Alinghi wins by 1 second in a freak finish, July 3.

Race 7: Winds were about 16 knots at the warning gun. Contentious pre-start.
Leg 1: Starboard tack start, and a drag race out to the port layline, Alinghi close to windward of ETNZ, the boats were even almost to the meter. Alinghi tacked away to the right, Emirates waits a minute and follows. Alinghi now coming back, cross coming up, boats bounce back, Alinghi to the right, ETNZ to the left. They tried it again, both tack back, and a slight lift to ETNZ, lets ETNZ bounce Alinghi right again. Alinghi came back for the third time. NZL-92 leebows and forces them off. Alinghi tacked onto starboard again, but ETNZ kept on, possibly hoping for a well-timed lift. Another cross and Alinghi doesn't tack, a right shift has helped them. They went to the layline very close, ETNZ ahead, but unable to tack. NZL was squeezing them up, but the layline comes, and Alinghi tacks, ETNZ went too. Once on port, a big luff, looks good for ETNZ, but then they stall and Alinghi got away with 7 seconds around the top mark.

Leg 2: Off on port gybe, 57m margin, Alinghi was ahead. They sat for a few minutes, then ETNZ gybed away. A duel erupted. NZL-92 got on Alinghi's wind,.....AND PASSED! They headed for the gate. ETNZ went to the left gate, Alinghi right, a 14 second delta for New Zealand.

Leg 3: A tacking duel ensued, Alinghi gainied slightly. They settle out on starboard tack, near the layline, in the same position as Leg 1. ETNZ had a 30m lead, but the Swiss have the position. They came into the mark to dial down, Alinghi hunted ETNZ, and suddenly a penalty flag on yellow -- ETNZ -- for not keeping clear. 12 second delta for Alinghi, and ETNZ carrying a penalty. Things looked bad for New Zealand. They fllew a red protest flag.

Leg 4: More than halfway down the final leg. No change. Alinghi lead by 135m. POLE BROKE ON ALINGHI - WIND SHIFTED - THE RACE WAS UP FOR GRABS!!!!!!!

Alinghi got breeze back, ETNZ pulled into their penalty turn, ETNZ came out of it to dive for the line, Alinghi was coming fast and getting faster. Across the line the gap was a matter of feet, not meters. Everyone looked to the Race Committee for their call and...Alinghi won! Alinghi has defended the America's Cup.

Official delta was a one-second win, closer than 1992's three second finish. But the drama in this one defied comprehension, defied reality nearly. Off the charts! Through the roof! Somewhere into orbit. A crusher for anybody rooting for ETNZ. A nailbiter for any Alinghi fans. And a finish never to be forgotten. Wow!

HERE'S HOW IT WAS COVERED IN EUROPE SCUTTLEBUTT 21263:

ALINGHI WINS THE 32ND AMERICA'S CUP...BY ONE SECOND!
Alinghi won the 32nd America's Cup on Tuesday afternoon on the waters off Valencia. The Swiss Defender won its fourth consecutive race in dramatic fashion, by just one second, to win the Match 5-2.

This final race of the America's Cup was befitting of what has been the closest, most exciting America's Cup in recent history. Emirates Team New Zealand spent much of the race ahead on the advantage line, but with Alinghi in strong tactical position on the right hand side of the race course. The Kiwis were never able to get a big enough lead to cross ahead and switch sides.

After making a pass on the first run and leading through the leeward gate by 14 seconds, Emirates Team New Zealand again found it couldn't get across the bow of SUI 100 on the second upwind leg.

With both boats approaching the top mark separated by just a few metres, the Kiwis, approaching from the left on port tack, faced Alinghi roaring in on the privileged starboard tack. Both boats went into a 'dial-down' and the Umpires penalised the port tack NZL 92 crew for not keeping clear of Alinghi. That, effectively, was the race. Alinghi rounded the top mark ahead by 12 seconds and looked secure for the win.

But then, an enormous windshift saw Emirates Team New Zealand able to lay finishing line which was now upwind. As Alinghi struggled to drop its spinnaker, the Kiwis turned into tack to fulfil its penalty obligation. Now downspeed, the Kiwis could only watch in horror as Alinghi slid across the line, just one second ahead.

It was a perfect day for racing on the waters off Valencia, with the bright, warm, Valencian sun generating a strong 14 to 17 knot sea breeze until the final moments of the race. -- http://www.americascup.com

* There is no doubt that Alinghi won this contest fair and square. Every race was up for grabs, the boats were very even in speed, the breaks went both ways, and all seven races were a joy to watch. Alinghi just had a little extra of everything when it counted and that was the difference. It will be a long time before Emirates Team New Zealand recovers. But when Kiwis do regroup watch out because they will be strong again.

Every amateur and professional sailing tactician in the world will have an opinion on the incident approaching the second windward mark of Race 7. It is a shame that the cameras did not capture the action from directly overhead. That was the only view that would ever solve the big question of whether or not there was a foul. Of course, the only thing that counts is the ruling by the on-the-water umpires. Unlike all the other races, I was not present in Valencia so I was at the mercy of the replay camera and 3 D graphic rendering. Based on those views I think New Zealand was very much at risk diving below Alinghi. If Alinghi held a steady course then there was a foul. It looked to me like Alinghi would have sailed right through New Zealand. Alinghi's helmsman Ed Baird luffed hard at the appropriate moment to avoid a collision. I think the umpires made the correct call. -- Gary Jobson, see his full commentary on http://www.jobsonsailing.com

* Bizarrely, there was no joint press conference for winner and loser today. Just the winners - Alinghi. I wonder why. Perhaps there was a clue in Ernesto Bertarelli's final comment in the winner's conference this afternoon.

"For us it was coming out alive or dead, and we came out of it alive with our leather shorts and our edelweiss, cuckoo clocks and chocolate factories. I think what Alinghi is a lot of what Switzerland is: a country in the middle of Europe which has had to survive; has had to deal with with its bigger neighbours; has had to be open to different cultures; three different cultures; welcomes foreigners who have contributed to the country and to its culture; a country that looks forward, to its technology, doesn't have great natural resources, has to be inventive.

"I think the culture of Alinghi is a little like that. An open culture, friendly culture, very welcoming, bigger through diversity, and we certainly enjoy being able to meet and compete against people from different backgrounds and we would never lock anyone out of this competition. I never thought when we started, that we would be locked out of it. When I said that we were fighting for our survival, I didn't know how right I was, and here we are. Alive and kicking. And I'm looking forward to continue."

So, no love lost for the Kiwis there, then. In a half hour's press conference, there was no praise for the losing team forthcoming from Alinghi's representatives on stage - until TV journo Digby Fox prompted Ed Baird to give his appraisal of the Kiwi team. When Ed picked up his microphone, he looked like he'd been handed the poisoned chalice. "Well… I was going to pass that on to Brad because he has a lot more history there. I was part of the team in '95 when Brad was there as well. It's been amazing to watch the team grow and develop.

"Certainly the team that's now is substantially changed from that original group, but they're showing great strength and prowess on the race course. They developed good skills in every area to a very high level, and we're really proud to finish in front of them at this regatta. I'd like to congratulate them for really doing a great job. It's not an easy event, there's a lot of stress involved. At any moment disaster can strike. I think we've had two great competitors out there all week." -- Andy Rice in http://sailjuice.blogspot.com

* With less than a mile to go to the line, the big shift came. It almost came to the rescue of Team New Zealand, but that would have been too much. Alinghi deserved the victory.

It didn't deserve to treat Emirates Team New Zealand in the manner it did. At all other America's Cups, the victors and the vanquished have shared the stage at the final press conference, but Ernesto Bertarelli saw fit to meddle with this tradition and even to suggest that the Kiwis have a losers' press conference.

Despite the all-too-obvious handing of a challenge from the Desafio Espanol to the Societe Nautique de Geneve immediately after the race aboard Bertarelli's mega-yacht, Vava, the syndicate head refused to be drawn into any details.

Bertarelli promised that the Protocol for the 33rd America's Cup would be issued on Thursday, but would not even hint that it would be back in Valencia or in two years. He probably hasn't had sufficient financial commitment from the Valencian government to agree to hold the cup there once more. -- Bob Fisher in Sail-World.com, his full column at http://www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=35325

AMERICA'S CUP PHOTOS
Tonight we've added no less than four new albums from the final race and awards ceremony, from Gilles Martin-Raget ( http://www.martin-raget.com ), Oskar Kihlborg ( http://www.kihlborg.se ), Gilles Martin-Raget ( http://www.martin-raget.com ) and Ingrid Abery ( http://www.hotcapers.com ).

See the Eurobutt gallery at http://scuttlebutteurope.com/photos/

There's also some great shots of some AC crew sailing (and drooling over) the Moth "Bladerider" at Valencia, courtesy Thierry Martinez ( http://www.thmartinez.com ) in the Launchings section of the gallery.

The sailors had a bit of a run-in with a, shall we say, overzealous harbor policeman. That bit of theatre, and some very cool sailing is at http://www.alinghi.com/en/multimedia/video/index.php?video=12027&open=2

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Alinghi comes from behind and wins Race 6 for Match Point 4-2, June 30.

Race 6 Complete: Following a dial-up, ETNZ pulled off a nifty escape in the pre-start, gybed in front of Alinghi with no penalty. Starboard tack start, Kiwis to leeward, Swiss at the RC Boat end, and drag-raced toward the port layline. Good left shift came for ETNZ. ETNZ led by 14 seconds around the first mark.

Downwind, Alinghi was close and got a good wind shift. Eleven seconds at the bottom mark for ETNZ. The teams spilt the gates, ETNZ left, Alinghi right. Wind was soft and getting softer, under 9 knots. Both went hard toward the right corner, Alinghi closed up, tacking duel fought for position. The Swiss finally got a small lead and the boats go off together on starboard tack. Position gave SUI-100 a 16-second delta at the second windward mark.

NZL-92 didn't gain in the chase, but a gybe duel started to pay. A split drew them close, 20m, but there was no passing to be had. More splits, but nothing to gain from them, and the finish line came up too fast. Alinghi won Race 6 by 28 seconds to move within one win of the America's Cup.

---------------------------------------------------------------

ETNZ has spinnaker trouble; Alinghi makes it 3 - 2 in winning Race 5, June 29.

Wind about 14-15 knots. A pre-start chase into the spectator fleet, then back to the line. Split-tack start becames port tack drag race just after the gun, ETNZ to windward. Slight gains to Alinghi, but less than 1 boat length margin traded between them as they headed to the starboard layline in the best wind of the America's Cup regatta yet.

ETNZ tacked near the layline to consolidate and they continued up the first beat. ETNZ led by 12 seconds around the first mark, Alinghi chased after ETNZ downwind on port.

