ETNZ in TP52 MedCup

Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, Emirates President Group Services Gary Chapman and ETNZ managing director Grant Dalton announce the team's 2009 TP52 project. Emirates, the Dubai-based global airline, on Wednesday confirmed its continued support for New Zealand and the sport of sailing by renewing its successful partnership with Emirates Team New Zealand. The airline committed to backing Emirates Team New Zealand on the Mediterranean TP52 regatta circuit next year. The team has started building a TP52 yacht in Auckland. It will be launched on February 17 and shipped to Europe in mid-March. It will compete under the Emirates banner, with the award-winning airline and Matteo de Nora, a strategic adviser to the team, funding the project.

Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said the Grand Prix TP52 circuit is one of the most competitive in the world. An entry on the circuit is the next logical step in the preparation for a next multi-challenge America's Cup. The ETNZ TP52 was designed by the team's principal designer Marcelino Botin and structural and mechanical engineers. Sail and rig designers have also been involved. Members of the sailing team have designed the deck layout and internal systems. Building started at Cookson Boats on the North Shore on 15th September. It will be launched on 17th February next year. Sea trials and testing will follow and the yacht will be shipped to Europe in mid-March 2009.

Protest Dismissed

By a majority decision the Jury dismissed the protest that Emirates Team New Zealand filed against Alinghi following race four. The Jury was not satisfied that Alinghi broke America’s Cup Class Rule 31.6, which reads: “Mainsails shall be able to be lowered to the deck without the necessity of a crew member going aloft.”

Emirates Team New Zealand filed the protest after watching television footage that showed one of the normal post-race measurement checks. The measurers asked both teams to lower their mainsails, without the assistance of a man aloft, to demonstrate compliance with ACC Rule 31.6. Emirates Team New Zealand lowered its mainsail without a man aloft, to the satisfaction of the measurers. The Alinghi team asked the measurer who had boarded SUI 100 if they could raise a man up the mast to fix a halyard (which wouldn’t be put under tension) to the mainsail, for safety reasons, to prevent the sail from being damaged if it came down uncontrollably, and the measurer on board agreed to this request. Alinghi bowman Pete Van Niewenhuyzen was raised to the top of the mast, fixed the halyard and held his arms out, to show that he wasn’t assisting or interfering with the process. The halyard lock was tripped, and the mainsail was lowered to the deck. At the time, the measurer was satisfied with the demonstration. Following a five hour hearing Thursday morning, the five-member Jury dismissed Emirates Team New Zealand’s protest.

The Day After

After a great start, the Swiss team was in control almost for the entire race. Ed Baird won the right hand side of the starting line and Alinghi was in a powerful position for the rest of the race.

Although alinghi was supposed to be a rocket in windws above 15 kts, it went very well against New Zealand in the light air. If ever the Kiwi boat was going to look superior to the Swiss boat, surely this was it.

Mainsails shall be able to be lowered to the deck without the necessity of a crew member going aloft. It was recorded on television showing Pieter van Nieuwenhuyzen of alinghi at the masthead to release the head of the sail. ETNZ protest and details will be presented to the International Jury. Racing will resume on Friday, with Race Five.

2-2 Square

Today's race started on time, with the wind just above 10 kts and temperatures as high as 23 degrees Celcius. Both teams had a good start but alinghi was better, and soon moved away from the Kiwis, half way up the first mark, with over 50 metres difference. A left shift helped the Kiwis shorten the distance down to 20 and later to 10 metres. Both boats sailing by the port layline. SUI-100 tacks and a few seconds later, the NZL-92 tacks too. Although the wind shifted left, in favour of the Kiwis, alinghi pass the wether mark 20 seconds ahead. The Kiwis go for a gybe-set and alinghi gybes in defence. SUI-100 appears to be faster, but NZL-92 takes metres out after each manoeuvre. One bad gybe from the Kiwis, gives a 150 metres advantage to the Swiss. Upwind the difference went up to five boatlengths although the wind fell to 8 knots. In a tacking duel, the Swiss tried to push the Kiwis off the layline. Rounding 25 seconds behind, the Kiwis go again for a gybe-set. In the final downwind, although the Kiwis fight to better their position, alinghi holds the 25 seconds delta. So, alinghi wins the fourth race by 30 seconds, squaring the series 2-2.

