

United Internet Team Germany was skippered by Jesper Bank and included America's Cup veteran David Dellenbaugh. [2]

China Team

Pierre Mas was the skipper of China Team which had an alliance with Le Défi. Only two of the crew were Chinese. [2]

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 nameRacesWon Bonus pts. RR1 pts.RR2 pts.Total pts.Ranking
Emirates Team New Zealand 201741420381
BMW Oracle Racing 201731816372
Luna Rossa Challenge 201631616353
Desafío Español 2007 201331412294
Victory Challenge 201221212265
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team 20102128226
Team Shosholoza 2092108207
Areva Challenge 208188178
+39 Challenge 205246129
United Internet Team Germany 202122510
China Team 201102311

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. [27] +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.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaTimings
April 20, 2007 Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Emirates Team New Zealand Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team0:15
+39 Challenge Areva Challenge Areva Challenge1:09
United Internet Team Germany BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing2:00
Team Shosholoza Victory Challenge Victory Challenge0:46
China Team Luna Rossa Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge2:07
Desafío Español +39 Challenge Desafío Español2:45
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Areva Challenge Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team1:41
United Internet Team Germany Team Shosholoza Team Shosholoza1:10
China Team BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing4:36
Victory Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge1:07

All the scheduled races for April 21, 2007, were postponed by the race committee to April 22, 2007, due to light winds.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaTimings
April 22, 2007 Luna Rossa Challenge United Internet Team Germany Luna Rossa Challenge0:50
Victory Challenge China Team Victory Challenge3:50
BMW Oracle Racing Team Shosholoza BMW Oracle Racing0:47
Areva Challenge Desafío Español 2007 Areva Challenge2:06
Emirates Team New Zealand +39 Challenge Emirates Team New Zealand2:41

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.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaTimings
April 24, 2007 United Internet Team Germany China Team United Internet Team Germany4:01
Team Shosholoza Luna Rossa Challenge Team Shosholoza0:36
Victory Challenge BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing1:18
Areva Challenge Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand1:55
Desafío Español 2007 Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Desafío Español 20070:39
China Team Team Shosholoza Team Shosholoza2:05
Emirates Team New Zealand Desafío Español 2007 Emirates Team New Zealand1:12
Victory Challenge United Internet Team Germany Victory Challenge0:56
Luna Rossa Challenge BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing0:06
+39 Challenge Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team1:12
April 25, 2007 China Team Desafío Español 2007 Desafío Español 20072:01
Team Shosholoza Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand1:23
Areva Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge0:33
United Internet Team Germany Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team0:24
+39 Challenge Victory Challenge Victory Challenge0:55
BMW Oracle Racing Areva Challenge BMW Oracle Racing2:54
Luna Rossa Challenge +39 Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge1:22
United Internet Team Germany Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand1:03
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team China Team Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia TeamWithdrew-
Desafío Español 2007 Team Shosholoza Desafío Español 20070:57
April 26, 2007 Victory Challenge Areva Challenge Victory Challenge0:05
BMW Oracle Racing +39 Challenge BMW Oracle Racing2:14
Desafío Español 2007 United Internet Team Germany Desafío Español 20070:35
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Team Shosholoza Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team1:56
China Team Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New ZealandWithdrew-
Desafío Español 2007 Victory Challenge Desafío Español 20070:35
Emirates Team New Zealand Luna Rossa Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge0:48
Areva Challenge China Team Areva ChallengeWithdrew-
Team Shosholoza +39 Challenge Team Shosholoza0:26
BMW Oracle Racing Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team BMW Oracle Racing1:38
April 27, 2007 Areva Challenge United Internet Team Germany Areva Challenge1:09
+39 Challenge China Team +39 ChallengeWithdrew-
+39 Challenge United Internet Team Germany +39 Challenge0:57
Team Shosholoza Areva Challenge Team ShosholozaDNF

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.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaTimings
April 28, 2007 Luna Rossa Challenge Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Luna Rossa Challenge0:49
Emirates Team New Zealand Victory Challenge Emirates Team New Zealand1:42
BMW Oracle Racing Desafío Español 2007 Desafío Español 20071:00
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Victory Challenge Victory Challenge0:28
Luna Rossa Challenge Desafío Español 2007 Luna Rossa Challenge0:37
Emirates Team New Zealand BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing0:38

