BMW Oracle Gears up for Louis Vuitton Trophy
[Source: BMW Oracle] While the American challenger for the 33rd America’s Cup is in San Diego, preparing for the Match in February, in Europe, the team is getting ready to take on the Louis Vuitton Trophy - Nice, the first in a number of regattas organised by Louis Vuitton and the new World Sailing Teams Association. The eight competing teams will match-race equalised ACC boats in the regatta.
BMW ORACLE Racing will be represented in Nice by an all star line-up, led by team skipper and CEO, Russell Coutts (NZL), who is hoping to sail with the team in the early stages of the regatta.
“I’m certainly looking forward to getting on board and doing some racing,” Coutts said. “The Louis Vuitton Trophy is a fantastic idea and it will be great for us to compete against some of the best sailing teams in the world.”
The team will get off to a fast start in the regatta, sailing immediately, having been matched against the new Italian team, Azzurra, in the first Match, of the first Flight of racing in Round Robin One. The American squad is scheduled to face the winner of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, Emirates Team New Zealand in Flight 12, in what should be a highlight match.
BMW ORACLE Racing will have a deep pool of talent from which to select its afterguard, including team owner Larry Ellison (USA), Gavin Brady (NZL), Hamish Pepper (NZL), and Michele Ivaldi (ITA).
The rest of the BMW ORACLE Racing team in Nice is loaded with experience as well:
Alberto ‘Albi’ Barovier (ITA) - Mid Bow
Gavin Brady (NZL) - Afterguard
Russell Coutts (NZL) - BMW ORACLE Racing skipper and CEO
Cameron Dunn (NZL) - Traveller
Larry Ellison (USA) - Afterguard
Shannon Falcone (ANT) - Mast
Daniel Fong (NZL) - Trimmer
Jamie Gale (NZL) - Pit
Michele Ivaldi (ITA) - Afterguard
Jono MacBeth (NZL) - Runner
Brian MacInnes (CAN) - Grinder
Hamish Pepper (NZL) - Tactician
Rob Salthouse (NZL) - Trimmer
Alan Smith (NZL) - Bow
Joe Spooner (NZL) - Grinder
Andrew Taylor (NZL) - Grinder
Paul Westlake (AUS) - Trimmer
Hamish Willcox (NZL) - Strategist / Meteo
Kazuhiko ‘Fuku’ Sofuku (JPN) - Spare
Andrew Palfrey (AUS) - Coach / Chase boat
Joel Rewa-Morgan (NZL) - Physio
Competition is sure to be fierce with the defending Louis Vuitton Cup holder, Emirates Team New Zealand, among the favourites. The line-up also includes several teams new to Cup-style racing, but each can boast of having experienced match racers on board, making for an intriguing line-up.
Racing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy - Nice is scheduled to start on the 7th November. The eight teams will initially race two Rounds Robin, before the strongest teams advance to the final stages of the event, culminating in a ‘first to two points’ Final between the top two teams.
Labels: BMW Oracle, Louis Vuitton Trophy
7 Comments:
Whaouuuu one US sailor in this NZL team from USA !
Dear Pierre,
This is a great blog and I can imagine it takes you lots of efforts to put all this information together for which I'd like to tank you in advance.
Nevertheless, you should pay more attention to what you copy and paste.
Apparently this team list is from a NZL boat (or at least 13 out of 21 one are from New Zealand!) while the headline refers to the USA America's Cup Challenger.
I ironically that's the team that all the American media overprotect with arguments like "the nationality ruled should be back in the AC".
Sincerely yours,
JoseCool
Hi JoeCool,
there seems to be a slight misconception here since this is the Louis Vuitton Trophy and not the AC. BMWOracle sails in a variety of different events one of them is indeed the AC.
But even if this was their team for the AC, I don't understand the hype about nationalities. What is wrong with putting together an international team?
Yeah one person from USA is a disappointment, but what can you do? Folk from NZL have proven they are the best at this type of stuff and Uncle Larry has the money to buy the best. Until Nationality rules are written into another AC protocol it will remain this way. Then again this is the LVT not the AC.
And how many Swiss sailors where on the Alinghi team when they won the AC? Maybe 1?
Actually, I remember at least three (Bertarelli, Frei, and Detry), which I guess is not too bad for a land-locked country, with less than 8 million people. I don't think that it is too unreasonable to expect a US team to do better.
You guys have problems... At least these teams are actually going sailing and I am looking forward to see them racing. This is by far better than having sailing teams meeting in court. May the best team win the Louis Vuitton Trophy irrespective of the nationality of the team members.
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