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."