NZL-92's spinnaker blew out, Alinghi passes. Second spinnaker hoist got away without all lines and goes free flying. Third spinnaker went up, fought a bad wrap, and finally filled. #2 is cut away for the chase boat to recover, the lead ballooned to 200m for Alinghi, at the bottom mark. Somehow ETNZ is only back 0:25. Upwind Alinghi wnet right, ETNZ went left. ETNZ gained on the tacks, eventually they both went right chasing a right shift and greater pressure. Lead was down to about 70m, but time was running out. 24 second lead to Alinghi at the second windward mark, ETNZ chased Alinghi on the last leg, flying a symmetrical chute. NZL-92 makes dramatic gains, but ran out of race course, and the defender won with a delta of 19 seconds.

race and cross the line first, tying the match at 2-2.

Source: http://www.cupinfo.com/index.htm

-----------------------------------------------

Results: Alinghi makes it even - 2 All, June 27.

Starboard tack start, Alinghi was on the right. They sat there out to the layline, very even, tacked only once and continued to the mark. Alinghi rounded 20 seconds ahead and ETNZ chased them downwind. A few splits come back to nothing much, 34 seconds at the bottom mark, but New Zealand got separation on the third leg.

Lead ame down to 60m, and boats got into a tacking duel. Slight gains to Kiwis, but nothing huge, and the delta was 25 seconds at the second windward mark. ETNZ tried for some separation downwind, Alinghi doesn't give them much, and the lead stayed about the same. The Swiss held the New Zealanders in about the same position they been for most of the race and cross the line first, tying the match at 2-2.

Source: http://www.cupinfo.com/index.htm

---------------------------------
Results: Team New Zealand wins Race 3 for a 2-1 lead, June 26 - A Thrilling Cup Race Wire-to-Wire.

Racing was underway at 17:10. Split tack start, Alinghi left, ETNZ right. Right shift helped as ETNZ took the first cross, and had a 380m lead into the top mark. First windward delta wasd 1:23. Swiss carved into the downwind leg, closing to 1:02 at the first leeward mark. ETNZ rough edged on the spinnaker takedown - don't help to get a sail jammed in a jib block, and they were slow. Crossing upwind the lead was down to 50m. Three big crosses, leebows, and dial-downs on a dramatic leg and Alinghi got just ahead at the third mark, 15 seconds. ETNZ split and Alinghi let them go, Kiwis sailed into the coffin corner the Swiss hit yesterday. But today it works for the New Zealanders. Emirates passed Alinghi with the finish looming, and won a tense exciting race by 25 seconds!

Quotes:
Dean Phipps, Runner/Pitman, Alinghi: "Our main direction for the first beat was 110, I think we came to the line at 115. So our game plan for the pre-start was to be tight to leeward and go left. We crossed the line at 115, so we were happy where we were. The velocity just got a little larger and when we tacked we couldn't get to the right hand shift that the boys picked up."

Ray Davies, ETNZ: "We had actually decided about a minute out from when it turned to custard for us, and we wanted the right-hand gate. We were pretty good left-hand breeze, about 110 at the time, and decided to go for the right gate. As we were getting set up, literally, to start jibing, the breeze went right from 110 to 135 and all of a sudden we can't go to the right gate now, we have to take the left. It was just a terrible rounding to try and get the left gate from where we were. We were right on the dead upwind of it with not much room to play with and we wriggled round the mark, obviously losing a lot, but taking the massive bias on the line that was there."

Ray Davies, ETNZ: "The most significant [lead change] was the good job Alinghi did up the second beat noticing that the breeze was going left and chipping away at us and holding onto the left when they could. It could have gone either way. They did a good job of protecting the left at the top and actually passing us there. We felt pretty strong at that last intersection with the dial-down we did, and felt we were going to be able to control the race to the top mark from there. And they stuck to their guns and did a good job. The number of lead changes throughout the race? I can't can't that high, that's quite a few."

Adam Beashel, ETNZ, on calling the wind on the final leg: "We thought there was a little better pressure on our right-hand side. History tells us that late in the day of a delayed start that you can quite a late left-hand shift, and Ray [Davies] was emphasizing that very well, and it worked out very nicely for us."

Rodney Arden, Runner/Grinder, Alinghi, on not gybing back earlier as ETNZ made gains on the final leg: "There was a bit of discussion. Murray was up the rig, he thought it looked pretty even, if anything perhaps a little bit more pressure on the left. So we were pretty happy just to continue that way. The breeze was shifting a little bit for us, but nothing like it did over in the other corner where Team New Zealand were. So it was a difficult time. We were trying to find a spot to go back, but the opportunity never really came up so we just had to continue."

Asked Does the results reflect purely luck? : Rodney Arden, Runner/Grinder, Alinghi: "I don't know about luck, it's just the wind conditions, you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. I mean you know it's going to go left and you just leave a few minutes left on a layline, and as we were heading all the way down there on our starboard final run down to the finish, it just gets harder and hard to gybe the more it goes left, because we're just getting stuck in that corner. So it's just a matter of the wind shifting, and it's timing when it's shifting, and who ends up on top at the end."

Ray Davies, ETNZ: "Certainly there's luck involved, but there's also [that] the wind carried out how it has on many previous days like today, so there are certainly some patterns here as well."

More Reaction:
From Gary Jobson: "The lead changes were frequent and dramatic. This was one of the best races in the 156 year history of the America's Cup. And we are a long, long way from deciding the winner." Jobson Sailing

Juan Vila, Navigator, Alinghi: "The conditions were difficult for both teams. These fluky, light conditions make the outcome more random. We were behind at the beginning, got luck on our side and came back and then ended up behind, so it was a disappointment for us." Alinghi team web site

Source: http://www.cupinfo.com/index.htm

--------------------------

Results: Team New Zealand wins Race 2 - the teams are even, 2 All, June 24

Race 2 Complete: Dialup evaded by ETNZ. Similar start, both on port, ETNZ had the right. After tacking, the defender got the cross. Alinghi led by 19 seconds at the first windward mark. After several gybes, Alinghi sailed a bit too far right, ETNZ trimmed the delta down to 13 seconds at the first leeward mark. The teams split the gates. ETNZ got a split and a shift, good position, passed toward the upper part of the leg, and led 15 seconds around the second windward mark. Despite separation, ETNZ took the right, held them off downwind, and crossed the finish ahead of Alinghi, winning by 28 seconds, and evening the series at 1 point all.

The loss marks the end of Brad Butterworth's 16-race win streak dating back to 1995. This race is TNZ's first America's Cup win in seven years.

Quotes:
Brad Butterworth, Alinghi Skipper: "It was a real difficult day to sail being the boat ahead. It's nice being ahead, but even the run was a difficult run. We made quite a nice gain out of the top of the run, I think, and then things got quite a little bit strange at the bottom. When we came back we had to wait for a shift and so it pushed us down onto the layline into one of the marks. When we went around the bottom mark, the marks were even, we thought, but the boats were split. So really the race was all on."

"We would have loved to have probably gone 'round the same mark, in hindsight, but we were happy to around that mark and it turned out to be okay. It sort of got us a little bit out of phase further up the beat."

"The turning point of the race was that we probably got a little worried about the right-hand side of the course after they made a nice gain up that side initially, and then they sort of lost it as we got closer. Historically the right has been quite strong later in the day like that and it just turned out that it didn't, and when we came back together again, they were coming back in a real good left shift and pressure. And we just didn't quite put the boat in the right place, we should have just pushed the tack a little closer and the luff would have been a bit easier. But as it was they did a great job of coming in at a good moment, and ramped off us, and held us out to the layline, and that was the end."

---------------------------------
Results: Alinghi wins Race 1, June 23

ETNZ got the right as the teams started on starboard. Both boats were closely matched in speed, but ETNZ tacked first and Alinghi eked out a lead on a left shift and a small tacking duel, taking a 13 second delta at the first mark. ETNZ gained a little at first on the leeward leg, but got the short end of the bargain when they separated. A good choice at the gate kept ETNZ only 20 seconds behind at the first leeward mark. The lead narrowed down to 14 seconds at the second windward mark, but that was it. No gain downwind, instead the gap opened, and Alinghi led across the finish by 0:35.

Wind was around 12 knots, an oscillating NE breeze. Waves were choppy. Upwind boatspeeds were very even, downwind may favor Alinghi. NZL-92 handled the seas better than SUI-100, but the Swiss boat seems to gain in tacking exchanges. The start was not aggressive for either boat, ETNZ fell out of the dial-up first, Alinghi chased, but both came back to the line at speed without much incident. Both teams pinned Alinghi's advantage on the defender getting a crucial wind shift call correct.

Post-Race Quotes: Dean Barker, Skipper, ETNZ, asked what felt different compared to the start of the 2003 America's Cup: "Well, it's nice to finish the race."

Juan Vila, Navigator, Alinghi: "At the start our call was for an even course, or, if something, the left could be favored up the beat. So we were happy to start to leeward of our opponents and it was very close at the beginning for quite a while. Then they had to tack away, and as we tacked away with them we just had a nice left shift and that was probably the key of the first beat. From then on we just tried to close any possibilities from them coming on or passing us." Vila later elaborated that instead of a steady seabreeze, they saw an oscillating wind which trending to the right just before the start, so they were planning for it to come back left on the first beat and sailed accordingly.

------------------------------------------------------------- Challengers Finals Race 4:Tuesday, June 5

Emirates Team New Zealand beats Luna Rossa and leads LVC Final series 4-0

Emirates Team New Zealand closes in on the LV Cup with win number 4. Despite Luna Rossa getting off to an early lead and taking the first cross, a tack to leeward at the second cross provided ETNZ with an opening to take control. Luna Rossa trailed again at each mark and gained only on the final leg. Finish delta was 0:52. - Source: http://www.cupinfo.com/index.htm

Ray Davies, Strategist, Emirates Team New Zealand, on being confident on the left coming good: “We were confident that there would be more left to come than what we started off the line with. It was not a bad shift, and it was going to be a tricky day and shifty conditions. We were happy to start at pace but not with a huge amount. It didn’t go our way in the first half of the beat and Luna Rossa did a good job of sticking to their guns and got fully into that right hander. It was not a good first half for us.”

Ray Davies, Strategist, Emirates Team New Zealand, on the Italians tacking to leeward on the second time together: “I can understand their reasoning - it was a left-hander, and the way it played out I’m sure they would have done it differently in hindsight. They would have wanted to get back in phase and drag it out to the layline. It was a pretty tough day; with the wind direction the left can be very strong at times. But today we got the first part wrong, and we got lucky from there. It shows that things can change quite dramatically. We can’t rule out anything with the fickle conditions we are having. It’s hard to make clever calls all the way up, and both teams made mistakes today.”

Don Cowie, Mainsheet Trimmer, Emirates Team New Zealand, on their boat’s acceleration out of tacks and gybes being the fundamental advantage: “It’s interesting, I’ve been telling the guys at the base that it’s called the ‘mainsail’ because it’s all about the main! They are finally catching on! I think we have a boat that goes quite nicely in those conditions, we are happy with the way it’s going - it tacks and gybes nicely. It’s definitely all about the way the mainsail’s trimmed!”

