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Auckland, January 29, 2009
Auckland is known as the city of sails, a place where it’s quite credibly said that one person in three owns a sailboat. If you don’t own one yourself, chances are you are pretty good mates with someone who does. Add to all that sailing some killer rugby, something that occasionally resembles cricket, and a national wine industry that gets global accolades and you have one of the world’s great destinations. (In fact, the top two New Zealand exports could very well be wine and sailors – and not necessarily in that order). Six years have passed in Auckland since the end of Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup reign, defeated at the hands of the Swiss Alinghi. And much has happened in Cup annals since, most of which doesn’t need to be reiterated here. Suffice it to say that everyone is ecstatic to be back on the water. As the saying goes: Let’s Regatta! The new Louis Vuitton Pacific Series is the brainchild of Bruno Troublé, a French sailor who has long represented the luxury goods maker at the America’s Cup, championing support for the event for over 25 years until the company resigned from sponsoring their namesake Cup and the associated challenger selection series following the 2007 defense. It was Troublé and Emirates Team New Zealand’s Grant Dalton who engineered Louis Vuitton’s return to the elite yachting scene, albeit on a smaller scale the Louis Vuitton Cup. ETNZ offered their most recent America’s Cup boats for this match racing regatta to be held in their hometown. When the response was more than enthusiastic from teams around the world, BMW Oracle jumped in with an offer of their two boats, allowing an expanded number of teams to participate. The four boats have been standardized by a shore crew representing both teams, which also means that if they were still keeping secrets those are probably out of the bag for good. What’s on tap are two weeks of sheer unadulterated top-level yacht racing entertainment, with nearly all the major players in the same place for the first time since the last America's Cup ended with Alinghi’s successful defense in 2007. Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth are here, Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison are here, Luna Rossa, Emirates Team New Zealand, and plenty of media. Storylines are everywhere. BMW Oracle Racing, the only American entry, will have New Zealand legend Coutts at the helm, as James Spithill concentrates elsewhere on his multi-hull skills. Coutts will face former team mate and long-time friend Brad Butterworth, who together won the America’s Cup three times in a row. Kiwi Hamish Pepper joins BMW Oracle as tactician, coming off his recent Olympic experience in the Star class and a 2007 stint at Mascalzone, and will compete against ETNZ where he was in 2003 and 2000. And ETNZ, skippered by Dean Barker, will want to prove themselves against the two teams that now employ so much of their former talent.
Stars&Stripes veteran Peter Isler has joined the new British entry, Team Origin, as tactician behind skipper Ben Ainslie. Peter Holmberg, who sailed for Alinghi in 2007, will now face them at the helm of Luna Rossa. Another Cup regular, Gavin Brady, recently was announced as helmsman of the startup from Greece. World Match Racing Champion Ian Williams will drive for China Team in his first ACC experience. With equalized pairs of boats, this is the sort of match racing most top sailors savor. It gives them a chance to win based on their skills. The added degree of difficulty that comes with the technological dimensions of an America’s Cup campaign is not part of this occasion, and given the chance to start with equal boats, most top professionals are confident enough to enjoy the opportunity to match their skills against the competition head-to-head. That said, with match-ups rotating among equalized boats there are a lot fewer excuses to hide behind if the outcome is not pretty. The city of Auckland is alive with the sounds of Cup boats once again, the Viaduct Basin buzzing with activity that has not been seen here since the Cup was lost in 2003. With the America’s Cup future uncertain, what is known is that the next two weeks of south hemisphere summer will give fans something to talk about for quite some time. CupInfo looks forward to bringing you a look at the people, the action, and the atmosphere that should make this regatta memorable.
-- Reporting by Diane Swintal for CupInfo/©2009 CupInfo Links of Interest: Visit the Official LVPS Web Site |
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