2006 - A critical year for the America's Cup teams
When we look back at the 32nd America’s Cup following the Match in June next year, it is very likely that the calendar year 2006 will be seen as the most important period for each of the 12 America’s Cup teams.
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It is in 2006 that the bigger teams designed and built their second race boats and this is the year when the smaller teams have built their only new boat. Training and testing days in 2006 will have been converted into extra speed on the race course in 2007. For many teams, the quality of their work in 2006 will determine their final destiny in 2007.
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2006 Louis Vuitton ACC Championship Ranking
The 2006 Louis Vuitton Acts were an opportunity for many of the teams to measure their progress. The winner of the 2006 Louis Vuitton ACC Championship, Emirates Team New Zealand, can point to hard fought battles against BMW ORACLE Racing, Luna Rossa and Alinghi in Act 12 as high notes on a successful season. Although tactician Terry Hutchinson was quick to point out that while winning is nice, it doesn’t mean too much, yet.
“For us, we feel very good about the progress that the team has made but we're also very mindful of the fact that Alinghi was sailing a three year old boat…It would be a huge mistake to look much beyond the fact that we beat a guy in a three year old boat, barely.”
Moving up
Similarly, South Africa’s Shosholoza (seventh on the season) and Italy’s Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (fifth on the season) performed much better in 2006 than they had in all the previous Louis Vuitton Acts. Both teams will look at 2006 as a launching pad for 2007.
Sweden’s Victory Challenge enjoyed two high points on the year. One was the signing of an important new sponsor. The other was a win over Alinghi in Louis Vuitton Act 12. Likewise, Desafío Español beat a top-four team for the first time in 2006. The Spanish triumphed over Luna Rossa in Louis Vuitton Act 10. The Swedish and Spanish teams will both need more of that type of success to advance further in 2007.
Looking past the results
On the other side of the ledger, United Internet Team Germany and China Team suffered through worse results in the Louis Vuitton Acts than they would have hoped for. But both teams can point to positive signs for their campaigns later in the year. And Italy’s +39 Challenge fought valiantly in the oldest boat in the fleet, but couldn’t post too many points on the board. A new boat in ITA 85 should help the Italians. A new boat will be a welcome arrival as well for Areva Challenge, who pushed hard, but couldn't finish an Act in 2006 in the top half of the fleet while sailing FRA 60.
For the Germans, the arrival and christening of GER 89, was a high point for the team. United Internet Team Germany felt it simply couldn’t compete with GER 72, and the new boat represents the hopes of the team for 2007.
"We can sail the boat, but we need a bit more horsepower."
Jesper Bank
“It seems we might not have stepped forward as much as the other teams in the middle order,” admitted a frustrated Jesper Bank, skipper of the German team, following a race in Louis Vuitton Act 12. “But our boat-handling has been going very well…We can sail the boat, but we need a bit more horsepower.”
The team received the boat too late to race in the 2006 Louis Vuitton Acts, but the Germans have been hard at work in Valencia since then, training, testing and tuning the new boat.
Similarly, China Team is hard at work building the first America’s Cup Class boat in China. The challenge the team has taken on in introducing the sport of sailing – at the very highest level no less! – to China, can not be overstated. Setting up the infrastructure to build an ACC yacht in China is no small task.
Currently, the team is wrapping up a September sailing camp in China where in addition to competing, it is demonstrating and explaining the America’s Cup to its home base. The team has recently announced a new sponsor, which will undoubtedly help it prepare better for next year.
Valencia and the Port America’s Cup
If 2005 was the year of the roadshow, with Louis Vuitton Acts in Valencia, Malmö-Skåne and Trapani, then 2006 was the year of the Port America’s Cup. All off the racing this season took place at ‘home’, and the newly completed Port America’s Cup proved to be a worthy venue to this superb event:
On Wednesday, 11 January, United Internet Team Germany becomes the first America’s Cup team to transit the new canal to the race area.
In March, the Port America’s Cup Marina is announced. The new project adds upwards of 600 new berths, and best of all, the slips are in the heart of the action. The first slips are ready in time for the 2006 Louis Vuitton Acts.
On the 11 May, the first day of Louis Vuitton Act 10, the Mayoress of Valencia, Rita Barberá, inaugurates the Port América's Cup, with visits to the new Marina, the Superyacht T, the America’s Cup Park and the Edificio Veles e Vents, including a new Louis Vuitton shop.
The America’s Cup Park, filled with animations, restaurants, cafés and shops is the new hot spot in town with the Louis Vuitton Acts providing a spectacular backdrop.
One year before the first race of the America’s Cup Match, June 23rd, a new exhibition opens in the Port. ‘There is no second. From America to Alinghi’ features 30 model replicas of all the winners or Defenders of the America’s Cup since 1851.
Nearly 500 000 visitors pour into the new America’s Cup Park in 2006, bringing total visitors from the 12 Louis Vuitton Acts to upwards of 1 570 000.
In September, the Edificio Veles e Vents is awarded ‘Overall Winner’ of the 2006 LEAF awards for design and architecture. David Chipperfield Architects and Barcelona-based b720 Arquitectos, worked on the Veles e Vents project.
On to 2007
Although racing ended at the beginning of July this year, the work for the 12 teams has only begun. From testing and training in Valencia, to building new boats in the country of their challenge, to competing in other classes and events around the world, each America’s Cup team has been hard at work since the last day of racing in Act 12. And this will continue through to the beginning of Louis Vuitton Act 13 on the 3rd April next year. Time is a precious resource in the America’s Cup, particularly so as the 2007 races loom ever closer.
Starting next week, we’re going to take an in-depth look at the 12 teams. We’ll examine their potential and point out any pitfalls that stand between them and a top performance in the racing next year. The series begins with China Team on 4th October.
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