Torben Grael, Tactician, Luna Rossa Challenge, on not getting closer on the second cross: “We definitely could, but we felt we were on a leftie and wanted to defend the right side which we thought was good, and take which position we thought was safe. They hung out with a nice leftie with pressure and made a huge gain in a short period. From then on it was quite difficult for us to come back because we weren’t in a strong position to do so. It’s hard to predict those things - the right came, but it came late, and we couldn’t benefit from it. Knowing what happened now I would have got closer, but it’s a hard situation there, you have to decide right then on the information you have, and with what I had, I felt I was doing the right thing. I trust my weather team completely, we have done two Cups together, and we have a wonderful relationship. It’s up to us to use their calls and sometimes we use them right and sometimes we don’t.”

Torben Grael, Tactician, Luna Rossa Challenge, on the second cross being the turning point of the race: “We had a very good call from the weather team, we got what we wanted at the start - we had a big separation with a nice shift and only managed to get a small lead. They had very little separation, not a big shift but got a bigger cushion on us. It’s quite disappointing but they are sailing really well, there is not much we can say except congratulate them for sailing well.”

Jonathon Mckee, Mainsheet trimmer, Luna Rossa Challenge on changing conditions making a difference to come back into the series: “If there is anything obvious we would have tried it already and that is not ruling out that we might make a technical change - that certainly is a possibility. They are going well, especially in that wind range - they always have been fast in it, and it’s not a surprise to us. We seem to be a little bit more competitive with more wind that probably pays into our hands a little bit more but besides that they are sailing very well. Our hats off to them they have out-sailed us so far in this series and that is all you can say. We are not going out with a do or die strategy with our boat, with the wind conditions expected, but going out to sail smart and fast the way we have up to now. I don’t think you’re going to see a radical change in strategy or whole different approach. Obviously we haven’t won the races so far but that doesn’t mean we have sailed the wrong way.” - Source: http://www.americascup.com/en/news/detail.php?idIndex=0&idContent=25730&idRubr=32

Challengers Finals Race 3:

Sunday June 3

TURNING POINT: THE KIWIS GO 3-0 OVER THE ITALIANS
The key moment of the match took place in the last minute before the start. This was a great job from James Spithill, who used the starboard entry to control Dean Barker in a long dial up on port tack in 10 knots of sea breeze. Spithill matched every change in Emirates Team New Zealand pushing the situation to its limit until the last minute before the gun. Then, Luna Rossa built speed to come back below the starting line at the moment as Dean Barker engineered his escape by tacking onto starboard.

Finally, Luna Rossa sailed clear ahead on port tack back downwind to the line, and Barker had to wait for a critical decision to be taken by James Spithill between two options 40 seconds before the start:

Option 1 was to forget the weather call which was likely to protect the right side, by gybing first for a full speed start in the middle of the starting line, with a positive speed difference over his opponent who would be slower coming out of a tack;

Option 2 was to go deeper under the starting line before coming back to the line on time by tacking. The risk would be having an opponent with a tight leeward start at equal speed.

James Spithill and his team chose the first option and started four seconds ahead of NZL 92, with better boat speed. But to hammer the advantage home, the afterguard should have taken advantage of this 30 metre lead by tacking immediately to get over to the right, following the presumed weather call. If the Italians couldn't cross ahead of the Kiwis, they could have thrown in a leebow tack, forcing ETNZ into a downspeed tack, and increasing their advantage.

But Luna Rossa never tacked and as time ticked away, the Kiwis soon gained on the right and Luna Rossa would not have another opportunity to come back. The Emirates team flew too fast today. -- Thierry Peponnet

* I thought I just detected a glimmer of a smile on one of the faces of the crew of Emirates Team New Zealand as the Kiwis' boat crossed the finishing line to go 3-0 up in the Louis Vuitton Cup final. It may have just been one of self-satisfaction, and in that case it was thoroughly acceptable.

The crew had been flawless in every manoeuvre it made, through 21 tacks and 14 gybes, despite the pressure that Luna Rossa had applied at the start. This was a team on song and singing from the same hymn sheet on a Sunday. It was a performance of which the team could be proud.

Not that the job is complete, for by no means is this true - the history of the cup is littered with comeback performances and the Italians did that in 2000 when threatened by Paul Cayard in this same event, and what the same man did to the Kiwis in 1992, coming back from 4-1 down to beat the New Zealand Challenge by 5-3 after the Kiwis had been penalised a win for incorrectly using the bowsprit when gybing, is unforgettable.

Throughout the Luna Rossa camp the word is; 'It's not over, yet.' But, faced with the reality of ever increasing margins of defeat - eight seconds, 40 seconds and now 1:38 - the task becomes increasingly difficult. The overriding question is what has happened to the team that so conclusively despatched BMW Oracle in the semi-final? -- Bob Fisher in Sail-World.com, his full editorial at http://www.sail-world.com/UK/index.cfm?nid=34268

* No racing on Monday, the Louis Vuitton Cup finals resume with the fourth race on Tuesday.

Source: Scuttlebutt and http://www.americascup.com

Challengers Finals Race 2: Saturday June 2

Race 2 Results: ETNZ turned a small lead at the start into 25 seconds at the top mark. And then added 10 seconds more downwind. Things fell apart a bit more for LR on the second windward. ETNZ led by 0:39 heading into the last leg, and despite some attempts at separation, LR ITA-94 crossed the finish 0:40 behind NZL-92. Winds were 11-13 knots ESE to SE.

Quotes: Joe Newton, Trimmer, Luna Rossa: Asked whether ETNZ showed more speed upwind, Leg 3 in particular: "We think the boats are pretty even. They had a pretty good advantage by that point, so we were trying to get some separation and get away from them and to find a little shift, but it never really came and we were forced to tack in a few spots we didn't like, and they took a gain up at the top."

"The Kiwis did a really nice job of staying in front while staying in phase and turned that into a little bit of a bigger lead."

Ray Davies, Strategist, ETNZ: "Dean did a really good job, basically. He made it very tough for Luna Rossa to get back to the start line. And Luna Rossa obviously wanted to get to the right of us. Dean reacted very well there and made it very tough for them. So therefore they started downspeed and we had a good rumble on and were able to tack quite early. We were then able to protect the windward side of Luna Rossa all the way across to the right hand side, and we were making little gains there being to the left of them."

Challengers Finals Race 1: Friday June 1

Friday Results: ETNZ grabs it ! 1:0 and nothing in it.

Expectations for a close contest were met, and sailing fans worldwide rewarded by the opening match between Finalists Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) and Luna Rossa (ITA-94). Very tight match racing as the kiwis were able to clang on their lead despite the Italian boat showing a lot of speed.

Starting on the right side of their opponent, the New Zealand team patiently waited for their starboard advantage to pay, and ended up rounding the first mark with 12 seconds lead over Luna Rossa. The Italians were able to gain a little bit on the first run, and followed NZL-92 on the right side of the downwind gate, trailing by 9 seconds.

The second beat saw the two teams fight for the right side of the course, with Emirates Team New Zealand keeping their starboard advantage all the way up to the mark. Despite a persistent wind shift to the right which helped the kiwis increase their lead by a couple of seconds, the Italian showed great capacity to keep the game close enough to be in a passing position downwind. And Luna Rossa almost made it ! Finishing neck to neck, the two teams did not disappoint, delivering a breath-holding photo-finish as NZL-92 crossed ahead only eight seconds before ITA-94 to score the first point of the Louis Vuitton Finals.

Emirates Team New Zealand beats Luna Rossa by 0:08

TEAM MEMBERS:

Emirates Team New Zealand
Notable Yacht Designer: Marcelino Botin (ESP)
Spar builder: Southern Spars (NZL)
Helmsman: Dean Barker (NZL)
Tactician: Terry Hutchinson (USA)
Navigator: Kevin Hall (USA)
Floater: Grant Dalton (NZL)
Traveller/Up the mast: Adam Beashel (NZL)
Strategist: Ray Davies (NZL)
Mainsail Trimmer: Don Cowie (NZL)
Main Grinder: Chris Ward (NZL)
Runner /Pit: Tony Rae (NZL)
Trimmer Upwind: Grant Loretz (NZL)
Trimmer Downwind: James Dagg (NZL)
Grinder: Rob Waddell (NZL)
Grinder: Jono Mcbeth (NZL)
Pit: Barry Mckay (NZL)
Mast: Matt Mason (NZL)
Mid-Bow: Richard Meacham (NZL)
Bow: Jero Lomas (NZL)

Luna Rossa Challenge
Notable Yacht Designer: Bruce Nelson (USA)
Spar builder: Hall Spars (USA)
Helmsman: James Spithill (AUS)
Tactician: Torben Grael (BRA)
Navigator: Michele Ivaldi (ITA)
Skipper: Francesco de Angelis (ITA)
Traveller/Up the mast: Andy Horton (USA)
Afterguard: Ben Durham (AUS)
Mainsail Trimmer: Jonathan McKee (USA)
Main Grinder: Gilberto Nobili (ITA)
Runners: Magnus Augustson (SWE)
Trimmer: Joe Newton (AUS)
Trimmer: Christian Kamp (DEN)
Grinder: Emanuele Marino (ITA)
Grinder: Andrew Taylor (NZL)
Pitman: Simone de Mari (ITA)
Mast: Shannon Falcone (UK)
Mid-Bow: Max Sirena (ITA)
Bow: Alan Smith (NZL)

INTERVIEWS
Valencia Sailing talks to James Spithill of Luna Rossa:

Valencia Sailing: Let's start with the semifinals. Were you surprised to beat BMW Oracle by such a margin?

James Spithill: I was surprised with the score line. Honestly, we always thought it was going to go to the full nine races. When I was preparing and looking at the two teams, we both looked very strong and I could see no reason why it shouldn't go to the nine races. So my answer is yes, we were surprised but the score line doesn't represent how close racing was.

Valencia Sailing: Without any doubt, your very successful prestarts played a very important role in your victories against BMW Oracle. Don't you think you sometimes took too much risk for an America's Cup boat and race?

James Spithill: No, because this is what we have been doing in house. The only reason we were really able to go out and push hard with confidence is because we had been pushing very hard with our in-house racing. Philippe Presti and all the guys on ITA-86 have been pushing ITA-94 to the limit. In addition, they have been providing with lots of support during the races, such as analysis and spotting areas where we need to improve. Philippe Presti and Charlie McKee have done a fantastic job.

Valencia Sailing: Sure, but you lost your second semifinal race against BMW Oracle because of what a lot of people thought was Torben throwing a dice hoping to get lucky. Is he going to follow more conventional match racing tactics now?