ETNZ Wins Second Match

With the score even at one win apiece, both Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand will be eager to grab the series lead today. Every America's Cup Match in history (bar 1871), that has required three or more races, has seen the winner of Race Three go on to win the Match.

Today, the race was breath-taking. Alinghi had a better start, but later on ETNZ slept in front. The difference went even to 360 metres. On the downwind leg, ETNZ bowman slept and almost found himself swiming in the waters of Valencia. He managed to climb back onboard but created a mess with the spinnaker sheets. The spinnaker could not come down so the difference between the two boats came down to 30 metres. A very clever tack form Brad Butterworth brought alinghi in front for the first time. In the second downwind leg alinghi weather conditions were very tricky and the two boats were changing places all the time. Finally, it was ETNZ that managed to cross the finish line first, scoring a 2-1, just a few meters in front of alinghi.

ETNZ Scores One!

Emirates Team New Zealand have won Race Two of the America's Cup Match, coming from behind on the second lap of the course to beat Alinghi by 28 seconds. It's the first win for Kiwi skipper Dean Barker over former team mate Brad Butterworth in seven races. Up the second beat, Alinghi were giving Emirates Team New Zealand a bit of leverage, allowing them to close up. Near the top of the course, the right hand side is often very powerful in these conditions. So as the boats converged, in a left hand phase shift, Alinghi on starboard tack were mindful of keeping the right hand side of the course for strategical as well as tactical reasons. Race Three is on Tuesday, with a 15:00 start time.

Alinghi Wins 1st Match

Switzerland's Alinghi team, the Defender of the America's Cup, won the first race of the 32nd America's Cup Match on Saturday afternoon in front of an enormous spectator fleet on the waters off Valencia. Conditions were perfect for racing, with a stable 12 knot sea breeze on the race course.

Alinghi trailed very early in this race, with Emirates Team New Zealand looking strong off the starting line. But the Swiss showed good pace, eventually forcing the Kiwis to tack off, and when the boats came together for a first cross, it was SUI 100 that was ahead.

Alinghi was able to convert that small advantage into a 13 second lead at the top mark. The Swiss made gains on both runs, while the Kiwis were able to close the gap a little bit on the second leg to windward.

By the finish it was Alinghi winning by 35 seconds. The Swiss take a 1-0 lead in the 'first to five' America's Cup Match.

We Have a Challenger

Another immaculate start from James Spithill in todays race, that started after a short delay due to lack of wind. From the dialup in the pre-start, Dean Barker bear away but Spithill managed to get a better position off the committee boat in the windward position of the line. The boats remained close for most of the time of the upwind leg, when eventually both went outside the layline. But it was the ETNZ boat that passed the weathermark 20 seconds ahead, the same delta that retained in the second mark and again in the third. In the final leg the Italians tried to fight back, reducing the difference to just 30 meters, but Barker was cool enough to cross the line first, with a 22 seconds delta. For the first time the Newzealnders looked happy and cheered each other. Prada Luna Rossa challenge did an excellent match and a great appearance throughout the Louis Vuitton Cup.

Team New Zealand Wins 4th Match

The Italian challenger began the day down 3-0 to Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final and couldn’t afford another loss. But, the Emirates Team New Zealand squad won its fourth consecutive race of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final and now sits one win away from a trip to the America’s Cup Match. The Kiwis trailed early in Tuesday’s race, but soon recovered to lead at every turning mark of the race course. Luna Rossa Challenge won the first cross in today’s race after the teams took opposite sides of the starting line and split early on the first leg. The Italians were on the right hand side and made a nice gain in the first few minutes after the starting gun. When the boats converged for the first cross, Luna Rossa skipper Francesco de Angelis tacked on Kiwi Dean Barker with nearly 100 metres on the bow to bow advantage line. After NZL 92 tacked back out to the left, each team tacked again, setting up a second cross. The Kiwis had clearly made a gain and Italian tactician Torben Grael called for an early tack to leeward of the New Zealand boat. Within minutes, the Emirates squad had lifted inside ITA 94 and regained the advantage line. The Kiwis sailed the Italians out past the starboard tack layline, consolidating their lead, and rounded the first mark 19 seconds ahead. From their, Emirates Team New Zealand was never threatened, and the Kiwis won the race by 52 seconds.

