2007 AMERICA'S CUP

''This article is about the yachting regatta. For the western hemisphere football tournament see Copa América and Copa América 2007.''
'Defender'Emirates Team New ZealandAlinghi'Valencia, Spain

'32nd America's Cup Valencia, Spain'
April 25 – July 3, 2007
Alinghi
'Official Website'	http://www.americascup.com

The '2007 America's Cup' was the thirty-second regatta vying for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and ''Match Race'' in the sport of sailing.
Normally, the country that holds the cup hosts the next event. ''Alinghi'', the winners of the thirty-first edition, are based in Switzerland which is a landlocked country, so ''Alinghi'' put the hosting rights out to a competitive bid process and announced on November 27, 2003 that the venue would be Valencia, Spain.
By winning the 32nd America's Cup, ''Alinghi'' has changed what seemed to have become a tradition: that the winner of race three goes on to win the match. Emirates Team New Zealand, despite winning the third heat, was not able to capture the Cup. The score of the 32nd America's Cup has also differentiated the match from previous editions. The past three America's Cups – 1995, 2000 and 2003 – were all sweeps, with the victorious boat taking all races.
Eleven challengers from nine countries submitted formal entries prior to the closing deadline of April 29, 2005.

Contents

Challenger selection - Louis Vuitton Cup 2007

2007 America's Cup program and results

Race Deltas

Crew

Alinghi

Emirates Team New Zealand

Notes

See also

External links

Challenger selection - Louis Vuitton Cup 2007

Main articles: Louis Vuitton Cup 2007


In preparation for the 2007 America's Cup, there were a series of regattas leading up to the Cup races, called "Acts" which culminated in the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup. The winner, Emirates Team New Zealand, became the ''Challenger'' and raced against the ''Defender'', Alinghi, for the America's Cup.
In 2004, there were three acts, Act 1 held September 2004 in Marseille, France; Act 2 held October 2004 in Valencia, Spain; and Act 3 held October 2004, also in Valencia. These events featured fleet and match racing between America's Cup class yachts representing the syndicates that were vying for selection as challenger for the America's Cup in 2007. Points were awarded for each Act, and the team with the highest score at the end of the year is declared the ACC (America's Cup Class) Champion for that year. In 2004, Emirates Team New Zealand narrowly won over second place American challenger BMW Oracle Racing and third place Swiss defender Team Alinghi.
The schedule of Acts in 2005 included Acts 4 and 5 in Valencia (June 16-June 26), Acts 6 and 7 in Malmö, Sweden (August 25-September 4) and Acts 8 and 9 in Trapani, Italy (September 29-October 9).

2007 America's Cup program and results

In the results table below, the team entering the starting area from the side (i.e. entering from the right-hand side on starboard tack) has a slight advantage. The team was decided for the first race by the toss of a coin. side advantage then alternates race by race.

Date	Team 1	Team 2	Winner	Score	Delta	Timings	Race Summary
June 23 2007	Alinghi SUI-100	Emirates Team New Zealand NZL-92	Alinghi	1-0	0:35	[1]	Stable 12 knots breeze with choppy sea. No aggression in the pre-start with both teams making good starts. ''Alinghi'' lead by 0:13 at the first mark and 0:14 at the final turning mark.
June 24 2007	Emirates Team New Zealand NZL-92	Alinghi SUI-100	Emirates Team New Zealand	1-1	0:28	[2]	10 knots breeze. Aggressive pre-start with ''ETNZ'' winning the start but ''Alinghi'' led at the first two marks. Alinghi did not apply a tight cover allowing ''ETNZ'' to benefit and lead through to the finish.
June 26 2007	Alinghi SUI-100	Emirates Team New Zealand NZL-92	Emirates Team New Zealand	1-2	0:25	[3]	Very light breeze with race start postponed twice. Aggression from ''Alinghi'' forced a poor start by ''ETNZ'' who used conditions better to lead by 1:23 at the 1st mark. The gap closed right up when ''ETNZ'' could not sheet their jib due to a spinnaker handling error. ''Alinghi'' leading at the start of the final leg allowed a left/right separation of more than a kilometre to develop. Closing the finish line ''ETNZ'' gybed slightly in front of ''Alinghi'' to win.
June 27 2007	Emirates Team New Zealand NZL-92	Alinghi SUI-100	Alinghi[1]	2-2	0:30	[4]	Tricky 8 to 10 knot breeze. ''Alinghi'' made excellent full-speed start and rounded first mark 20 seconds ahead. ''ETNZ'' then made small gains but suffered wrap in the spinnaker during a gybe, allowing ''Alinghi'' to extend their lead. ''ETNZ'' continued attacking through to the finish.
June 29 2007	Alinghi SUI-100	Emirates Team New Zealand NZL-92	Alinghi	3-2	0:19	[5]	Perfect 15 knots sea breeze. Aggressive pre-start. ''ETNZ'' forced ''Alinghi'' across the top of the Race Committee boat and into the spectator fleet. ''ETNZ'' lead by 0:12 at the first mark. For the 3rd race running ''ETNZ'' had spinnaker problems. A small rip developed in the spinnaker which then blew apart. The 2nd spinnaker was hoisted before it had been properly attached and blew like a flag from the mast head. The third spinnaker set worked after 4 minutes of chaos but Alinghi by now had gone into the lead. ''ETNZ'' got to within three boat lengths on the 2nd beat and within one boat length on the final leg but ''Alinghi'' lead through to the finish.
June 30 2007	Emirates Team New Zealand NZL-92	Alinghi SUI-100	Alinghi	2-4	0:28	[6]	Aggressive pre-start but each team made a good start. ''ETNZ'' lead at the first two marks. After a tacking duel where ''Alinghi'' got a right hand shift, ''Alinghi'' lead at the 3rd mark through to the finish.
July 1 2007	Alinghi SUI-100	Emirates Team New Zealand NZL-92	''Racing Postponed''	4-2	NA	NA	''Unstable winds caused racing to be postponed until Tuesday July 3.''
July 3 2007	Alinghi SUI-100	Emirates Team New Zealand NZL-92	Alinghi	'5'-2	0:01	[7]	The teams approaching the finish line at the conclusion of race seven, ETNZ, closest to the camera, is emerging from penalty tack Aggressive pre-start with both boats at full speed off the line. ''Alinghi'' rounded the windward mark 7 seconds ahead. Down the run, spinnaker handling by ''ETNZ'' looked a little better and at the bottom gate ''ETNZ'' rounded the left-hand mark and ''Alinghi'' rounded the right-hand mark 14 seconds behind. ''ETNZ'' tacked over to loose-cover ''Alinghi'' and a tacking duel ensued with ''Alinghi'' making very slight gains on each tack until eventually, still a boat length ahead, ''ETNZ'' disengaged. ''ETNZ'' tacked onto port to lay the mark and immediately bore away to go under ''Alinghi'' who was on starboard. ''Alinghi'' flew a Y flag in protest, and the Umpires awarded a penalty against ''ETNZ'' for not keeping clear. ''ETNZ'' rounded the final mark 12 seconds behind. On the run to the finish ''ETNZ'' could not close the gap until ''Alinghi'', on their final approach to the finish, had their spinnaker pole fly off the mast collapsing the spinnaker, coinciding with a drop in the breeze and a massive 120 degree windshift to forward. ''Alinghi'', now virtually stationary, was being overtaken. Now heading upwind (due to the massive windshift) to the line, ''ETNZ'' tacked from starboard to port and then back to starboard to satisfy their penalty, but did so with too much distance before the line, enabling ''Alinghi'' to squeeze across the finish line 1 second ahead while ''ETNZ'' was downspeed from the penalty tacks.

