Tomorrow Team Prada Completes Round Robin One

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

21 OCTOBER , 2002

TOMORROW TEAM PRADA COMPLETES ROUND ROBIN ONE

The opening press conference for Round Robin Two of the 2002-2003 Louis Vuitton Cup took place this morning in Auckland. All nine competing skippers were present: Ken Read (Team Dennis Conner), Ian Walker (GBR Challenge), Luc Pillot (Le Defi Areva), Russell Coutts (Alinghi Swiss Challenge), Francesco de Angelis (Prada Challenge), Paolo Cian (Mascalzone Latino), Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge), Peter Gilmour (OneWorld Challenge), Peter Holmberg (Oracle BMW Racing). Only Victory Challenge announced that they will change boats for the second Round Robin: the Swedes will be racing Orm ("Serpent") SWE 73 instead of Orn ("Eagle") SWE 63. The time limit for the teams to declare which boat they will be using is 12.05 (midday) today.

Francesco de Angelis, skipper of Luna Rossa, said: "First of all I wish to thank all of Team Prada for the amazing job they did, working around the clock over the past five days. We carried out a lot of work on Luna Rossa ITA 74 in various areas, including sails, rig, hull. The most striking feature on ITA 74 is the new bow, but that's not all. We look forward to racing in Round Robin Two as we will be able to assess the changes made and to test the performance of ITA 74. Since the end of Round Robin One we have been able to sail only two days, including today, and we certainly have some idea and perception on how the boat performs, but the real test will be on the water against our opponents. Absolute boat speed may be relatively easy to assess but since most teams have also modified their boats it will be more difficult to gauge overall improvements relative to this new fleet".

Tomorrow, weather permitting, Team Prada and Mascalzone Latino will finally complete Round Robin One. All the other competing teams were able to sail all their scheduled matches by October 14, when the Italian "derby" match was once again postponed. Tomorrow, therefore, racing will only feature the outstanding match between the two Italians Luna Rossa and Mascalzone Latino. All scheduled racing of Round Robin Two will slide forward one day, to start on Wednesday October 23.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR TOMORROW
WSW winds, 18-25 knots. Mostly cloudy.

CURRENT OVERALL STANDINGS OF ROUND ROBIN ONE

1. OneWorld Challenge, 8 pts (8 wins out of 8 races)*
2. Alinghi Swiss Challenge, 7 pts (7 wins out of 8 races)
3. Oracle BMW Racing, 5 pts (5 wins out of 8 races)
4. Team Dennis Conner, 4 pts (4 wins out of 8 races)
4. GBR Challenge, 4 pts (4 wins out of 8 races)
6. Prada Challenge, 3 pts (3 wins out of 7 races)**
7. Victory Challenge, 3 pts (3 wins out of 8 races)
8. Mascalzone Latino, 1 pt (1 wins out of 7 races)**
9. Le Defi Areva, 0 pts (0 wins out of 8 races)
* OneWorld will be penalised one point at the end of Round Robin Two.
** Still one outstanding race to be sailed before completing Round Robin
One.

RACING CALENDAR OF ROUND ROBIN TWO

FLIGHT 1
Match 1 OneWorld v Mascalzone Latino
Match 2 Oracle BMW v Prada Challenge
Match 3 Stars & Stripes v GBR Challenge
Match 4 Le Defi v Alinghi
Off Victory Challenge

FLIGHT 2
Match 1 Le Defi v Victory Challenge
Match 2 Mascalzone Latino v Oracle BMW
Match 3 Alinghi v OneWorld
Match 4 Prada Challenge v Stars & Stripes
Off GBR Challenge

FLIGHT 3
Match 1 Prada Challenge v Le Defi
Match 2 Alinghi v Mascalzone Latino
Match 3 Stars & Stripes v Victory Challenge
Match 4 GBR Challenge v OneWorld
Off Oracle BMW

FLIGHT 4
Match 1 Oracle BMW v Stars & Stripes
Match 2 GBR Challenge v Le Defi
Match 3 Alinghi v Prada Challenge
Match 4 Victory Challenge v Mascalzone Latino
Off OneWorld

FLIGHT 5
Match 1 Mascalzone Latino v Prada Challenge
Match 2 Victory Challenge v Oracle BMW
Match 3 OneWorld v Stars & Stripes
Match 4 GBR Challenge v Alinghi
Off Le Defi

FLIGHT 6
Match 1 Mascalzone Latino v GBR Challenge
Match 2 Prada Challenge v Victory Challenge
Match 3 OneWorld v Oracle BMW
Match 4 Stars & Stripes v Le Defi
Off Alinghi

FLIGHT 7
Match 1 Oracle BMW v Le Defi
Match 2 Stars & Stripes v Alinghi
Match 3 Prada Challenge v GBR Challenge
Match 4 Victory Challenge v OneWorld
Off Mascalzone Latino

FLIGHT 8
Match 1 GBR Challenge v Victory Challenge
Match 1 Le Defi v OneWorld
Match 1 Alinghi v Oracle BMW
Match 1 Mascalzone Latino v Stars & Stripes
Off Prada

FLIGHT 9
Match 1 Le Defi v Mascalzone Latino
Match 2 OneWorld v Prada Challenge
Match 3 Victory Challenge v Alinghi
Match 4 Oracle BMW v GBR Challenge
Off Stars & Stripes

RACING FORMAT

During Round Robin Two each team races once against every other team. Every day the Race committee gives the start to four match races, two on race course Romeo and two on race course Juliet. The first start of the day is always at 12:15 pm local time, while the last start of the day cannot take place after 4:00 pm. Matches on the same race course start at ten minute intervals. At the end of Round Robin Two the team with the lowest overall score will be eliminated from the Louis Vuitton Cup. The remaining 8 teams will proceed to the Quarter Finals.

Official Suppliers Prada Challenge 2003: Enervit (active nutrition). Fabianelli (pasta). Makita (power tools). Saima Avandero (transport). Sanpellegrino (mineral water and soft drinks). Technogym (fitness equipment).

Corporate Technology Partners Prada Challenge 2003:

PTC Parametric Technology Corporation (engineering design and analysis software). SGI Silicon Graphics, Inc. (computer systems).

Official Technology Partners Prada Challenge 2003:

CEI Computational Engineering International (engineering visualization software). ICEM-CFD Engineering (mesh generation software).

Service Providers Prada Challenge 2003:

Dantec Dynamics (solutions for flow measurements). Green Marine Ltd (boat building and composite technology). INSEAN The Italian Ship Model Basin (experimental fluid dynamics).

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