Marseille: Meet the Sailing Stadium
 

September 1, 2004  (French Langauge Version Here)
 

photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi/ACM

This Louis Vuitton Act One will be a treat for spectators.

For the first time in Europe, fans will be able to compare hull shapes, appendages, and rigs on the Defender and his Challengers. From 9 am to 8 pm, the general audience will freely access the Official Village - the America's Cup Park - located on the J4 docks near the city's Vieux Port, and will follow the races on a giant screen, look at the famous 'Auld Mug'  trophy, or train on a grinding machine. There's no doubt the crowd will be here to watch the boats get in and out the water every day at around 9 am and 5 pm.

The show will be on the water too and spectators will fill the famous Corniche, as the race course will be located in the southern part of the bay of Marseille, known as the Rade Sud.

Recommended spots are the Corniche Napoule, the Prado, Roucas and Prophète beaches, the vallon de la Baudille and vallon de l'Oriol areas. There are a lot of different vantage points for this Sailing Stadium.

The teams have started training outside the Vieux-Port, and many spectators already enjoyed racing scenes featuring BMW-Oracle Racing, French K-Challenge, Le Defi, Swiss Defender Alinghi, Emirates Team New Zealand and South African Shosholoza.

That's it. The show has begun !