Race Deltas

Crew

Alinghi

Role	Name
Skipper / Tactician	Brad Butterworth (NZL)
Helmsman	Ed Baird (USA)
Navigator	Juan Vila (ESP)
Afterguard / Runner	Ernesto Bertarelli (SUI)
Strategist / Traveller	Murray Jones (NZL)
Runner / Grinder	Rodney Ardern (NZL)
Runner / Pitman	Dean Phipps (NZL)
Mainsail Trimmer	Warwick Fleury (NZL)
Main Grinder	Will McCarthy (AUS)
Trimmer	Simon Daubney (NZL)
Trimmer	Lorenzo Mazza (ITA)
Grinder	Matt Welling (USA)
Grinder	Mark McTeigue (AUS)
Pitman	Josh Belsky (USA)
Mast	Francesco Rapetti (ITA)
Mid-Bow	Curtis Blewett (CAN)
Bow	Pieter van Nieuwenhuyzen (NED)

Emirates Team New Zealand

Role	Name
Skipper / Helmsman	Dean Barker (NZL)
Tactician	Terry Hutchinson (USA)
Navigator	Kevin Hall (USA)
Strategist	Ray Davies (NZL)
Traveller/Up the mast	Adam Beashel (AUS)
Pit	Barry Mckay (NZL)
Runner /Pit	Tony Rae (NZL)
Mainsail Trimmer	Don Cowie (NZL)
Main Grinder	Chris Ward (NZL)
Trimmer Upwind	Grant Loretz (NZL) [2]
Trimmer Downwind	James Dagg (NZL)
Grinder	Rob Waddell (NZL)
Grinder	Jono McBeth (NZL)
Mast	Matt Mason (NZL)
Floater	Grant Dalton (NZL)
Mid-Bow	Richard Meacham (NZL)
Bow	Jero Lomas (NZL)

Notes

1. Right after race 4, the measurement committee held their usual after race inspection and on this occasion asked both teams to drop their mainsail unaided as required by rule 31.6. Emirates Team New Zealand complied. Alinghi requested that they wanted to send a man up the mast to attach a halyard to the top of the sail to prevent the sail crashing down and getting damaged once the mast head sail lock was released. The measurers agreed and Pieter van Nieuwenhuyzen went up the mast, attached a halyard and then indicated that he was finished. The sail was then unlatched and it dropped. TV analysis by Emirates Team New Zealand showed that van Nieuwenhuyzen's foot touched the mainsail as it was dropping. Emirates Team New Zealand protested that the drop was in fact assisted. The jury found that the Alinghi crew member accidentally touched the sail but this event did not assist in allowing the sail to drop. Alinghi had complied with the unassisted dropping of the mainsail and the protest was rejected. The jury also ruled that in future technical protests such as this would be resolved by the measurement committee.
2. Replaced by Rob Salthouse (NZL) in Race 5

See also

★ America's Cup

★ Louis Vuitton Cup

★ Louis Vuitton Cup 2007

External links

★ 32nd America's Cup Official Website

★ 3D visualization of the races

★ Peter Lester NZ yachting commentator

★ AC 32 Challenger Commission Official website of the Challenger Commission for the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia

★ Team Alinghi Official website the America's Cup Defender

★ BMW Oracle Racing Official website of Challenger of Record of the America's Cup

★ CupInfo.com America's Cup News and Information for 2007

★ America's Cup News, articles & photos

★ Valencia Sailing Website with original photos and commentary on all America's Cup related activity

★ Cup In Europe web site Exhaustive information, photos and commentary in French.

★ Coupe de l'America French website about the competition.

★ Mariantic America's Cup News & Views

★ 2007AC.com - America's Cup Forums

★ South African team website

★ The effect of the America's cup on the city of Valencia article at ErasmusPC