James Spithill: When I look at my team and its tacticians, Charlie McKee and Torben Grael, I wouldn't want anyone else in the back of the boat calling tactics. They both are extremely good in their jobs and among the best in the world. One thing that has been satisfying to me is that we have been able to show we can play a lot of different styles in the game. We can play the read the wind, split, or we can play the tight match racing and go bow for bow. For us it's something we have been working on very hard and it's good to be able to show it. We will keep doing what we have been doing, keep training the same and not change anything.

Valencia Sailing: What is that you fear the most about the New Zealanders?

James Spithill: The fact that when I look carefully at them I don't see any weaknesses. I'm sure they feel the same when they look at us. For me it's just two teams that are extremely evenly matched and I'm sure we will see a real fight on the water.

Full interview at http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/
* Emirates Team New Zealand's Grant Dalton was interviewed on Murray Deaker's sports talk show on Newstalk ZB last Sunday afternoon between 5.00pm and 6.00pm(NZT).
v You can listen to it by clicking here:
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/thisweek/117.asx , then forward your media player about nine minutes into the recording where the interview begins. You can also fast forward through the commercials. It must run for almost 45 minutes. - Source: Scuttlebutt and it's references in these articles.

MORE SURPRISES IN STORE?
Since the first "unveiling day", when teams had to reveal their outboard secrets to the press, the public and their rivals, there has been little evidence of fundamental change in the basic design of the America's Cup boat. Events on the water, which have been compelling and unpredictable - Team China recorded their only victory of the round-robin series over BMW Oracle, for goodness sake - in equal measure, have proved that the margins on the drawing board have narrowed. The superb exhibition of seamanship by Luna Rossa over the past 10 days confirmed the shift in thinking. "It's down to good old-fashioned sailing," says Eddie Warden Owen, the British coach of the Desafio team. "Lost races aren't attributable to poor boat speed or lack of sailing ability. It's not a technological race any more. It's down to who dominates at the start and who reads the wind the best." On the evidence of the semi-finals, both of those elements will favour Luna Rossa. James Spithill, the young Australian at the helm of the former Prada team, so comprehensively outmanoeuvred and outpsyched Chris Dickson, his opposite number on BMW Oracle, that the New Zealander, one of the most experienced match-racers in the world, was removed from the boat for the final race. Depending on whom you believe, he resigned or was dismissed by owner Larry Ellison a few days after the defeat. Nobody was more surprised by the collapse than Warden Owen. "The ease of the Italians' victory surprised me, for sure, as did the ease with which James Spithill dominated Dickson," he says. "Whenever I've watched videos of the start, I've always watched Chris. He was the model of consistency and relaxation. But he completely lost the feeling for it and all sense of relaxation. Spithill never gave him room to breathe throughout the semi-final and the way he drew him into two penalties in that crucial race, that was a fantastic job. If Spithill can do the same to Dean Barker in the final, it could be the deciding factor." -- Andrew Longmore in The Times, full article at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/sailing/article1845448.ece --------------------------------------------------------------
End of the Semi finals
-----------------------------------------------------------------
AND THEN THERE WERE TWO The Louis Vuitton semi-final ended on a very different sort of day. It started off cloudy, cooler, blowing 18-20+ knots at the masthead, with a big lumpy sea. It was much more like an early summer day in the Hauraki Gulf than the Mediterranean, and the New Zealanders looked a lot more comfortable out in it. They finally crushed the spirited Spanish resistance, controlling the pre-start, shutting-out Desafio Espanol at the committee boat and extending on every leg to win by 1 minute 18 seconds. And so Emirates Team New Zealand goes through 5-2, to meet Luna Rossa in the Louis Vuitton Final on 1st June.

ETNZ had the committee boat entry, and Barker elected to dispense with the dial-up. He scooted behind Desafio and then headed deep into the pre-start box, eventually leading into a circle. Jablonski slammed it into a tighter turn and prevented the Kiwis from tacking to port, and we effectively had our dial-up, but way down in the box with three minutes to go. And with Desafio on the right, it looked like ETNZ had given up the advantage. But Jablonski had got himself too close, and as he became windward boat, the pressure came on. Desafio bailed out to the right, onto port tack first, but it was Barker and his trimmers that got the boat moving faster with a big jib backwind. Jablonski found himself with Barker on his tail and the Kiwi boat in control.

Barker was able to prevent Desafio from either tacking or gybing with some great boat-handling in tough conditions, and it may well be that Jablonski was struggling for control of his steed. The on-board audio picked up Desafio tactician John Cutler admitting defeat, and telling Jablonski to minimize the loss. And so the pair slowly eased their way out past the starboard tack layline for the committee boat, and Desafio eased out of the competition. -- Mark Chisnell, complete story: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php
http://markchisnell.blogspot.com/2007/05/and-then-there-were-two.html

Final results - Challenger trials
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 1-1-0-1-1-0-1-_-_ = 5 - WINNER
4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP) 0-0-1-0-0-1-0-_-_ = 2
=> Wednesday, Race 7 stats: Wind speed (14-18kts), Race length (01:18:19),
Total tacks/ gybes (ESP-12; NZL-10), Avg boat speed (ESP-11.025;
NZL-11.2) -- http://tinyurl.com/2trnju

2. BMW Oracle Racing (USA) 0-1-0-0-0-0-_-_-_ = 1
3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) 1-0-1-1-1-1-_-_-_ = 5 - WINNER
=> Sunday, Race 6 stats: Wind speed (12-15kts), Race length (01:22:34),
Total tacks/ gybes (ITA-30; USA-31), Avg boat speed (ITA-10.575;
USA-10.575) -- http://tinyurl.com/24oyq3

* Race schedule: Semi-final racing is now complete, with Emirates Team New Zealand to face Luna Rossa Challenge in the Louis Vuitton challenger finals beginning on Friday, June 1st. The finals will be a best of 9 series, with the first team to get 5 wins advancing to the America’s Cup match against defender Alinghi. -- Complete schedule:

EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND WINS, QUALIFIES FOR THE FINAL
Emirates Team New Zealand has qualified for the Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The Kiwis defeated Desafio Espanol 2007 on Wednesday afternoon to win their Semi Final series 5-2. The Emirates squad will face Luna Rossa Challenge in the Final beginning on 1 June.

Today's race took place in the most testing conditions seen to date at the Louis Vuitton Cup. Winds approaching 20 knots whipped up a swell of just over one metre, and the short, sharp waves tested both man and machine.

Emirates Team New Zealand led Desafio Espanol over the starting line and extended the rest of the way around the race course to claim the win and finish the series.

* So it's farewell to Desafio Espanol after the Kiwis romped away to a 500-metre victory, on a lumpy playing field that bore more resemblance to the Hauraki Gulf on a rough day than the more serene conditions we tend to associate with the Mediterranean.

As you watched the body language of the two teams when they crossed the line 1 minute 18 seconds apart, you could have been forgiven for thinking that it was the Spanish and not the laconic Kiwis who had won the day. There was not even a flicker of emotion as the New Zealanders booked their ticket into the Louis Vuitton Cup finals. Not that the Spanish were anything like as exuberant as on previous days, but there was still plenty of hugging and handshaking going on between the crew whose regatta had come to a sad but happy end.

The thing is, the Kiwis aren't in the entertainment business. The only form of entertainment appreciated by their demanding fans back home, is winning. Shows of exuberance seem to be interpreted as signs of weakness. When a question went up to Terry Hutchinson on the stage in the press conference about the lack of Kiwi emotion, Dean Barker sitting two seats away from me let off a 'harrumph', as if to say, 'what sort of question is that?' -- Andy Rice, http://www.sailjuice.blogspot.com/

The Louis Vuitton Cup finals begin Friday June 1.
http://www.americascup.com

THE COLLAPSE OF TEAM DICKO
After dominating the early rounds of the Louis Vuitton Cup, BMW Oracle Racing has finally sunk into Valencian waters. It was only 12 days ago that Gavin Brady declared at the end of the rounds robin that USA 98 was "formidable", a view shared by rivals and observers alike, and that Chris Dickson "was sailing better than I have ever seen.” Despite high expectations and the event's highest budget, the San Francisco-based team was was soundly defeated by Luna Rossa Challenge. So what could have happened to make the former invincible looking BMW Oracle look so eminently beatable?

According to Chris Dickson, the only reason of the Italian dominance is that Luna Rossa has taken a huge leap in performance. "The reason for our departure is that they have excelled this week", he said at last night’s press conference. "We were outclassed by Luna Rossa in a number of areas this week. If there was something glaringly obvious we’d have done something about it. They have been quietly building up and have grown a huge amount stronger. They have out-sailed us in many areas on the race course this week, they’ve had great speed upwind, enough speed downwind, started well, got those first wind shifts, made good tactical calls. That’s sport. They’ve done a fantastic job." -- Cup in Europe, read on for the complete analysis: http://www.cupineurope.com/NewsEN/2007/BMWOracle.htm

* Curmudgeon’s Comment: If Larry Ellison does participate in the next America’s Cup - as is rumored about - we suspect the changes he makes for the next campaign will reveal volumes regarding the problems he experienced in this cup. It is fair to say, though, that the changes will be at the top, and in the management structure. As one notable former America’s Cup campaigner discussed with Scuttlebutt over the past weekend, “Ultimately, Larry Ellison has to bear the responsibility for this campaign, as he chose Dickson to be his CEO. While Dickson may be respected, he is hardly "loved" by his employees. When he goes one way, they go the other, so it is hard to imagine them digging deep for someone so disliked.” Or as Paul Cayard noted about Dickson, “His personality and style of leadership is not conducive to garnering unconditional support. Can he rally the troupes to come back from 1:4? What is going to save him and BMW Oracle?” That question was answered last Sunday… nothing.

First team to win 5 races advances to challenger finals. The pairings are:
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 1-1-0-1-1-0-_-_-_ = 4
4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP) 0-0-1-0-0-1-_-_-_ = 2

2. BMW Oracle Racing (USA) 0-1-0-0-0-0-_-_-_ = 1
3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) 1-0-1-1-1-1-_-_-_ = 5 - WINNER
* Weather forecast: Monday saw clear skies with an easterly gradient breeze backing to northeast as the sea breeze took hold. Starting at 8-10 knots, building to 12-14 knots. The outlook for Tuesday expects the northeasterly breeze to continue, but with clouds moving in. Temperature at 23 degrees C (73 degrees F). -- http://tinyurl.com/29ve73

* Television schedule: Versus’ coverage of the Semi-Finals will consist of live coverage from 5:30–9:00 a.m. PDT, with replays from 9-11:30 p.m. and 1:30–4 p.m. PDT. -- http://www.versus.com/americascup

* Race schedule: The final set of semi-final race days is scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday, with Friday as a reserve day if needed. Note that semi-final racing will be complete as soon as either Emirates Team New Zealand or Desafío Español 2007 gains 5 wins, where the winner will then pair up with Luna Rossa Challenge in the challenger finals beginning on June http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php

-------------------------------------------------------------
End of Round Robin Two
-------------------------------------------------
Thursday, May 11, 2007 - Emirates Team New Zealand finished Round Robin Two of the Louis Vuitton Cup at the top of the table, with a win over BMW ORACLE Racing capping an unbeaten run in the second round. By finishing as the top challenger, the Kiwi team now has the right to choose its opponent for the Semi Finals.

