America's Cup, become an expert in a few minutes

The 32 nd America’s Cup
What is the event:
A set of races (First to win 5 races wins the cup) between Swiss yacht Alinghi(The Defender) and a similar sailing yacht. (The Challenger,to be decided, it will be against the winner of the Louis Vuitton Challenge Cup). The races are over about 20kms and each race will take about 90 minutes.The races take place in the sea just off the coast at Valencia in Spain.

Four of the past six winners of the Louis Vuitton Cup have gone onto beat the Defender to claim the Cup
Where is the Cup taking place:
In the Mediterranean Sea just off the Spanish Coast (Valencia)

When:
From the 23rd June 2007 to early July (Louis Vuitton Cup from 16th Apr-12th June)

Racing:
The winner will be the 1st boat to win 5 races (best of 9 races) Each race will last about 90 minutes. Aprox 18 Nautical miles. The races will be over a number of days, usually 1 race per day,

Why Valencia:
“Alinghi” Swiss boat representing La Société Nautique of Geneva,(The Defender ) who won the Cup in 2003 had the right to decide when and where they would Defend the Cup.
What’s happening next (16-23 April ) Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robins. Each of the 11 challengers will competer against each other in a match race.

Where are the 11 challenging teams from?
3 From Italy,
1 From USA,
1 From NZ
1 From Spain
1 From France
1 From Sweden
1 From South Africa
1 From Germany
1 From China

3 countries are competing for the 1st time
South Africa- Shosholoza
Germany- United Internet team Germany
China- Team China

Louis Vuitton Cup - Boats used
Several Teams will be using their second baots in the Round Robins fro 16th April
Desafaio Espanol
Emirates Team New Zealand
BMW Oracle Racing
Mascalzone Latino Capitale

Boats
· Each of the boats are in principal privately funded.
· The budgets range from CHF 20- 200 million per team for the project.
· All yachts had to be constructed in their home country
· The sailors can be from any Nationality
· There has been no transfer market of sailors between teams (against the rules)
· There are strict rules governing the dimensions of the yachts, very similar principal to F1 Motor racing.
· The Yachts make up the “American Cup Class”. Dimensions decided in 1992 and we now have the 5th revision.
· Rough dimension
1. 24 m long-
2. Mast 32 m high,
3. Weight 24 Tonnes
4. Crew 17
5. Only powered by wind (sails) and human power (winches to hoist the sails)

Sails.
· Main sail 215 m sqr
· Genoa sail 170 m sqr
· Spinnaker 520 m sqr

General Stuff
1. The worlds oldest sailing trophy called the “Auld Mug”
2. First competed for in 1851 when the schooner “America” which had sailed over from New York especially, beat 14 of the finest British yachts in a race around the island of Cowes (which is just off the South coast of England),
3. Over the last 150 years many of the world’s most wealthy business men have been battling for “The Auld Mug” A silver plated trophy built by Garrards the Jewlers in London.
4. Since then 23 captains have won the Cup.
5. With Alinghi winning the Cup in Aukland in March 2003 (this was the first time the Americas cup came to Europe in 152 years) they had the right to decide where and when this would happen
6. 12 Teams – 11 Challengers plus the Defender (Alinghi) will be competing for the Cup
7. Anyone who fulfilled the entry criteria could enter a yacht. ie stacks of cash and a commitment to race an accredited yacht in the Louis Vuitton cup during the build up in 2004,2005,and 2006.

Challengers
The challengers can be roughly grouped into 3 levels.
Top teams who have a good chance of winning the Cup, Huge budgets,top crews and very experienced teams
1. Emirates team New Zealand (Top of the rankings in the Louis Vuitton Cup )
2. BMW Oracle Team (backed by Oracle’s Larry Ellison)
3. Luna Rossa Team (backed by Prada)

Middle Teams
Lacking the extra millions for research and top salaries to win.
· Desafio Espanol (Spain)
· Mascalzone Latino (Italy)
· Victory Challenge (Sweden)
· +39 Challenge (Italy)
· Areva Challenge (France)
. Shosholoza (South Africa)

Lower Teams
Lacking the experience and funds to make a serious challenge
· United Internet Team Germany
· China Team

Teams comprise 3 expert groups-
1. The Sailing Team,
2. The Design Team
3. The Construction Team.
Racing
The type of racing is called “Match racing”- 2 yachts sail against each other.

Match racing has three key segments,
· The pre-start – the five minute countdown to the start gun,
· The first leg – the section from the start gun to rounding the first mark about one sixth of the way into the course,
· The rest – from rounding the first mark of the course to crossing the finish line, the remaining five sixths of the distance.

The race
The 2 boats approach the starting line at maximum speed with the view of crossing it immediately after the start gun sounds. A false start results in an immediate penalty (the boat must makes a 270 degree turn) They then race to a windward mark about 4km away, this is rounded on the starboard side, the spinnakers are then hoisted as the boats race downwind back down to the start line completing a lap of the course. A second lap is then completed the winner crossing the start/finish line. The race distance varies depending on the weather conditions but is about 30kms and will take about 90 minutes to complete
Americas Cup Timings 2007

April 16-19, 21/22 Louis Vuitton Cup Round 1
Match racing of the challenging teams

Teams take forward bonus points that they earned from the Acts .
4pts- Emirates team New Zealand
3 pts BMW Oracle,Luna Rossa, Desafio Espanol
2 pts +39, Shosholoza, Victory Challenge,Mascalzone Latino,
1pt Areva,United Internet team Germany, China Team
All teams race against each other , the winning team gains 2 points

April 25-29th Louis Vuitton Cup Round 2
Match racing of the challenging teams

May 1-6 Louis Vuitton Cup Round 3
Match racing of the challenging teams
The top 4 teams from the Round Robins will go forward to the semi-finals.
The top team has the right to choose their opposition in the semis

May 18-20 Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Finals
Match racing of the challenging teams

May 22-24 Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Finals
Match racing of the challenging teams

June 1-3 Louis Vuitton Cup Final
Match racing of the challenging teams

June 5-6 Louis Vuitton Cup Final
Match racing of the challenging teams

June 23-24 Americas Cup
June 26-27 Americas Cup
June 29-30 Americas Cup
July 1 Americas Cup
July 3-4 Americas Cup