This is the only opportunity in 2007 to see all 12 teams of the 32nd America’s Cup racing together. After 6 April, the Defender Alinghi will train on its own, whilst the challengers battle for the Louis Vuitton Cup.
The 32nd America’s Cup adventure has already begun: the Louis Vuitton Acts have been played out in Marseilles in France, Malmö Skane in Sweden and Trapani in Italy as well as on the home waters of Valencia. The final Act, Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13, is also the first scene of 2007.
Among the most spectacular images of the 32nd America’s Cup is the sight of the full fleet of America’s Cup Class yachts, amounting to nearly 300-tonnes of carbon fibre, charging across the starting line, all battling for the same piece of water.
There are just four days of fast and furious action in which the 11 challengers have much at stake with triple ranking points on offer which they can cash in for bonus points in the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Eleven teams fight it out for four places in the Semi Finals. As early as 6 May, seven teams are eliminated.
This is the first ‘knock-out’ stage of the 32nd America’s Cup. From this point forward the competition is restricted to Match Races – head-to-head gladiatorial contests between two boats. The Louis Vuitton Cup begins with two Round Robins, where each team races every other team once.
This is the time when the top challengers will be desperate to avoid mistakes and consolidate their position at the top of the table. For the middle group of teams, the fight for the fourth and final spot in the Semi Finals will be an objective from the very first race.
And the bottom group of challengers play an important role here as well. Any upset win that they earn has the potential to send a better team home. Everything is at stake from the very first race.
The pressure intensifies as four teams fight to survive and race another day.
Who is among the final four of the 11 challengers? Have the favourites lived up to their promise or have there been some upsets? Whoever they are, the road does not get any easier, it just gets harder. There are no ‘easy’ races now.
The team at the top of the table after the Round Robins has won the right to select its opponent for the ‘first to five’ (best-of-nine) Semi Finals. The other two teams will be paired up as well. The two winners advance to the Final.
Each day there is one race for each pair of Semi Finalists. This phase of the event can last between just five days, in the case of a 5 – 0 sweep, or nine days, if it comes down to the last race.
The final phase of the challenger competition and just two teams remain. The winner takes home the Louis Vuitton Cup, and will have earned the right to face Alinghi in the 32nd America’s Cup Match.
This best-of-nine series could be over in five races, or perhaps, as in 2000, it might come down to a ninth and final race.
For the challengers as a group, the Louis Vuitton Cup Final is the culmination of four years of testing, training and racing, all in an effort to create one team capable of beating the Defender, Alinghi.
This system works; the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup has gone on to defeat the Defender in four of the six times the trophy has been awarded. Prior to the first Louis Vuitton Cup in 1983, the challenger had never beaten the Defender in America’s Cup racing spanning 132 years.
For two months the Defender, Alinghi, has been watching the challengers develop and get stronger through the Louis Vuitton Cup. Now it is time for Alinghi to show whether it has what it takes to hold on to the trophy.
Whilst the Challenger has been forged in the battles of the Louis Vuitton Cup, Alinghi has been intensely training and testing on its own in an effort to build enough speed and strength to retain the America’s Cup.
The 32nd America’s Cup Match is a ‘first to five’ (best-of-nine) series that will test the abilities of the two teams over a range of conditions. Consistency is the key here and the first day or two of racing is a critical indication of which team has the speed to succeed and capture the Cup.
The America’s Cup Match might be over after five races, in a 5 - 0 white-wash, or as in 1983, it may come down to a final race for glory.
VALENCIA LOUIS VUITTON ACT 13