BMW ORACLE Racing, Luna Rossa Challenge, and Desafio Espanol 2007 are the other Semi Finalists. The Semi Final portion of the Louis Vuitton Cup begins on Monday, 14 May.

* Skipper Dean Barker, representing the Round Robin leading Emirates Team New Zealand, has elected to race against Desafio Espanol 2007 in the Semi Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup. That means BMW ORACLE Racing will face Luna Rossa Challenge in the other pairing.

"It's great for us to race Emirates Team New Zealand," said Desafio Espanol skipper Karol Jablonski. "We are working on a few specific things to make the boat a bit faster and also on our strategy. But what you haven't done in two and half years, you're not going to do in the next two days."

The Semi Finals are a 'first to five' head-to-head series for each pairing. A race win is worth one point, and the first team in each pairing to earn five points goes through to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. No scoring is carried forward from previous stages of the event.

* Yachting World's Guide to the Louis Vuitton and America's Cup is now free to download... Just go to http://www.zinio.com/express2?issue=209263232

Tuesdsay - May 8, 2007 - On Tuesday afternoon, Desafio Espanol 2007 joined an elite group; the Spanish are the fourth team to qualify for the Semi Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup. When Emirates Team New Zealand beat Victory Challenge, the Swedes chances of advancing were erased.

Although the Spanish lost their match today to BMW ORACLE Racing, there was jubilation on board when the boat returned to Port America's Cup. A wild celebration at the dock ensued, with crew members being tossed into the water, and champagne sprayed over the team and the boat.

There is still one flight of racing left to complete Round Robin Two, and it will determine the top team at the conclusion of this stage of the event. BMW ORACLE Racing meets Emirates Team New Zealand on Wednesday, and the winner will lead the table and have the right to choose its Semi Final opponent.

* A feeling of invincibility is growing around USA 98. BMW Oracle seem very comfortable with their new boat, far more so than they ever were with USA 87. One of the lynchpins of the Americans' enormous design team, the Argentinean maverick Juan Kouyoumdjian, says he's very happy with the USA 98's performance compared with the Kiwis' boats for example.

Here's a comment about NZL 92 from an interview with Juan K on Kimball Livingston's blog. "At the risk of being wrong - we haven't sailed against them enough to really know - I'd say the boat lacks a touch of speed. That team can compensate with rigs, sails, sailing talent, but if you give that boat to any of the second-tier teams, you won't see them going any faster."
v Tactician Gavin Brady is pretty impressed too: "What I like about 98 is the effort the builders put in to building it, she's built down to the lightest tolerances ever seen, which maximises our stability."

Brady believes this is the best boat he's ever sailed on. "The first thing you do is you jump on a boat and work on minimising your weaknesses. It might have a really good fast mode or really high mode, but you don't often get both. The nice thing with 98 is she seems to have both.

"My feeling is, if I was racing 98, and asked myself how I'd exploit her, well, she's quite a formidable boat - she goes high, she goes low, she accelerates, she doesn't stall. She's an all-round nice boat. I've never seen it all come together before so nicely, the whole package, it's four years of a lot of money, a lot of development, good people." -- Andy Rice in his AC Blog, http://www.sailjuice.blogspot.com citing Kimball Livingston's: http://sailmagazine.blogspot.com

Wednesday's schedule:
Flight 11
1. Victory Challenge vs. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team
2. Desafio Espanol vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
3. BMW Oracle Racing vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
4. United Internet Team Germany vs. +39 Challenge
5. Areva Challenge vs. Team Shosholoza

Ranking after LVC RR2 Flight 10
1. BMW ORACLE Racing, 37
2. Emirates Team New Zealand, 36
3. Luna Rossa Challenge, 33
4. Desafio Espanol, 29
5. Victory Challenge, 26
6. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, 20
7. Team Shosholoza, 18
8. Areva Challenge, 17
9. +39 Challenge, 10
10. United Internet Team Germany, 5
11. China Team, 3

http://www.americascup.com

* Three photo albums from Tuesday's racing, courtesy Ingrid Abery, Oskar Kihlborg and Thierry Martinez in the Scuttlebutt Europe photo gallery: http://scuttlebutteurope.com/photos

Monday - May 7,2007 BMW ORACLE Racing retained its lead in the Louis Vuitton Cup round robins after winning a riveting pre-start battle against the Italian Mascalzone Latino Capitalia team in Valencia today.

All the action was in the pre-start, with skipper Chris Dickson making a hair-breadth judgment to hook USA 98's bow behind the transom of the Italian yacht and force them over the startline early. By the time Mascalzone Latino Capitalia had circled back to re-start the match, USA 98 had leaped away into an unassailable lead. -- Jane Eagleson

* Victory Challenge today took its fourth win in a row in the challenger's series, the Louis Vuitton Cup, by beating Desafio Espanol - by seven seconds. Thus there is still hope of reaching the semi-finals, with only two days remaining in the round robins. Tomorrow, Emirates Team New Zealand awaits. "I'm absolutely sure we can beat them," says Santiago Lange, traveller on Järv (SWE 96).

There is a restrained joy - and no victory celebrations - on the base after today's win against Desafio Espanol. Everyone knows that only the first of what may be the three toughest days in the team's history has been as successful as everyone predicted this morning.

Everyone knows that tomorrow's opponent, Emirates Team New Zealand, may be even harder and that yet another match remains for Victory Challenge on Wednesday, against Mascalzone Latino. Victories in both matches are necessary for Magnus Holmberg and his crew to have a chance of reaching the semi-finals.

To achieve that aim, Desafio Espanol must also lose its two remaining matches, against BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa Challenge. -- Bert Wilborg

* Another must-read from Bob Fisher, on the history (!) of Swedish/Spanish spinnaker 'run-ins' and today's racing at http://www.sail-world.com/nz/index.cfm?nid=33466
- Source: ScuttlebuttEurope

Tuesday's races:

Flight 10
1. China Team vs. +39 Challenge
2. United Internet Team Germany vs. Areva Challenge
3. Bye - Team Shosholoza
4. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
5. Victory Challenge vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
6. Desafio Espanol vs. BMW Oracle Racing

Ranking after LVC RR2 Flight 9
1. BMW ORACLE Racing, 35 points
2. Emirates Team New Zealand, 34
3. Luna Rossa Challenge, 31
4. Desafio Espanol, 29
5. Victory Challenge, 26
6. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, 20
7. Team Shosholoza, 18
8. Areva Challenge, 15
9. +39 Challenge, 8
10. United Internet Team Germany, 5
11. China Team, 3

http://www.americascup.com

SWEDISH MEATBALLS VS. SPANISH TAPAS
Valencia, 7 May 2007 - When the week began, the Swedish Victory Challenge found itself needing to win its remaining three matches in Round Robin Two to have any hope of qualifying for the Semi Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup. On Monday, the Swedes leapt over the first hurdle, by beating the team they are chasing, Desafío Español 2007. Each team now has two matches left. Any combination of either a Spanish win or Swedish loss will see the home Spanish in the Semi Final. In other matches, Emirates Team New Zealand stayed in the hunt to overhaul the top point getter, BMW Oracle Racing, with a win over Luna Rossa Challenge. BMW Oracle Racing is one point ahead, and will face the Kiwis on the final day, potentially with first place on the line. – Complete race report from Flight 9: http://tinyurl.com/yu62e7

Round Robin 2 - Flight 9
1. +39 Challenge beat Team Shosholoza by 0:50
2. Areva Challenge beat China Team by 3:03
4. BMW Oracle Racing beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team by 0:57
5. Victory Challenge beat Desafío Español 2007 by 0:07
6. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa Challenge by 0:36

Provisional Leaders (RR1 pts - Matches Sailed RR2 - Matches Won - Total Pts)
1. BMW Oracle Racing (USA 98) 21-8-7-35
2. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 18-8-8-34
3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 19-8-6-31
4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 17-8-6-29
5. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 14-8-6-26
6. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 14-8-3-20
7. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 12-9-3-18
8. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 9-8-3-15
9. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 6-8-1-8
10. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 3-8-1-5
11. China Team (CHN 95) 1-9-1-3
Note: 2 points are awarded for each match won.

* Must-see Tuesday: As we said about the Monday matches, kudos to the schedulers for their anticipation of saving the best for last. Of the five matches in Flight 10 on Tuesday, look for the final 2 to put some butts in the stands to see if Victory can continue their run, as they must beat Emirates Team New Zealand to stay alive in their semi-finals bid. If Victory wins, all eyes will then turn to the final match of the day, where a win by Desafío Español 2007 over BMW Oracle Racing will finally close the door on Victory. However, a loss by Victory will officially eliminate them, giving the Spanish the last semi-final slot regardless of the match result against the Americans. The remaining questions will then be whether Spanish helm Karol Jablonski uncorks the Cavas during the race, and how huge the party will be in Valencia later that night. -- Complete schedule: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php

NEARING THE END
Valencia, 6 May 2007 – Three teams are now secure in their position on the leaderboard at the Louis Vuitton Cup. On Saturday, BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa Challenge earned enough points to ensure the fifth place team couldn’t overhaul them. With its win on Sunday, Emirates Team New Zealand did the same. The fourth and final Semi Final spot is currently occupied by Desafío Español 2007, who earned a great win in front of a large weekend spectator fleet on Sunday.

The Spanish have won six of their seven Round Robin Two matches to build a five point cushion over Victory Challenge, which is the only remaining challenger with a mathematical chance to beat them. The Swedish team has three matches left, with six points available. If the Swedes lose one more race, or the Spanish team earns another victory, Desafío Español will have the coveted Semi-final berth. That doesn’t mean the remaining matches for the top teams are meaningless. Just two points separate first from third and the top finisher has the right to choose its opponent for the head to head Semi Final portion of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Flight 9 is scheduled for Monday.

Flight 9
1. +39 Challenge vs. Team Shosholoza
2. China Team vs. Areva Challenge
4. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team vs. BMW Oracle Racing
5. Victory Challenge vs. Desafío Español 2007
6. Luna Rossa Challenge vs. Emirates Team New Zealand

Provisional Leaders (RR1 pts - Matches Sailed RR2 - Matches Won - Total Pts)
1. BMW Oracle Racing (USA 98) 21-7-6-33
2. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 18-7-7-32
3. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 19-7-6-31
4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 17-7-6-29
5. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 14-7-5-24
6. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 14-7-3-20
7. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 12-8-3-18
8. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 9-7-2-13
9. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 6-7-0-6
10. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 3-8-1-5
11. China Team (CHN 95) 1-8-1-3
Note: 2 points are awarded for each match won.

