Louis Vuitton Cup 2002 – 2003 Kicks Off
Let The Games Begin!
Louis Vuitton Cup races have kicked off on a blustery Hauraki Gulf today with nine challengers representing six
different countries (Italy, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA) competing to challenge New Zealand for the
Americas Cup.
The Round Robin race 1 details are:
Match 1 - Alinghi (SUI 64) - Le Defi (FRA 69)
Match 2 - Wight Lightning (GBR 70) - Stars & Stripes (USA 66)
Match 3 - Luna Rossa (ITA 74) - USA 76
Match 4 - Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72) - OneWorld (USA 67)
Off - Orn (SWE 63)
Prada won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000 and challenged Team New Zealand for the Americas Cup. Prada would be a popular
choice to again challenge for the Auld Mug.
The official draw for Round Robin One and Two took place yesterday at 8:30 am at the Louis Vuitton Media Centre. The
event took place in two phases. First each one of the skippers drew a number to define the order of the following draft.
Franceso de Angelis, skipper of Luna Rossa, drew number 7.Then each skipper drew a letter of the alphabet which allowed
the organizers to substitute, on the pairings table prepared in advance with letters as place holders, the actual names
of the corresponding boats. Francesco de Angelis drew the letter G. The race calendar for Round Robin One can be found
at the end of this release.
Once the draw was completed, the nine skippers from the challenging teams attended the first offical press conference of
this XXXI edition of the America's Cup. Francesco de Angelis said "It seems only yesterday that we were here for the
last America's Cup. We have worked very hard since then, starting again from scratch, without taking anything for
granted. Tomorrow finally the teams will meet on the water and we'll have the first results. We will face this new
series of races on a day by day basis, building progressively on the results we obtain."
The weather forecast for tomorrow is fairly good with Southwesterly winds 10 to 15 knots and cloudy skies, during the
course of the week the wind should shift to North-North East and increase to 15-20 knots with increasing clouds. Today
team Prada did not sail and completed the weigh-in required by the rules. The team then concentrated on the final
preparations to Luna Rossa together with their skipper and helmsman Francesco de Angelis.
During this first part of the challenger series each team will race every other team once. Starting tomorrow and until
October 14, including the "reserve" days used to recuperate races not sailed previously because of bad weather or other
reasons, the Race Comittee will start four atch races every day, two on the Romeo Race Course and two on the Juliet Race
Course. Every team will thus race once a day and, during the first Round Robin, will race every other team once,
totalling eight races. Each team will therefore have eight days of racing and one off day. The starting time for the
first race of the day is always at 12:15pm local time. The following races will start at ten minute intervals. The race
course will be a windward-leeward of 18.5 miles for a total of six legs. Three windward e three leeward legs, the first
and last leg being 3.25 miles and the remaining four 3.00 miles.
The race calendar is as follows.
OCTOBER 1 - RACE 1
Match 1 - Alinghi (SUI 64) - Le Defi (FRA 69)
Match 2 - Wight Lightning (GBR 70) - Stars & Stripes (USA 66)
Match 3 - Luna Rossa (ITA 74) - USA 76
Match 4 - Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72) - OneWorld (USA 67)
Off - Orn (SWE 63)
OCTOBER 2 - RACE 2
Match 1 - Stars & Stripes (USA 66) - Luna Rossa (ITA 74)
Match 2 - OneWorld (USA 67) - Alinghi (SUI 64)
Match 3 - USA 76 - Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72)
Match 4 - Orn (SWE 63) - Le Defi (FRA 69)
Off - Wight Lightning (GBR 70)
OCTOBER 3 - RACE 3
Match 1 - OneWorld (USA 67) - Wight Lightning (GBR 70)
Match 2 - Orn (SWE 63) - Stars & Stripes (USA 66)
Match 3 - Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72) - Alinghi (SUI 64)
Match 4 - Le Defi (FRA 69) - Luna Rossa (ITA 74)
Off - USA 76
OCTOBER 4- RACE 4
Match 1 - Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72) - Orn (SWE 63)
Match 2 - Luna Rossa (ITA 74) - Alinghi (SUI 64)
Match 3 - Le Defi (FRA 69) - Wight Lightning (GBR 70)
Match 4 - Stars & Stripes (USA 66) - USA 76
Off - OneWorld (USA 67)
OCTOBER 5- RACE 5
Match 1 - Alinghi (SUI 64) - Wight Lightning (GBR 70)
Match 2 - Stars & Stripes (USA 66) - OneWorld (USA 67)
Match 3 - USA 76 - Orn (SWE 63)
Match 4 - Luna Rossa (ITA 74) - Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72)
Off - Le Defi (FRA 69)
OCTOBER 6 - RESERVE DAY
OCTOBER 7- RACE 6
Match 1 - Le Defi (FRA 69) - Stars & Stripes (USA 66)
Match 2 - USA 76 - OneWorld (USA 67)
Match 3 - Orn (SWE 63) - Luna Rossa (ITA 74)
Match 4 - Wight Lightning (GBR 70) - Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72)
Off - Alinghi (SUI 64)
OCTOBER 8 - RACE 7
Match 1 - OneWorld (USA 67) - Orn (SWE 63)
Match 2 - Wight Lightning (GBR 70) - Luna Rossa (ITA 74)
Match 3 - Alinghi (SUI 64) - Stars & Stripes (USA 66)
Match 4 - Le Defi (FRA 69) - USA 76
Off -Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72)
OCTOBER 9 - RACE 8
Match 1 - Stars & Stripes (USA 66) - Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72)
Match 2 - USA 76 - Alinghi (SUI 64)
Match 3 - OneWorld (USA 67) - Le Defi (FRA 69)
Match 4 - Orn (SWE 63) - Wight Lightning (GBR 70)
Off - Luna Rossa (ITA 74)
OCTOBER 10 - RACE 9
Match 1 - Wight Lightning (GBR 70) - USA 76
Match 2 - Alinghi (SUI 64) - Orn (SWE 63)
Match 3 - Luna Rossa (ITA 74) - OneWorld (USA 67)
Match 4 - Mascalzone Latino (ITA 72) - Le Defi (FRA 69)
Off - Stars & Stripes (USA 66)
OCTOBER 11-12-13-14 – RESERVE DAYS
FROM OCTOBER 15 TO 21 – OFF DAYS