ETNZ-Luna Rossa 3-0

3-0 is now the score of the third match between Emirates Team New Zealand and Prada Luna Rossa Challenge. The key moment of the match took place in the last minute before the start. This was a great job from James Spithill, who used the starboard entry to control Dean Barker in a long dial up on port tack in 10 knots of sea breeze. Spithill matched every change in Emirates Team New Zealand pushing the situation to its limit until the last minute before the gun. Then, Luna Rossa built speed to come back below the starting line at the moment as Dean Barker engineered his escape by tacking onto starboard. While Luna Rossa had the advantage, should tack in front ETNZ, but the Italians preferred to continue to the left. But the NZ boat had better speed and more pressure on their sails so soon after the start passed the Italian boat, pushing them out of the left layline. The Italians perfermed a perfect gybe set after the first weather mark and chose not to follow the track of the Newzealand boat. The delta kept on increasing and finally ETNZ finished 1:38 ahead. Apart from that, there are also two points I have to make: Fisrt, the ETNZ boat speed may be comming from the very different mainsail trim - traveller positioned upwind, the sheet fully trimmed and the halyard loose. Second, after taking down the spinakker, the ETNZ was approaching the mark with the Genoa trimmed in, while the Italian boat had the Genoa trimmed for downwind. Thus needing more time to take in and point closer to the weather mark.

ETNZ Win 1st Final Match

In their first match for the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup that started today, Friday 1^st of June, Emirates Team New Zealand took its first win over Prada Luna Rossa. Both boats started immaculately but in the first weathermark, ETNZ had an 11 seconds lead. In the next weathermark pass the difference was just 2 seconds, leaving Luna Rossa second with a final delta of 8 seconds. Emirates Team New Zealand won an incredibly close match over Luna Rossa Challenge on Friday to take a 1-0 lead in the Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The Kiwis never led by more than 12-seconds around the race course. Most observers were expecting some close racing in this contest and the two finalists didn’t disappoint. The final run to the finish saw Luna Rossa make a small gain on the left hand side of the race course. With the boats just a few hundreds metres from the finishing line, ITA 94 helmsman James Spithill threw in a final gybe that put his team charging at the line. But Kiwi squad held its nerve, executing a precision gybe just moments before crossing the line, with Luna Rossa nearly overlapped behind them. Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker and his team draw first blood, leading the series 1-0. Conditions were ideal for racing, with a Southeasterly sea breeze of between 10 and 14 knots. Racing was postponed for a short time to allow the Race Committee to re-set the starting line after a 10 degree wind shift. An enormous spectator fleet was on hand to enjoy the close racing.

Ready for Battle!

The Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup begins on Friday, with Emirates Team New Zealand pitched against Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge. The winner of the 'first to five' Final will win the Louis Vuitton Cup and advance to the America's Cup Match against Alinghi. On Thursday, the teams had a final day of preparation and afterguard members Terry Hutchinson (ETNZ) and Andy Horton (Luna Rossa Challenge) met the media at the opening press conference. Luna Rossa Challenge won the coin toss, and will start Friday's race as the 'yellow' boat with starboard tack entry to the start box. The teams will alternate starboard entry each successive race. Both teams will compete with the same boats they used in the Semi Finals. Luna Rossa Challenge will race ITA 94, and Emirates Team New Zealand will sail NZL 92. The teams are expecting close racing. The weather forecast is calling for sea breeze condition over the next few days, with winds from nine to 14 knots. Racing is scheduled to start at 15:00, with the first warning signal at 14:50.

