announced they were coming to stake their claim on the Cup. Backed by Patrizio Bertelli of the Prada fashion house, the Italians would be back, as would three, strong, American challenges, including teams backed by Oracle software guru Larry Ellison, and a Pacific a Northwest team led by Craig McCaw and Paul Allen. Joining them were teams from France, Italy, Sweden, and for the first time in 16 years, Great
Britain, making another run at regaining that which they lost 151 years earlier. After four months of Round Robin and elimination rounds, the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Series came down to a nine-race Final between Ernesto Bertarelli’s Team Alinghi and Larry Ellison’s Oracle BMW Racing team. Both teams arrived at the Final with impressive records in the previous rounds, and the racing showed these two teams were evenly matched. Although the record was a 5-1 series win for Alinghi, the numbers belied how close the racing actually was.
Past Winners
watered down by too many pretenders vying to be the Defender, Sir Peter Blake’s crew declared there would be no defender selection series, and Team New Zealand focused on in-house training, taking advantage of a deep pool of young talent to push Coutts to the limit in training. At the same time, the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000 featured what has been described as perhaps the best two weeks of racing in the history of the America’s Cup. Italy’s Prada Challenge outlasted Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne, winning the best of nine series 5-4. Not only was the series close, but many of the races were sailed with the boats just metres apart, the lead changing hands over and over again. But Prada’s Luna Rossa, although battle-hardened, was no match for Team New Zealand. Skipper Russell Coutts staked the Kiwis to a quick 4-0 lead, equalling the record for most consecutive America’s Cup wins set by Charlie Barr 100 years earlier, before handing the wheel to understudy Dean Barker who promptly became the youngest skipper, at 26-years old, to win the America’s Cup. Team New Zealand looked to be so far ahead of the challengers that the America’s Cup appeared to be secure in the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron for a long time to come. But shortly after the win, Russell Coutts and many of his Team New Zealand stalwarts announced they were leaving to join a new team that had to be built from the ground up for Swiss Bio-Tech entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli. The first of the tycoons had struck, and a full-scale assault on New Zealand’s America’s Cup had been launched. Within months, in a scene reminiscent of an earlier era, many of the world’s most successful men
52 JUNE 2007 Arabian yachts
The battle to the win the Louis Vuitton Cup created a very strong Challenger, and set up a muchanticipated America’s Cup Match between Coutts and his old Team New Zealand understudy Dean Barker. Unfortunately for the Kiwis, Team New Zealand appeared ill prepared, and was no match for the men of Alinghi. Serious equipment problems and some poor race tactics allowed Alinghi to sweep the Match 5-0, and take the America’s Cup to Europe for the first time. TO EUROPE Shortly after winning the America’s Cup, the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) accepted a challenge from the Golden Gate Yacht Club, putting the wheels in motion for the 32nd America’s Cup. A new Protocol was issued, detailing the plans for the next event and outlining some of the changes. It was immediately clear that the move to Europe would mean a sea change for the America’s Cup. Taking advantage of what some perceived to be a problem, the SNG announced that it would take its time to decide upon a venue, drafting up a selection criteria that would ensure reliable sailing conditions. The nationality rules were abolished, freeing up teams to sign the best people, regardless of their passport, and rules on the transfer of technology from prior syndicates were eased to enable new teams access to old information. Most importantly, a new organising authority, AC Management, was created and charged with the task of overseeing all aspects of the 32nd America’s Cup, including the Challenger Selection Series. In short, a new era of the America’s Cup had dawned.
2003
Alinghi (Switzerland) beat NZL82 (New Zealand) 5-0 at Auckland.
2000
Team New Zealand beat Prada (Italy) 5-0 at Auckland.
1995
Black Magic (NZ) beat Young America (USA) 5-0 at San Diego.
1992
America3 (USA) beat Il Moro di Venezia (Italy) 4-1 at San Diego.
1988
Stars & Stripes (USA) beat KZ1(NZ) at San Diego.
1987
Stars & Stripes (USA) beat Kookaburra III (Australia) 4-0 at Fremantle.
1983
Australia II beat Liberty (USA) 4-3 at Newport.
1980
Freedom (USA) beat Australia 4-1 at Newport.
1977
Courageous (USA) beat Australia 4-0 at Newport.
1974
Courageous (USA) beat Southern Cross (Australia 4-0) at Newport.
1970
Intrepid (USA) beat Gretel II (Australia) 4-1 at Newport.
1964
Constellation (USA) beat Sovereign (UK) 4-0 at Newport.
1962
Weatherly (USA) beat Gretel (Australia) 4-1 at Newport.
1958
Columbia (USA) beat Sceptre (UK) 3-1 at Newport.
1937
Ranger (USA) beat Endeavour II (UK) 4-0 at Newport.
1934
Rainbow (USA) beat Endeavour (UK) 4-2 at Newport.
1930
Enterprise (USA) beat Shamrock V (Ireland) 4-0 at Newport.
1920
Resolute (USA) beat Shamrock IV (Ireland) 3-2 at Newport.
1903
Reliance (USA) beat Shamrock III (Ireland) 3-0 at Newport.
1901
Columbia (USA) beat Shamrock II (Ireland) 3-0 at Newport.
1899
Columbia (USA) beat Shamrock (Ireland) 3-0 at Newport.
1895
Defender (USA) beat Valkyrie III (UK) 3-0 at Newport.
1893
Vigilant (USA) beat Valkyrie II (UK) Britain 3-0 at Newport.
1887
Volunteer USA) beat Thistle (Scotland) 2-0 at Newport.
1886
Mayflower (USA) beat Galatea (UK) 2-0 at Newport.
1885
Puritan (USA) beat Genesta (UK) 2-0 at Newport.
1881
Mischief (USA) beat Atalanta (Canada) 4-1 at Newport.
1876
Madeline (USA) beat Countess of Dufferin (Canada) 2-0 at Newport.
1871
Columbia (USA) beat Livonia (UK) 4-1 at Newport.
1870
Magic (USA) beat Cambria (UK) 1-0 at Newport, Rhode Island.
1851
America (USA) beat Aurora, England (and a fleet of 13) 1-0 at Cowes.