32nd America's Cup
The 32nd America's Cup was a sailing competition in Valencia, Spain, in 2007. At this 32nd edition of the America's Cup , United Internet Team Germany was the first time a German boat entered the challenger's preliminary rounds. In 2007 a total of 12 teams from 9 countries competed in these preliminary rounds.
The winner of the 32nd America's Cup was the Swiss team Alinghi against the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup , the challenger Team New Zealand 5-2.
Sailing area
The 32nd America's Cup was held in 2007 in Valencia, Spain, because the winner of the 31st America's Cup Switzerland is a landlocked country and therefore it was not possible to host it there. After the original regatta off the Isle of Wight, this was the first time that the Cup took place in Europe.
procedure
The 2007 America's Cup underwent a major change in process compared to its predecessors. Since there are usually several years between the events of the cup, the concept of so-called “acts” was introduced to fill the time between the cups. The acts are regattas in which the participants can collect bonus points in advance for the Louis Vuitton Cup , which ultimately determines the challenger to the America's Cup.
The thirteen acts of the America's Cup 2007 took place in front of various European cities between 2004 and 2007, with the last act in Valencia, Spain. The acts of a year also represent an independent competition in which the title "America's Cup Class Champion" can be achieved.
| year | Venues | America's Cup Class Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Marseille (Act 1), Valencia (Acts 2-3) | Emirates Team New Zealand |
| 2005 | Valencia (Acts 4-5), Malmö - Skåne (Acts 6-7), Trapani (Acts 8-9) | Alinghi |
| 2006 | Valencia (Acts 10-12) | Emirates Team New Zealand |
| 2007 | Valencia (Act 13) | Alinghi |
Two acts were held in each location, one in the fleet race and one in the match race mode. The fleet race act consisted of several races with all boats in one race. The match race act was held as an everyone-against-everyone tournament (round robin).
Scoring system
In all acts from 2005 (Act 4-13), the participating teams collect points for the Louis Vuitton Cup in advance. Of all twelve participants, the first placed in each regatta receives 12 points, the second placed 11 points and so on. So that the later races have more weight, the points achieved by the acts from 2006 are multiplied by a factor of 2 and those from 2007 by a factor of 3. The points weighted in this way are added up. The result of the defender is not taken into account in the calculation, as he will not take part in the Louis Vuitton Cup anyway.
Bonus points are calculated from the total amount determined in this way, which later flow directly into the result of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The team with the highest number of points receives 4 bonus points, teams 2-3 each receive 3 bonus points, teams 5-7 each receive 2 bonus points and the remaining teams only receive one bonus point.
In the Louis Vuitton Cup, the 11 challengers now compete against each other in two everyone-against-everyone tournaments. The four participants in the semi-finals determine the points collected here plus the bonus points from the acts.
In the semifinals, the leader so far chooses his opponent, the other two teams compete in the 2nd semifinals. The semifinals will be played until one of the two opponents has won five races. In the case of a 5-0 result there are five races, in the case of 5: 4 nine races are necessary to determine the winners of the semi-finals.
The two winners of the semi-finals will last against each other in the final, which, like the semi-finals, will be held as a race with up to five victories. As the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the winner can now compete against the defender of the America's Cup. This race is also held as a race with up to five wins.
The Louis Vuitton Cup determined the America's Cup challenger for the last time in 2007. On July 13, 2007, Louis Vuitton announced the end of its nearly 25-year sponsorship activities with respect to the Cup. The reason given was the increasing commercialization of the regatta under the leadership of Team Alinghi . This is no longer compatible with the company's image and values. Louis Vuitton announced at the same time that the development of the America's Cup would be followed and that a return as a sponsor could not be ruled out.
The final
In the role of defender, “Team Alinghi” (SUI) was able to secure the cup again after seven races. In contrast to the year 2003, when the "Team New Zealand" (NZL) was beaten 5-0 with practically no chance, the new edition was a balanced regatta with very close results.
The last race will probably go down in the history of the America's Cup: Alinghi could only win 5: 2 by the jury.
In the seventh race of the Best Of Nine series, the Alinghi was in the lead with almost 100 meters 1000 meters from the finish, before the breeze collapsed from 15 to 4 knots, there was a spinnaker damage and the New Zealanders the Swiss due to better wind conditions could catch up and overtake. It had looked better for the New Zealanders for a long time, but thanks to skillful maneuvers, the Swiss were the first to turn on the first and third buoy. Now the New Zealand team had to execute the penalty ring that they had earned on the penultimate cross. The Alinghi won the run with a minimal lead of one second and was the first team to score 5 points (= 5 finishes).
Participants and Results
| Surname | Club | Skipper | Yacht numbers | Acts + Round Robins | Semifinals | final | America's Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Alinghi | Société Nautique de Genève | Brad Butterworth | SUI 64, SUI 75, SUI 91, SUI 100 | 5-2 Emirates NZ | |||
| Emirates Team New Zealand | Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron | Dean Barker | NZL 81, NZL 82, NZL 84, NZL 92 | 1. (38) | 5-2 Desafio | 5-0 Luna Rossa | 2-5 Alinghi |
| BMW Oracle Racing | Golden Gate Yacht Club San Francisco | Chris Dickson | USA 71, USA 76, USA 87, USA 98 | 2. (37) | 1-5 Luna Rossa | ||
| Luna Rossa Challenge | Yacht Club Italiano | Francesco de Angelis | ITA 74, ITA 80, ITA 86, ITA 94 | 3. (35) | 5-1 BMW Oracle | 0-5 Emirates NZ | |
| Desafío Español 2007 | Real Federación Española de Vela | Karol Jabłoński | ESP 65, ESP 67, ESP 88, ESP 97 | 4. (29) | 2-5 Emirates NZ | ||
| Victory Challenge | Gamla Stans Yacht Sällskap | Magnus Holmberg | SWE 63, SWE 73, SWE 96 | 5. (26) | |||
| Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team | Real Yacht Club Canottieri Savola | Vasco Vascotto | ITA 66, ITA 77, ITA 90, ITA 99 | 6. (22) | |||
| Team Shosholoza | Royal Cape Yacht Club | Mark Sadler | RSA 83 | 7. (20) | |||
| Areva Challenge | Cercle de la Voile de Paris | Thierry Peponnet | FRA 57, FRA 60, FRA 93 | 8. (17) | |||
| +39 challenge | Circolo Vela Gargnano | Luca Devoti | ITA 59, ITA 85 | 9. (12) | |||
| United Internet Team Germany | German Challenger Yacht Club | Jesper Bank | GER 72, GER 89 | 10. (5) | |||
| China team | Qingdao International Yacht Club | Pierre Mas | CHN 69, CHN 79, CHN 95 | 11. (3) |
literature
- Tatjana Pokorny: Summit meeting of the giants. The America's Cup 2007 in front of Valencia. Delius Clasing, Bielefeld 2007, ISBN 978-3-7688-1922-0 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ handelsblatt.com Louis Vuitton no longer sponsors the America's Cup
- ↑ handelsblatt.com Louis Vuitton is considering withdrawal