ETNZ-Desafio Match Postponed

Strong Northeasterly winds on the waters off Valencia have forced the Race Committee to postpone racing for the day. The wind has been between 20 and 25 knots all day, and the Race Committee considered the sea state off Port America's Cup (with waves up to two meters) such that it could cause damage to the racing yachts. Racing is scheduled to resume on Wednesday, when Emirates Team New Zealand will try to finish off its Semi Final series against Desafío Español 2007. The score is currently 4-2 in favor of the Kiwis, who need one more win to advance. Desafío Español must win the next three races if the Spanish are to upset the top challenger and advance to the Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The forecast for Wednesday is for more moderate Northeasterly winds, although sea state could remain an issue. Luna Rossa Challenge is waiting to meet the winner. The Italian challenger won its Semi Final series over BMW ORACLE Racing 5-1, earning its fifth and final win on Sunday afternoon. The Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup will begin on 1 June.

No Surprise

Luna Rossa Challenge has jumped out to a 3-1 series lead over BMW ORACLE Racing at the Louis Vuitton Cup. In these Semi Finals, the first team to win five races advances to the Final, and following today’s victory, the Italian team is one step closer to its goal.

Luna Rossa Challenge led all the way around the race track, after starting to the left of the American team. After one lap of the course ITA 94 was ahead by just 12-seconds, but helmsman James Spithill and his crew extended that lead to nearly half a minute at the second windward mark and held on to win by 24-seconds.

In the other pairing, Emirates Team New Zealand started ahead of Desafío Español 2007 and extended the rest of the way around the race track. The Spanish made up five-seconds on the final run, but it wasn’t enough; the Kiwis won by 42-seconds. The Emirates team has a 3-1 series lead.

An enormous spectator fleet enjoyed a sunny Friday afternoon with good sea breeze conditions for racing.

BMW - Oracle Fights Back

BMW ORACLE Racing earned one of the great comebacks in America’s Cup lore, beating Luna Rossa Challenge after trailing by as much as 58 seconds at the first windward mark. The American team was 14 seconds behind at the beginning of the final run, but made a great pass down the left hand side of the race course, streaking past what appeared to be a slower Italian boat.

In the other pairing, Emirates Team New Zealand won the start off Desafío Español 2007 and extended away on the first upwind leg. The Spanish slowly gained the rest of the way, but never threatened the Kiwi lead.

There were ideal sea breeze conditions on the waters off Valencia on Tuesday, with Easterly winds from 10 to 14 knots. A large spectator fleet enjoyed the action on a sunny afternoon.

The First Blood

It was a difficult day to be an afterguard member at the Louis Vuitton Cup on Monday. The first races of the Semi Finals saw an offshore breeze that varied from eight to 18 knots in strength and shifted by nearly 180 degrees. In fact, on the final run, the boats started under spinnaker and finished under genoa, tacking for the finishing line.

The crews on Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge figured out the tricky conditions best, drawing first blood in the 'first to five' Semi Final. Luna Rossa tactician Torben Grael, in particular, was a magician in sailing his own race, and not panicking when a big early lead evaporated on the first run.

In the first match, Luna Rossa Challenge beat BMW ORACLE Racing with a time difference of 2:19. In the pre-start it looked as though Luna Rossa might be able to close BMW ORACLE Racing out above the Race Committee boat, but the American boat slotted in nicely next to the boat with Luna Rossa just to the left. After sailing closely together for many minutes, the Italians and Americans broke away to opposite sides of the course. Luna Rossa tactician Torben Grael found the better breeze to the left and the Italians rounded 52 seconds ahead. Around the top mark, USA 98 picked up a beautiful puff of breeze and surged down the right-hand side of the course, and recouped a 400 metre deficit to put Luna Rossa helmsman James Spithill under pressure at the leeward gate. The Italians did a better job of shadowing the Americans down the final run, and even when the breeze shifted nearly 180-degrees just before the finish, Luna Rossa capitalised on the changeable conditions and stretched the winning margin to over two minutes at the finish.

In the second match Emirates Team New Zealand beat Desafío Español 2007. Dean Barker won the right-hand end of the start and it wasn't long before the Kiwis had established a small lead over Desafío Español 2007. After winning the lead from the right, Barker dragged the match to the left-hand layline and led Karol Jablonski to the first mark by 1:03. As new breeze filled in across the course, and the teams were forced to douse spinnakers in favour of jibs for some close reaching to the finish, the Kiwis extended away to win by 43 seconds at the finish.

