Yacht: SUI-100 Dates: 25 April – 3 July 2007 | Yacht: NZL-92 | |
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Defender club: Société Nautique de Genève Challenger club: Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Location: Port America's Cup, Valencia, Spain | ||
The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge 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.
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As per the Deed of Gift of the America's Cup the yacht club that holds the Cup is the one that chooses the location for the next challenge to take place. Alinghi, the syndicate representing the Société Nautique de Genève, 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. During a preliminary selection the bids of Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Porto Cervo and Elba were eliminated. The four finalists were Cascais (near Lisbon), Marseille, Naples (ITA) and Valencia. On November 27, 2003 it was announced that the venue would be Valencia, Spain. A new building, Veles e Vents designed by David Chipperfield, was built in the harbour of Valencia to house the central base for all the America's Cup teams.
By winning the 32nd America's Cup, Alinghi 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.
Challenger selection - 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
All races were run on a windward-leeward course consisting of four legs with legs 1 and 4 being 3.3 nautical miles (6.1 km) in length, and legs 2 and 3 being 3.0 nautical miles (5.6 km) for a total of 12.6 nautical miles (23.3 km).
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.