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.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaTimings
April 29, 2007 BMW Oracle Racing United Internet Team Germany BMW Oracle Racing3:17
Victory Challenge Team Shosholoza Victory Challenge0:52
Luna Rossa Challenge China Team Luna Rossa Challenge2:57

Some of the scheduled races for April 29, 2007 were postponed by the race committee until April 30, 2007, due to lack of wind.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaTimings
April 30, 2007 Team Shosholoza United Internet Team Germany Team Shosholoza1:23
BMW Oracle Racing China Team China Team3:15
Luna Rossa Challenge Victory Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge0:27
+39 Challenge Desafío Español 2007 Desafío Español 20070:10
Areva Challenge Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Areva Challenge2:06
Emirates Team New Zealand Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Emirates Team New Zealand0:25
Areva Challenge +39 Challenge Areva Challenge1:11

All races scheduled for May 1 were postponed to May 2 due to excessive wind.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaTimings
May 2, 2007 Desafío Español 2007 Areva Challenge Desafío Español 20070:30
+39 Challenge Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand0:45
United Internet Team Germany Luna Rossa Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge1:02
China Team Victory Challenge Victory Challenge11:49
Team Shosholoza BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing0:43
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Desafío Español 2007 A resail was ordered by the race committee--
Emirates Team New Zealand Areva Challenge Emirates Team New Zealand0:59
China Team United Internet Team Germany United Internet Team Germany2:16
Luna Rossa Challenge Team Shosholoza Luna Rossa Challenge0:25
BMW Oracle Racing Victory Challenge BMW Oracle Racing0:14

All races scheduled for May 3 were postponed to May 4 due to thunder storms.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaTimings
May 4, 2007 United Internet Team Germany Victory Challenge Victory Challenge1:18
BMW Oracle Racing Luna Rossa Challenge BMW Oracle Racing0:19
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team +39 Challenge Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team2:07
Team Shosholoza China Team Team Shosholoza2:01
Desafío Español 2007 Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand0:43
Luna Rossa Challenge Areva Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge1:16
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team United Internet Team Germany Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team0:34
Victory Challenge +39 Challenge Victory Challenge1:03
Desafío Español 2007 China Team Desafío Español 20073:45
Emirates Team New Zealand Team Shosholoza Emirates Team New Zealand0:29
May 5, 2007 China Team Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team2:22
Team Shosholoza Desafío Español 2007 Desafío Español 20070:47
Emirates Team New Zealand United Internet Team Germany Emirates Team New Zealand2:07
Areva Challenge BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing1:28
+39 Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge1:04
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Desafío Español 2007 Desafío Español 20070:35
May 6, 2007 United Internet Team Germany Desafío Español 2007 Desafío Español 20071:08
Team Shosholoza Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Team Shosholoza0:06
Emirates Team New Zealand China Team Emirates Team New Zealand3:02
Areva Challenge Victory Challenge Victory Challenge0:35
+39 Challenge BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing0:53
May 7, 2007 +39 Challenge Team Shosholoza +39 Challenge0:50
China Team Areva Challenge Areva Challenge3:03
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing0:57
Victory Challenge Desafío Español 2007 Victory Challenge0:07
Luna Rossa Challenge Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand0:36
May 8, 2007 China Team +39 Challenge +39 Challenge1:57
United Internet Team Germany Areva Challenge Areva Challenge0:35
Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Luna Rossa Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge0:07
Victory Challenge Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand0:34
Desafío Español 2007 BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing0:55
May 9, 2007 Victory Challenge Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team0:38
Desafío Español 2007 Luna Rossa Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge1:54
BMW Oracle Racing Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand1:34
United Internet Team Germany +39 Challenge +39 Challenge0:30
Areva Challenge Team Shosholoza Team Shosholoza0:14

Knock-out stage

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Flag of New Zealand.svg Emirates Team New Zealand 5
 
 
 
 Flag of Spain.svg Desafío Español 2007 2
 
 Flag of New Zealand.svg Emirates Team New Zealand 5
 
 
 