Prepare for the Semi-Finals

On Wednesday evening, Emirates Team New Zealand chose to race against Desafío Español 2007 in one pairing, leaving BMW ORACLE Racing to face Luna Rossa Challenge. Today we learned the Kiwis and Luna Rossa will come in to the start box from the favoured starboard side for the first match after winning a coin toss. The teams will then alternate starboard entry for each race. The Semi Finals are a different game from the Round Robin portion of the regatta. Now, the teams are paired head to head. The first team in each pairing to earn five points will advance. The Race Committee intends to conduct racing on one course on the Northern race area. Racing begins with a warning signal at 14:50 and a first race start at 15:00. Each team announced that it would be sailing the same boat that it used in the Round Robin.

New Zealand vs Desafio Espanol

Skipper Dean Barker, representing the Round Robin leading Emirates Team New Zealand, has elected to race against Desafío Español 2007 in the Semi Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup. That means BMW ORACLE Racing will face Luna Rossa Challenge in the other pairing.

"It's always tough when you have the opportunity to choose," said Kiwi skipper Dean Barker, commenting on the difficulty of choosing an opponent. As the top-ranked team after Round Robin Two, Emirates earned the right to select who they would face. "We looked at the different teams. We've had good racing with the Spanish, they're a fast team, sailing well and we're looking forward to racing them in the Semi Finals."

"We just had over 20 days of very tight and close racing against teams that didn't even make it to the stage here tonight," BMW ORACLE Racing skipper Chris Dickson said, assessing the challenge ahead. "The challenger group as a whole is very strong. We're all stronger today than we were three weeks ago at the beginning of Round Robin One. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and we're all stronger today."

New Zealand Finished 1st!

Emirates Team New Zealand finished Round Robin Two of the Louis Vuitton Cup at the top of the table, with a win over BMW ORACLE Racing capping an unbeaten run in the second round. By finishing as the top challenger, the Kiwi team now has the right to choose its opponent for the Semi Finals. Its decision will be announced at a press conference, scheduled for later on Wednesday.

BMW ORACLE Racing, Luna Rossa Challenge, and Desafío Español 2007 are the other Semi Finalists. The Semi Final portion of the Louis Vuitton Cup begins on Monday, 14 May, and is a 'first to five', head-to-head series. The first team in each pairing to win five points (one point per win) will advance to the Final.

For the remaining seven challengers, today marks the end of their participation at the 32nd America's Cup. Each of the seven has added greatly to the colour, spirit, and competitive level of the event. Their impact here will not be forgotten.

The big match to decide who would finish top of the Round Robins started beautifully. After a tense pre-start, with BMW ORACLE threatening to luff Emirates Team New Zealand but never actually doing so, both teams made excellent starts, side by side. Shortly after the start, Dean Barker broke for the right while Chris Dickson held to the left. By the time NZL 92 tacked back on to starboard the lateral separation across the course was enormous. At this stage the Americans were leading by about two or three boatlengths, but as a right-hand windshift came in, the advantage line soon moved in favour of New Zealand. In a matter of minutes Team New Zealand had moved to more than 250 metres ahead, and BMW ORACLE had no chance of getting back into the race from there. The Kiwis extended around the race track and, even with a small rip in its spinnaker after the final gybe, the New Zealanders crossed the finishing line well over one minute ahead.

In the battle to decide 7th overall in the Louis Vuitton Cup, Areva Challenge and Shosholoza drifted towards the start line very early and very slow, but it was Sébastien Col who controlled the start and accelerated while the South Africans struggled to get past the Race Committee boat. However RSA 83 soon got up to speed and it was a long drag race out to the left. Paolo Cian made slighter better boatspeed pay for South Africa and they rounded the first mark 13 seconds ahead. It was pretty even down the run but up the final beat the French started closing and putting South Africa under pressure. Areva pulled even closer on the final run to the finish, and there were less than two boatlengths between the two, Col trying to wrongfoot Shosholoza into a gybing error. But the South Africans weren't taking the bait, and crossed the line 14 seconds ahead, arms held high in pride and celebration.