* Must-see Monday: There is a lot riding on two of Monday’s matches, and kudos to the schedulers for maintaining high drama and interest. Victory must beat Desafío Español 2007 to stay alive, where a loss assures the Spanish the final slot in the Semi-finals. All eyes will then turn to the Luna Rossa Challenge vs. Emirates Team New Zealand match, which is a biggee in establishing the pecking order for these two semi-finalists. -- Complete schedule: http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php

* Regarding television coverage in Canada, ACM Media and Communications contact Peter Rusch reports that the contract is still being finalized with TSN. Says Rusch, “To the best of my knowledge, the plan is for them to run Semi Finals, Finals and Match, and highlights of other portions. However, the station is the only one who can provide programming details.” The website for TSN is http://www.tsn.ca

WINNING UGLY
Valencia, 2 May 2007 – At 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, the wind on the North Course was blowing out of the west at 19 knots. It looked like it was going to be a great day of racing. By 1 p.m., there was barely enough wind to ruffle the flags and it looked like the schedule would be further compressed by Valencia's oddest spring weather in years. Then a moderate, shifty southerly filled and two flights were completed. Of the 10 races, just one went to the underdog, but that doesn't begin to tell the story of the day. A more telling number is 75 percent, which is a conservative estimate at the amount of time BMW Oracle Racing trailed in its two races, both of which it won. Or how about eight of 10, which is the number of races decided by less than 62 seconds.

The one actual upset could have big ramifications. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia made the first major switch of the regatta, replacing helmsman Flavio Flavini with Cameron Dunn. After 5 straight losses, syndicate CEO Vincenzo Onorato decided he had to make a change. It paid off Wednesday, with a crucial win over Desafío Español. The Spanish still have a strong hold on fourth, but they can't afford any more mistakes. -- by Stuart Streuli, Sailing World, full story: http://tinyurl.com/22uo2w

Flight 3
1. Desafío Español 2007 beat Areva Challenge by 0:30
2. Emirates Team New Zealand beat +39 Challenge by 0:45
4. Luna Rossa Challenge beat United Internet Team Germany by 1:02
5. Victory Challenge beat China Team by 11:49
6. BMW Oracle Racing beat Team Shosholoza by 0:43
Bye - Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team
Flight 4 1. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team beat Desafío Español 2007 by 0:35
2. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Areva Challenge by 0:59
4. United Internet Team Germany beat China Team by 2:16
5. Luna Rossa Challenge beat. Team Shosholoza by 0:25
6. BMW Oracle Racing beat Victory Challenge by 0:14
Bye - +39 Challenge

* For complete details from Tuesday’s racing: http://tinyurl.com/28ahl2

Provisional Leaders (RR1 pts - Matches Sailed RR2 - Matches Won - Total Pts)
1. BMW Oracle Racing (USA 98) 21-4-3-27
1. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 19-4-4-27
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 18-3-3-24
4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 17-3-2-21
5. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 14-4-2-18
6. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 14-3-1-16
7. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 12-4-1-14
8. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 9-4-2-13
9. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 6-3-0-6
10. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 3-4-1-5
11. China Team (CHN 95) 1-4-1-3
Note: 2 points are awarded for each match won.

* See the complete schedule at
http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php

* Must-see Thursday: Only Flight 5 is on the schedule, but it is packed with a couple of kickers. Plan your work day around Race 2 with BMW Oracle Racing vs. Luna Rossa Challenge, and then later look for Thursday’s finale, Race 6 with Desafío Español 2007 vs. Emirates Team New Zealand.

* Eliminated: By the end of Round Robin Two, 7 of the 11 teams will be eliminated. However, for 3 teams, the math has already caught up with them. +39 Challenge (ITA 85), United Internet Team Germany (GER 89), and China Team (CHN 95) are now officially relegated to the spoiler role, as they can no longer gain enough points in RR2 to make it into the top 4.

TOO MUCH WIND SENDS YACHTS ASHORE
Valencia, Spain: After three weeks of disruption because of too little wind, today's racing was cancelled in Valencia because of too much wind. With winds constantly above 20 knots and gusting much higher, the Race Committees on both Louis Vuitton Cup courses sent the fleet ashore.

Quotes from Chris Bedford, BMW ORACLE Racing meteorologist: "The weather pattern we have been wanting to change for the past three weeks has, in fact, changed. What was driving the easterly gradient winds before was a low over Africa. Now we have a new low coming in off the Atlantic Ocean. A series of lows will be bothering us for the next few days with unstable winds - a mix of light and moderate conditions."

Bedford explained that the sea breeze battled to get going in the past three weeks because the gradient breeze was easterly, when it needed to be westerly to get the proper circulation going. Now the new situation has produced westerly gradient winds, but they are too strong. "I guess it is a case of beware what you wish for," said Bedford, who said the outlook for tomorrow was for less wind than today, but very unstable in direction.

* Is the Alinghi team about to implode? Whilst the challenger series is coming to a head, the Alinghi team have been very, very quiet but a persistent rumour has come into us via gossip@rule69blog.com from no less than five separate sources regarding the team going forward. The speculation arises from the signing of contracts for the next Cup cycle with Brad Butterworth, Simon Daubney and Warwick Jones allegedly and I quote from one: "not willing to negotiate beyond Valencia." It's no secret that team boss Ernesto Bertarelli is not the most popular of syndicate heads but if these three leave, who would want to be a part of a team that just had Jochen Schuemann as the boss with Ed Baird on the wheels? Exit visas are iminent methinks...

Could three of the tight-five be about to ditch the Swiss and fall in with a certain Mr. Coutts in Dubai or San Francisco in three years time? And will the likes of Phipps and Simmer be the next to stall on contract negotiations? The 'game' is hotting up... -- Magnus Wheatley in http://www.rule69blog.com

* Five losses in a row have seriously affected our morale, it would be wrong to deny. In today's sailing team meeting the burn from the losses was evident. However my men are not depressed but angry, with a real desire to recover and that is exactly the way I'd like them to be. We've also felt the fatigue from the last days. The Cup is a long and strenuous commitment, for this reason I have decided to change the helmsman, for tomorrow's race, from Flavio Favini to Cameron Dunn. We have very qualified and capable replacements and now is the time to make use of them.

I would like to thank all of those who have shown their affection and still believe in us: Mascalzone Latino is still very much alive! -- Vincenzo Onorato

* The Jury for the Louis Vuitton Cup has denied a request from Areva Challenge for redress.

The French team claimed it had properly completed its penalty turn and finished ahead of Team Shosholoza in Flight 11. At the time, the Race Committee scored Areva Challenge as not finishing.

At the hearing, Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio clearly stated that at no time was the entire Areva Challenge boat, FRA 93, on the course side of the finishing line, as it made its penalty turn around the finish pin, as required by the Racing Rules of Sailing.

In its decision, the Jury said: "From the evidence presented, the Jury is not satisfied that Areva Challenge sailed completely to the course side of the finishing line after completing its penalty. In cases where the judgement of the Race Committee is being questioned, the Jury needs clear and convincing evidence to reach a conclusion that the action of the Race Committee was improper. The evidence did not meet that standard. The request is denied."

* CupInfo.com has uploaded a quick and dirty layman's graphic to interpret the Areva / Shosholoza finish from end of last week. See http://cupinfo.com/en/lvc_arevapenalty_1.php

MAJOR UPSET
VALENCIA, Spain -- China Team upset Louis Vuitton Cup leader BMW Oracle Racing on Monday for its first win in America's Cup challengers series racing. BMW Oracle Racing was in control at the start and pinned the Chinese yacht out to the right behind its heel to build a 220-yard lead. But the Americans lost their headsail halfway on the first upwind lap. The CHN-95 sailed past the USA-98 before the headsail blew out again, forcing BMW Oracle Racing to finish the upwind legs with a single sail and allowing the Chinese to win with ease by 3 minutes, 5 seconds.

Ian Burns, BMW Oracle Racing design coordinator said, “We will remove the rig and do a thorough inspection overnight. Obviously, we will take remedial action to ensure this does not happen again. We had a similar problem in Act 13, but the two incidents happened in completely different circumstances. We will be ready to race tomorrow.“

That wasn’t the only upset of the form guide however. The French Areva Challenge, disappointed with its Round Robin One performance, went out and won its first two matches of Round Robin Two, while +39 Challenge suffered two devastating losses in matches that were desperately close right up until the finishing line.

Conditions on Monday were excellent for racing, with sea breezes of up to 15 knots on both race courses. The wind eased later in the day, but never dropped below 9 knots. -- Paul Logothetis, Associated Press Writer, http://tinyurl.com/3d8waa and the America’s Cup website http://www.americascup.com/en/ contributed to this coverage.

* Photographer Daniel Forster has provided Scuttlebutt with a glimpse of the action in Round Robin One of the Louis Vuitton Cup during the week of April 22-28, 2007, which includes a foul sequence of Areva and United Internet Team Germany. --
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/07/0430

Provisional Leaders
1. USA 98 BMW ORACLE Racing,23
1. ITA 94 Luna Rossa Challenge, 23
3. NZL 92 Emirates Team New Zealand, 20
4. ESP 97 Desafío Español 2007, 19
5. SWE 96 Victory Challenge, 16
6. ITA 99 Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, 14
6. RSA 83 Team Shosholoza, 14
8. FRA 93 Areva Challenge, 13
9. ITA 85 +39 Challenge, 6
10. GER 89 United Internet Team Germany, 3
10. CHN 95 China Team, 3

Note: Two points are awarded for each match won.

Flight 2
1. Team Shosholoza beat United Internet Team Germany by 1:23
2. China Team beat BMW ORACLE Racing by 3:15
3. Luna Rossa Challenge beat Victory Challenge by 0:27
4. Areva Challenge beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team by 2:06
5. Desafío Español 2007 beat +39 Challenge by 0:01

Flight 1
4. Emirates Team New Zealand beat Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, by 0:25
5. Areva Challenge beat +39 Challenge, by 1:11

Event website: http://www.americascup.com/en/


----------------------------------------------------------------
ROUND ROBIN 1 ENDS; ROUND ROBIN 2 IN REPORTS ABOVE
----------------------------------------------------------------


FICKLE WINDS RETURN
Valencia, 29 April 2007 – With the close of Round Robin 1 scheduled for Friday, the task proved to be too much for the wind, where spotty conditions permitted only four of the final ten races to be completed. The anticipated duels with Desafío Español 2007 going against BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa Challenge, and Emirates Team New Zealand vs. BMW Oracle Racing, would be delayed until Saturday. These showcase matches lived up to their billing, with the Spanish earning a split by taking one from BOR – their only loss of RR1 – and the Kiwis suffering another hit at the hands of the American entry. These results weighed heavily on the final standings of RR1, where the Spanish solidified their stake at the fourth slot, and the Luna Rossa squad vaulted up to the second position.

