Winner Alinghi | Location Auckland, New Zealand | |
Date 1 October 2002 - 19 January 2003 | ||
The 6th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand in 2003. The winner, Alinghi, went on to challenge for and win the 2003 America's Cup.
Contents
The teams
The Yacht Club Punta Ala was the challenger of record.
Alinghi
Founded by Swiss businessman Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi featured Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth who had both joined from Team New Zealand. Jochen Schuemann was also involved in the team.
GBR Challenge
Put together by Peter Harrison and New Zealander David Barnes, the team was skippered by Ian Walker. GBR 70 was known as Wight Lightning while GBR 78 was called Wight Magic.
Le Defi Areva
Despite 2000 skipper Bertrand Pace joining Team New Zealand, Le Defi returned in 2003 with Luc Pillot skippering FRA 79.
Mascalzone Latino
Headed by shipping magnate Vincenzo Onorato, Mascalzone Latino featured an all-Italian crew. The syndicate was only established in 2001 and Paolo Ciann served as helmsman.
OneWorld
Part-financed by Microsoft mogul Paul Allen, OneWorld was based in Seattle. Skippered by Peter Gilmour, the team was docked one Louis Vuitton point by an arbitration panel for being in possession of design secrets from another team.
Oracle BMW Racing
Founded by Larry Ellison who bought the assets of 2000 syndicate AmericaOne. The team was skippered by Peter Holmberg and also featured Paul Cayard and Chris Dickson. USA 71 and USA 76 were designed by Bruce Farr.
Prada Challenge
Prada's crew included members of the 2000 Young America syndicate. They were again skippered by Francesco de Angelis and Rod Davis was in the afterguard.
Team Dennis Conner
Team Dennis Conner's USA 77 suffered a massive blow when it sunk off the Californian coast in July before the Cup began.
Victory Challenge
Principal backer Jan Stenbeck died of a heart attack in August 2002. This was Sweden's first America's Cup bid since 1992.
Round robin
* OneWorld was docked one race win.