In a battle for bragging rights only, Victory Challenge and Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team made great starts with the Swedish tacking away to the right after crossing the line. Mascalzone followed and took an early lead of about one boatlength. After a few exploratory tacks against each other, the Italians capitalised on the early lead to sail across the Swedish bow and claim the right-hand side of the course. They rounded 17 seconds ahead at the first mark and sailed a controlled race through to the finish. Just before crossing the finishing line, the flamboyant Italians peeled to a different spinnaker, which proclaimed: "Thank you Italy, thank you Naples", and the Latin Rascals crossed the line 38 seconds ahead of the Swedish.

Luna Rossa Challenge helmsman James Spithill had it all his own way in the pre-start against the second helmsman for Desafío Español 2007, Jesper Radich. Spithill was able to keep Radich pinned outside the Race Committee boat as the starting gun fired. Luna Rossa then ducked back under the boat, and across the starting line, well ahead of the Spanish team. From there, the Italians chose the favoured side of the race course and led into the top mark. The Spanish cause wasn't helped when its spinnaker draped over the windward mark, incurring a penalty. Luna Rossa sailed the rest of the way untroubled, to finish third on the leaderboard.

There was an early lead to United Internet Team Germany off the starting line in its match against +39 Challenge, who had a minor collision with a photo boat in the pre-start, when its swinging transom clipped the small motor boat. The incident didn't appear to affect the Italian boat, which soon took back the advantage, and led into the top mark. From there, helmsman Iain Percy was able to hold on for his third consecutive victory.

Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin Two

1 Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92)

2 BMW ORACLE Racing (USA 98)

3 Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94)

4 Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97)

5 Victory Challenge (SWE 96)

6 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia (ITA 99)

7 Team Shosholoza (RSA 83)

8 Areva Challenge (FRA 93)

9 +39 Challenge (ITA 85)

10 United Internet Team Germany (GER 89)

11 China Team (CHN 95)

Desafio Espanol In, Victory Challenge Out

Flight 10 will be remembered as the moment that Desafío Español secured its place in the Semi Finals, although it didn't look that way in the early stages of this flight. On Tuesday afternoon, Desafío Español 2007 joined the elite group. The Spanish are the fourth team to qualify for the Semi Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup. When Emirates Team New Zealand beat Victory Challenge, the Swedes chances of advancing were erased. Although the Spanish lost their match today to BMW ORACLE Racing, there was jubilation on board when the boat returned to Port America's Cup. A wild celebration at the dock ensued, with crew members being tossed into the water, and champagne sprayed over the team and the boat. There is still one flight of racing left to complete Round Robin Two, and it will determine the top team at the conclusion of this stage of the event. BMW ORACLE Racing meets Emirates Team New Zealand on Wednesday, and the winner will lead the table and have the right to choose its Semi Final opponent.

Right after the start, the Kiwis tacked to the right and were almost 25 seconds late. However, the wind was shifting right and ETNZ boat was soon causing Victory some problems. The Swedes preffered the middle of the run, but the Kiwis held out to the right and picked up better breeze. From there, Victory Challenge could never get back.

There was an aggressive and thrilling pre-start between Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team and Luna Rossa Challenge. Finally, Mascalzone gybed around the Race Committee boat to a perfect start, while Luna Rossa started one boatlength back. However, ITA 94 showed superior pace upwind to take the lead by half way up the beat, and never looked threatened crossing the line 7 seconds ahead.

BMW ORACLE was the far more manoeuvrable and active boat in the pre-start against Desafío Español, and Chris Dickson won the right side of the start, using the favoured breeze to exert an early advantage from which it would extend to a 55 second delta by the finish.

In the +39 Challenge vs China Team match, the Italian boat extended untroubled throughout the race to win by 1 minute 57 seconds. Areva Challenge started off the right, and although United Internet Team Germany was faster, the French claimed an early advantage which they extended down the run, to a 35 second victory.