Round Robin 2, which has eleven more matches scheduled, will be the final series before the top four teams move on to the semi-finals. Due to the numerous postponements during RR1, the day off between rounds was removed, and RR2 began without delay on Sunday. However, the unstable weather system had not yet moved on, and only three of the five matches in Flight 1 were completed. With only one flight of matches scheduled each day in RR2, the postponed matches from Sunday will carry over to Monday, forcing some of the teams to sail two races to keep up with the schedule. For complete details from Sunday’s racing: http://tinyurl.com/2ljg2g

Flight 1
1. BMW Oracle Racing beat United Internet Team Germany by 3:17
2. Victory Challenge beat Team Shosholoza by 0:52
3. Luna Rossa Challenge beat China Team by 2:57
4. Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team - postponed
5. Areva Challenge vs. +39 Challenge - postponed

Provisional Leaders (RR1 pts - Matches Sailed RR2 - Matches Won - Total Pts)
1. BMW Oracle Racing (USA 98) 21-1-1-23
2. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 19-1-1-21
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 18-0-0-18
4. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 17-0-0-17
5. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 14-1-1-16
6. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 14-0-0-14
7. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 12-1-0-12
8. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 9-0-0-9
9. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 1-8-1-3
10. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 6-0-0-6
11. China Team (CHN 95) 1-1-0-1
Note: 2 points are awarded for each match won.

* See the complete schedule at
http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/program/calendrier.php
April 29, 2007 Feeble winds permitted racing on only one course as the second round-robin for the America's Cup challengers started Sunday.

This meant that Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing and James Spithill's Luna Rossa were the only big guns able to add more points to their total in their quest for a semi-final spot, leaving Emirates Team New Zealand another 24 hours to stew over Saturday's loss to BMW.

It was not just the fact that TNZ skipper Dean Barker was meek in the pre-start against Dickson, for Dickson made a bad error too, or that tactician Terry Hutchinson gave up a strong position to let BMW back into the race, but how the Kiwi team dealt with the loss that says the pre-series favourites know their momentum has been knocked backwards.

Barker did only post-race TV interviews. Of Hutchinson there was no sign, nor of TNZ head Grant Dalton.

It was left to Tony Rae to defend the decisions of others, which he did with honesty.

BMW crew member Jamie Gale said: "We had an incredibly strong position at the start but got a little bit greedy."

Honest about his skipper's error, Gale was withering about the tactics of the rival TNZ team: "It was a monumental error to give up the favoured side of the course and let us back in." -- Tim Jeffery in the Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/04/30/sosail30.xml

* A large spectator fleet on the north race course saw the first Flight of action in Round Robin Two of the Louis Vuitton Cup. A close battle between Shosholoza and Victory Challenge was the highlight of the day, although China Team had some surprises for Luna Rossa early in that match as well.

On the south race course, racing was postponed less than a minute before the start, when a large wind shift rolled over the race course. Unfortunately, the shift signalled a dying breeze, and racing had to be postponed for the day.

The top two teams at the conclusion of Round Robin One picked up where they left off as both BMW ORACLE Racing and Luna Rossa Challenge earned relatively straightforward wins on the day.

Ranking after Sunday's racing:
1. BMW ORACLE Racing, 23 points
2. Luna Rossa Challenge, 21
3. Emirates Team New Zealand, 18
4. Desafio Espanol, 17
5. Victory Challenge, 16
6. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, 14
7. Team Shosholoza, 12
8. Areva Challenge, 9
9. +39 Challenge, 6
10. United Internet Team Germany, 3 11. China Team, 1

Monday's Schedule:

1. Team Shosholoza vs. United Internet Team Germany
2. BMW Oracle Racing vs. China Team
3. Luna Rossa Challenge vs. Victory Challenge
4. +39 Challenge vs. Desafio Espanol 2007
5. Areva Challenge vs. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team

http://www.americascup.com BMW ORACLE REMAINS UNDEFEATED
April 26, 2007 - For the second consecutive day, good racing conditions blessed the waters off Port America's Cup in Valencia and two full flights of racing were completed. Conditions were ideal for America's Cup racing with winds up to 13 knots on the south race course and between six and 10 knots on the north race area.

BMW ORACLE Racing remains the only team to be undefeated at the Louis Vuitton Cup, today securing a win over Areva Challenge in Flight 7. The Americans are at the top of the table, one point ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand.

It was also a big day for the home team of Desafio Español who earned two wins to climb the leaderboard. The Spanish side made a nice passing move over Shosholoza in the last match of the day, diving inside the South African team around the windward mark to eke out a small advantage. The Spanish extended to win the race and move into fifth place overall.

Flights 8 and 9 of Round Robin One are scheduled on Thursday when a frontal system is expected to bring cloudy skies, the possibility of rain and an Easterly 10 knot breeze.

* They don't give up onboard +39, no matter the technical problems or the lack of training and testing on their ITA85, the international crew led by Iain Percy is struggling every day to try and get the best of these races. During the first one against the Swedes of Victory Challenge is the jib hook which to be blocked, with Gabriele Bruni who cuts his left hand while trying to solve the problem and has to leave the boat, substituted by Corrado Rossignoli. During the all-Italian match against Luna Rossa, just before the first upwind mark when +39 is leading for a few metres, it's the trim tab to get stuck.

"We wanted to tack and be to the starboard- explained the Spanish main trimmer Rafael Trujillo- but sadly the trim tab was blocked and we lost contact to Luna Rossa."

"With the new keel configuration the boat has certainly improved in performance upwind –added Swiss trimmer Christian Scherrer also known Blumi during the mixed zone- and the speed downwind is ok. Honestly, though, we had not enough time to know her reactions and that explains the fact that we can't have good starts."

And then the wind decreased progressively until it was a mere 5 knots, not the ideal intensity for +39. The result is another disappointing day, with no positive score to add to the results table of Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin 1. -- http://piu39challenge.it

* Bob Fisher reports from Valencia in Sail-World.com:
To watch Dean Barker behind the wheels of Emirates Team New Zealand in the pre-start of the match with Shosholoza was like watching a cat toy with a mouse.

Paolo Cian simply had no answer when the Kiwis came in with speed on starboard tack and left the resultant dial-up with pace while the South African boat floundered, trying to fall off on port tack.

Barker came back again and again, each time forcing Cian to go back on starboard with little or no way on the boat. It was a masterly performance and quite naturally, Emirates Team New Zealand was able to start on the right with pace and after a minute was a boat's length clear.

For excitement, there was a wait until the last race of the day – a 'put up or shut up' match between Desafio Espanol and Shosholoza. The pre-start was interesting enough, but Paolo Cian, having learned his lesson at the hands of Barker, nailed the committee boat end for Shosholoza as the breeze rose to 15 knots on the South course (interestingly, at the same time on the North course it was dropping to six knots).

Using the power of the right, Cian fought off repeated challenges of Karol Jablonski up the first leg to lead by six seconds, but a poor spinnaker hoist on the South African boat allowed the Spanish to pull off to leeward and establish an overlap. Jablonski and Cian battled down the run, but Desafio Espanol had the advantage and rounded the leeward mark 20 seconds ahead.

Could it be possible that there is even more wind tomorrow? Some of the teams' forecasters talk of it blowing the oysters off the rocks. Now, that would be a turn up for the book. -- Bob's full article at http://www.sail-world.com/news_std.cfm?Nid=33009&SRCID=3&RequestTimeOut=180

Ranking after RR1 Flight 7:

1. BMW ORACLE Racing, 15 points
2. Emirates Team New Zealand, 14
3. Luna Rossa Challenge, 13
4. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, 12
5. Desafio Espanol, 11
6. Victory Challenge, 10
7. Team Shosholoza, 8
8. Areva Challenge, 5
9. United Internet Team Germany, 3
10. +39 Challenge, 2
11. China Team, 1

Photos from today's racing, courtesy Oskar Kihlborg / Victory Challenge, at http://scuttlebutteurope.com/photos

Thursday's Schedule:

Flight 8
1. Desafio Espanol vs. United Internet Team Germany
2. Victory Challenge vs. Areva Challenge
3. China Team vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
4. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team vs. Team Shosholoza
5. BMW Oracle Racing vs. +39 Challenge

Flight 9
1. Desafio Espano vs. Victory Challenge
2. Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
3. Areva Challenge vs. China Team
4. Team Shosholoza vs. +39 Challenge
5. BMW Oracle Racing vs. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team

http://www.americascup.com

WIND (FINALLY) AND A BIG UPSET
April 24, 2007 - Sea breeze conditions returned to Valencia on Tuesday allowing two full flights of races to be completed at the Louis Vuitton Cup. There was plenty of action on the race course where the South African Team Shosholoza earned an impressive victory over Luna Rossa Challenge. The Italian Luna Rossa team began the day undefeated, but eventually lost both races on the day, dropping their second match of the afternoon to BMW ORACLE Racing.

By the end of racing on Tuesday, it was the American boat that would be at the top of the table, undefeated in five matches.

As expected, the battle to be included in the top four challengers is fierce. Only the top four will qualify to advance to the Semi Finals and three teams currently occupy that spot, with Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, Victory Challenge and Shosholoza all on 8 points from 3 Louis Vuitton Cup victories. The home team, Desafio Espanol 2007, sits one point further back.

* It was an incredible day for South Africa's Team Shosholoza in Valencia, Spain today. After three and a half years of gruelling racing and training Shosholoza finally pulled off the big one by slaying Italian giant Luna Rossa and then going on to take a second victory of the day off China team. The two magnificent wins have put Team Shosholoza fourth overall in a three way tie with the Italian Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team and Sweden's Victory Challenge after five flights of races in Round Robin 1 of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

Today's victory over Luna Rossa, a former Louis Vuitton Cup winner and the team that South Africa bought their first training boat from in March 2004, was greeted with roars and cheers at sea and on shore as phone calls, emails and text messages of congratulations poured in to the team's base in the Port America's Cup from both fans and opposition teams. The sailors were showered with champagne as they docked and smothered with hugs and kisses.

Of the crew of 17 on board Shosholoza today 13 are South Africans with no previous experience in the America's Cup as opposed to Luna Rossa who has a top drawer international crew with multiple AC experience and a stated budget of 90 million euros opposed to South Africa's 23. -- http://www.teamshosholoza.com

* I think things are going to deteriorate between America's Cup Management and the challengers pretty quickly. Another day or two lost and the challengers will be in quite a bit of trouble with their schedule. This is the first Cup where the challenger series is being run by an entity appointed by the defender. It used to be bad enough just having the Cup itself run by the defender. ACM's unwillingness to accommodate and cooperate with the challengers is terrible. It is their series after all. The point of the Louis Vuitton Cup is to select the challenger who will face Alinghi in the finals. How can you have that series controlled by a sister company to Alinghi? If things were going well and fair then it may be acceptable, but they are not. -- Paul Cayard, http://www.cayardsailing.com

* It's going to be chainsaw time (once again) down in the Luna Rossa shed this evening as the failings of Luna Rossa were brutally exposed by the South Africans in the first flight of the day today. Slab sides and a slightly dodgy sail programme saw Jimmy Spithill unable to claw back from a poor first leg and the South Africans held on for a very big 36 second win. An already fuming Bertelli will be apoplectic this evening...