 Flag of Italy.svg Luna Rossa Challenge 0
 
 Flag of Italy.svg Luna Rossa Challenge 5
 
 
 Flag of the United States.svg 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.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaScoreTimingsRace summary
May 14, 2007 BMW Oracle Racing Luna Rossa Challenge Luna Rossa Challenge2:190–1 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 Zealand0:430–1 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 Zealand0:402–0 ETNZ won the start and easily controlled the race throughout.
May 15, 2007 Luna Rossa Challenge BMW Oracle Racing BMW Oracle Racing0:131–1 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 20071:141–2 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 Challenge0:311–2 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 Zealand0:423–1 ETNZ won the start and extended their lead as the race progressed.
May 18, 2007 Luna Rossa Challenge BMW Oracle Racing Luna Rossa Challenge0:233–1 LRC lead the race at each mark through to the finish.
May 19, 2007 Desafío Español 2007 Emirates Team New Zealand Emirates Team New Zealand1:491–4 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 Challenge1:571–4 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 20070:152–4 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 Challenge0:335–1 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 Zealand1:182–5 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 Solid yellow.svg . 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.

DateTeam 1 Solid blue.svg Team 2 Solid yellow.svg WinnerDeltaScoreTimingsRace summary
June 1, 2007 Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94)Emirates Team New Zealand0:081–0 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 Zealand0:400–2 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 Zealand1:383–0 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 Zealand0:520–4 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 Zealand0:225–0 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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 America's Cup</span> 35th staging of the Americas Cup yacht race

The 2017 America's Cup was the 35th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. The challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, won by a score of 7 to 1 over the defender, Oracle Team USA. It was held on the Great Sound in Bermuda from June 17 to June 26. The races were conducted using hydrofoiling AC50 America's Cup Class yachts, which are slightly larger than the AC45F yachts used in the 2015–16 America's Cup World Series.

The 2017 Louis Vuitton Challenger's Trophy was a sailing competition held to determine the challenger in the 2017 America's Cup.

Gavin Brady is a New Zealand sailor who has competed in the Summer Olympics and multiple America's Cups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Smith (sailor)</span> New Zealand sailor

Alan Philip Smith is a New Zealand sailor who has sailed at the Summer Olympics and in 8 America's Cup campaigns.

Shannon Falcone is a sailor who has competed in multiple America's Cups and Volvo Ocean Races.

Jamie Gale is a New Zealand sailor who has sailed in two Summer Olympics, the Volvo Ocean Race and multiple America's Cups.

Simone de Mari is an Italian sailor who has competed in multiple America's Cups.

References

  1. ↑ "America's Cup - 2007 Defender and Challengers: Teams - from CupInfo". Cupinfo.com. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fisher, Bob (14 April 2007). "Americas Cup: a team-by-team guide". The Guardian . Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  3. ↑ "PAUL "FLIPPER" WESTLAKE - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "SCOTT CRAWFORD - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "ALBERTO BAROVIER - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Oracle Team USA" . Retrieved 23 July 2017– via TVNZ.
  7. ↑ "Six of the best". April 15, 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2017– via PressReader.
  8. ↑ "McBeth: Not panic time yet". America's Cup. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "Scuttlebutt News: Armchair viewing of the 32nd America's Cup". archive.sailingscuttlebutt.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  10. ↑ Rossa, Luna. "Matteo Plazzi - Luna Rossa". www.lunarossachallenge.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "ALAN SMITH - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "Here are the America's Cup numbers and more . ."
  13. ↑ "America's Cup - Seattle seasoning adds spice to Italian crew". The Seattle Times . 1 June 2007.
  14. ↑ "America's Cup - Tech Tuesday - Philippe Presti on being a super-coach" . Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  15. ↑ "Two victories puts Luna Rossa into equal lead" . Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  16. ↑ "THIERRY FOUCHIER - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  17. ↑ "Neal McDonald joins Victory Challenge - Yachting World". 11 October 2006. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  18. ↑ "CAMERON DUNN - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  19. ↑ "JES GRAM-HANSEN - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  20. ↑ "ANDREA PAVAN - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  21. ↑ "CHRIS DOUGALL - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  22. ↑ "SANTINO BRIZZI - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  23. ↑ "DAVIDE SCARPA - Mascalzone Latino". www.mascalzonelatino.it. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  24. ↑ "Mascalzone Latino - America's Cup Challenger Candidate - 2007 Team Page". Cupinfo.com. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  25. ↑ "Pepponet Exits Areva Afterguard". www.sailingworld.com. 14 April 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  26. ↑ "Jim Turner". www.yachtingnz.org.nz. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  27. ↑ "Wakeboarding - Valencia". YouTube. 2007-04-23. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
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