Not known for his mild-mannered temperament, Patrizio Bertelli the boss of Prada and Luna Rossa syndicate head has been sticking up for the event he loves by taking the AC Management to task over their shocking running of the event. Rumour has it that he spent some 45 minutes dressing down playboy Alinghi head Ernie Bertarelli, demanding answers to the shambolic state of affairs. We lost one billionaire - Craig McCaw - after the last Cup will the AC Management scare away another in the form of Mr Bertelli? The sport and the event can't afford to lose such a great character... -- From Magnus Wheatley's decidedly edgy blog, http://rule69blog.com

* 'There is no Second' the Seahorse guide to the America's Cup is written by: Paul Cayard, Russell Coutts, Dennis Conner, Chris Dickson, Tim Jeffery, Tom Schnackenberg, Paul Bieker, Hamish Ross, John Bilger.

Scuttlebutt and her sister title Scuttlebutt Europe have been given exclusive access to 20,000 free digital preview copies of this title - download it fast, when the meter hits 20K the shutters will come down! Get your copy at http://www.seahorse.co.uk/americas/eu/

Current standings:

1. BMW Oracle Racing, 13 points
2. Emirates Team New Zealand, 10
3. Luna Rossa Challenge, 9
4. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, 8 4. Victory Challenge, 8
4. Team Shosholoza, 8
7. Desafio Espanol, 7
8. Areva Challenge, 5
9. United Internet Team Germany, 3
10. +39 Challenge, 2
11. China Team, 1

Race schedule for Wednesday:
Flight 6:
1. China Team vs. Desafio Espanol 2007
2. Team Shosholoza vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
3. Bye - BMW Oracle Racing
4. Areva Challenge vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
5. United Internet Team Germany vs. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team
6. +39 Challenge vs. Victory Challenge

Flight 7:
1. BMW Oracle Racing vs. Areva Challenge
2. Luna Rossa Challenge vs. +39 Challenge
3. Bye - Victory Challenge
4. United Internet Team Germany vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
5. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team vs. China Team
6. Desafio Espanol 2007 vs. Team Shosholoza

http://www.americascup.com

NEXT VERSE – SAME AS THE FIRST
(23 April, 2007 )Valencia, - Light conditibons continue over the waters off Valencia and on Monday, racing was postponed in Flights 4 and 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup (now 6 days postponed out of 8). It was a clear, bright, and sunny day, but the sunshine generated a weak sea breeze that battled the Northeasterly gradient wind to a stalemate. At altitude, the gradient wind was blowing onshore at up to 15 knots, but this only suppressed the circulation so vital to developing a strong sea breeze. On the day, winds never exceeded the seven-knot threshold that would allow fair racing on either race course and at 16:10 the Race Committee postponed racing for the day. Under the revised schedule for the Louis Vuitton Cup, the postponed flights of racing are rescheduled to Tuesday.

Matches scheduled for Tuesday
Flight 4
1. Areva Challenge vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
2. Desafío Español 2007 vs. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team
4. United Internet Team Germany vs. China Team
5. Team Shosholoza vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
6. Victory Challenge vs. BMW Oracle Racing

Flight 5
1. +39 Challenge vs. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team
2. Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Desafío Español 2007
4. Victory Challenge vs. United Internet Team Germany
5. Luna Rossa Challenge vs. BMW Oracle Racing
6. China Team vs. Team Shosholoza

Provisional Leaders (Bonus Pts - Matches Sailed - Matches Won - Total Pts)
1. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 98) 3-3-3- 9
1. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 3-3-3-9
3. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 2-2-2-6
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 4-2-1-6
3. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 2-3-2-6
6. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 3-2-1-5
6. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 1-3-2-5
8. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 2-3-1-4
9. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 2-2-0-2
10. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 1-2-0-1
10. China Team (CHN 95) 1-2-0-1
Note: 2 points are awarded for each match won.

(22 April, 2007) Valencia,- Sufficient winds on Friday finally allowed for the first 2 of the eleven flights in Round Robin 1 to be completed for the Louis Vuitton challenger series, which had suffered 4 consecutive days of postponement due to light and unstable winds. The prognosticators had been warning of upsets early and often among the challenger trials, and the truth in their words played out in the very first match between Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team (ITA) and Emirates Team New Zealand, where the former held advantage around the course for a narrow but sufficient 15 second win. The remaining matches on Friday played out as most expected, however, conditions on Saturday proved too light, so flights 3 and 4 were carried over to Sunday.

The light continued on Sunday but the gradient breeze proved just strong and stable enough to complete flight 3 only. Most matches within flight 3 concluded as expected, though BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa did find themselves needing to dig into their war chest for some ammo to gain the edge and the win in their respective races. As for surprises on Sunday, that award went to the Areva Challenge’s win over Desafío Español. The French underdogs led off the line, but were later overtaken until disaster struck on the Spanish boat, which lost the lead on the first run after breaking their spinnaker pole during a gybe. Although helmsman Karol Jablonski and his Spanish team caught up on the second beat, they were crippled by their broken pole on the run to the finish and Sebastien Col and has French team went on to secure an important win.

Matches scheduled for Monday

Flight 4
1. Areva Challenge vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
2. Desafío Español 2007 vs. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team
4. United Internet Team Germany vs. China Team
5. Team Shosholoza vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
6. Victory Challenge vs. BMW Oracle Racing
Flight 5 1. +39 Challenge vs. Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team
2. Emirates Team New Zealand vs. Desafío Español 2007
4. Victory Challenge vs. United Internet Team Germany
5. Luna Rossa Challenge vs. BMW Oracle Racing
6. China Team vs. Team Shosholoza
Provisional Leaders (Bonus Pts - Matches Sailed - Matches Won - Total Pts)
1. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 98) 3-3-3- 9
1. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 3-3-3-9
3. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 2-2-2-6
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 4-2-1-6
3. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 2-3-2-6
6. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 3-2-1-5
6. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 1-3-2-5
8. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 2-3-1-4
9. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 2-2-0-2
10. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 1-2-0-1
10. China Team (CHN 95) 1-2-0-1
Note: 2 points are awarded for each match won.
Source -- http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com

(April 19, 2007) NO BLOW... NO GO...
It's painful having to report that for the third consecutive day Valencia was windless and races had to be cancelled, once again. The weather was practically a repeat of Monday's and Tuesday's conditions and the breeze never went over 6 knots. As a result, the race committee decided to send everybody back to the Port at 4pm.

According to Chris Bedford, BMW Oracle meteorologist, this phenomenon is unusual but not atypical. In fact his team started collecting meteorological data on Valencia's water since 2004 and in that year there was a 5-day period early in May with extremely light winds, similar to the conditions we are experiencing since Monday. It's an unfortunate coincidence to have this period right at the beginning of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

Concerning Thursday his forecast is for light winds, much similar to today's conditions. He isn't "horribly" optimistic and if we are lucky we might have one race. Friday isn't extremely promising either but the weekend there will be some improvement.

The main reason behind phenomenon is the still small temperature differential between land and sea. Despite the seemingly summer conditions with blue and sunny skies, the land doesn't heat up sufficiently in order to create the thermal breeze. During the night the minimum temperature drops into single digits and sunshine isn't strong enough to raise land temperature to the desired level.

Today's races have been rescheduled, with Flight 5 taking place next Tuesday, 23 April. Since all reserve space has already been allocated in Round Robin 1, Flight 6 will now be the second flight of the first day of Round robin 2, exactly a week from now. -- Valencia Sailing, http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com

* Bob Fisher: The race schedule is now well off the pace and it will certainly mean that Round Robin 1 will be completed after the inviolate rest day next Tuesday, the day on which mode alterations can be made to any boat, or other boats substituted. So, some of Round Robin 1 races (and there is the threat of an increasing number) may take place with quite different boats to the earlier part of the round.

Then, the completion of Round Robin Two may necessitate more than one race being held each day, and if the round is not completed by May 7th, only those races that can affect the outcome of which four go into the semi-finals will be held. I can almost guarantee that one or other of the lawyers of a team that loses a race because of this crying 'Foul.'

Tomorrow morning that we should learn more about Public Interpretation number 22, the one concerning the possibility of canting keels. Ken McAlpine, the Technical Director of the America's Cup Class, who issued the interpretation last June, has agreed to meet the press. We live in hope that he will explain the interpretation fully, but understand that he cannot reveal the name of the team posing the questions. -- Bob's full article in Sail-World.com: http://www.sail-world.com/nz/index.cfm?nid=32730

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(April 16, 2007) LET THE WAITING BEGIN
Following a four year programme of racing across Europe, on Monday the first day of racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup was scheduled. For the first time, the challengers were sailing for their lives, with elimination looming after two Round Robins. But the weather didn’t fully cooperate. For the more than 50 thousand spectators in the AC Park on a holiday Monday, it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day; the first for weeks. But on the water, the wind needed for fair racing never materialised with a very light and unstable sea breeze teasing race officials and sailors alike. Racing was postponed with the teams remaining on the water all afternoon. Race Officers Peter Reggio and Harold Bennett held station until 16:50 when racing was called off for the day.

The postponed matches will be pushed to the first available racing slot, which is the Reserve Day on Friday. On Tuesday, racing is scheduled to continue with Flights Three and Four, as previously scheduled. -- Source: http://www.americascup.com/en/news/detail.php?idRubr=22&idContent=16095

Flight 3
1. Luna Rossa Challenge vs. United Internet Team Germany
2. Victory Challenge vs. China Team
3. BMW ORACLE Racing vs. Team Shosholoza
4. Areva Challenge vs. Desafío Español 2007
5. Emirates Team New Zealand vs. +39 Challenge
Bye - Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team

Flight 4

1. United Internet Team Germany vs. China Team
2. Team Shosholoza vs. Luna Rossa Challenge
3. Victory Challenge vs. BMW ORACLE Racing
4. Areva Challenge vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
5. Desafío Español 2007 vs. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team
Bye - +39 Challenge

Provisional Leaders (Bonus Pts - Matches Sailed - Matches Won - Total Pts)
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92) 4-0-0-4
2. BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 98) 3-0-0- 3
2. Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) 3-0-0-3
2. Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) 3-0-0-3
5. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99) 2-0-0-2
5. Victory Challenge (SWE 96) 2-0-0-2
5. Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) 2-0-0-2
5. +39 Challenge (ITA 85) 2-0-0-2
9. Areva Challenge (FRA 93) 1-0-0-1
9. United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) 1-0-0-1
9. China Team (CHN 95) 1-0-0-1