Louis Vuitton Pacific Series

The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was a match race regatta in America's Cup Class yachts in Auckland, New Zealand during January and February 2009. Racing started on 30 January. The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was organised in association with the New Zealand Government, Emirates Team New Zealand, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Auckland City and Skycity Entertainment Group. Bruno Troublé was Louis Vuitton's organizer and spokesperson for the Series.

Louis Vuitton Pacific Series
SportSailing
Founded2008
No. of teams10
CountryNZL, USA, FRA, RSA, ITA, GBR, CHN, GRE, SUI
Related
competitions
America's Cup, Louis Vuitton Cup

The creation of the event was in response to the legal battle surrounding the America's Cup yachting competition at the time. Because of the long delays from the legal action, and the fact that the 33rd America's Cup became a Deed of Gift match without a defender or challenger selection series, the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was established as a competition for other America's Cup racing syndicates.

Ten syndicates took part in the regatta, which used four International America's Cup Class boats loaned to the regatta by Team New Zealand and BMW Oracle Racing. This made participation more affordable for the teams.[1]

Described by its creators as a "fun and friendly event", the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series relied on the concept of loaned boats and quick and short races with an abbreviated schedule to pack 53 match races into a three-week period. Racing was held every day except on one scheduled lay day.

Team New Zealand won the Louis Vuitton Pacific Trophy, beating the Swiss Alinghi team 3–1 in the Cup Final.

In September 2009, this initial event was expanded into the four Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas, held between November 2009 and November 2010. These events continued to be relatively low cost, using a small number of loaned boats to keep syndicates active while waiting for the 8th Louis Vuitton Cup to determine the challenger for the 34th America's Cup.

Course/Schedule

Up to six match races were held each day on a short windward-leeward course laid at the entrance to Auckland's Waitematā Harbour, between Rangitoto Island and the city foreshore. Four different courses were used depending on weather patterns.

Emirates Team New Zealand, as hosts, earnt direct entry into the Louis Vuitton final. However, the team was also allocated to a pool and raced in the preliminary qualifying rounds. Points won by Team New Zealand in pool play were disregarded when the rankings were determined after the qualifying rounds.

The 10 teams were divided into two qualifying groups of five, with the top three teams in each pool proceeding to the Gold Fleet and the remaining two teams proceeding to the Silver Fleet. The winner of the Gold Fleet earnt direct entry into the Challenger's Final, with the remaining teams in the Gold Fleet, and the two winners of the Silver Fleet, proceeding to the Third Round. The winner of the Third Round then met the winner of the Gold Fleet in the Challenger's Final; the winner of which proceeded to the final to race against Emirates Team New Zealand.

The winner of final was presented with the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series trophy.

The Yachts

Team New Zealand provided NZL-92 and NZL-84 for the event and BMW Oracle Racing shipped USA-87 and USA-98 from Valencia for the event. The boats arrived in Auckland in mid-December. All four boats were extensively redesigned and worked on by onshore crew before the event. The boats were simplified and as a result did not completely meet IACC standards. The changes were made to make the boats easier to operate and make the races as even as possible.

Pools/Results

Pool A (USA 87 & 98)

30 January – 3 February

Team Name Races W D L Pts
Team New Zealand 44004
BMW Oracle Racing 43013
Damiani Italia Challenge 42022
Pataguas K-Challenge 41031
China Team 40040
TNZ PKC BOR DIC CHT
TNZ W (1:38) W (0:28) W (0:19) W (0:59)
PKC L L L W (1:02)
BOR L W (0:54) W (0:52) W (1:28)
DIC L W (0:45) L W (1:18)
CHT L L L L

Number in brackets is winning delta.

Pool B (NZL 84 & 92)

30 January – 3 February

Team Name Races W D L Pts
Team Origin 44004
Alinghi 42022
Luna Rossa 42022
Team Shosholoza 41031
Greek Challenge 41030*
ALI TOR GRC TSH LR
ALI L W (2:02) L W (0:50)
TOR W (0:36) W (0:58) W (0:48) W (1:11)
GRC DSQ L W (0:56) L
TSH W (3:49) L L L
LR L L W (0:54) W (1:09)

Number in brackets is the winning delta.
*deducted a point for damaging the boats[2]

Gold Fleet

5 – 9 February
The top three teams from each pool competed in the Gold Fleet. The winner advanced directly to the Challenger final. As host, Team New Zealand advanced directly to Cup Final. A team that wins a race against Team New Zealand does not gain a point. The seeding position determines where a team appears in the third round.

Seed Team Name Races W D L Pts
Host Team New Zealand 5203n/a
1 Alinghi 54014
2 BMW Oracle Racing 54012*
3 Damiani Italia 53022
4 Team Origin 52030.5*
5 Luna Rossa 50050
TNZ BOR DIC TOR ALI LR
TNZ L L L W*** W (0:26)
BOR W (0:27) W (0:26) W** L W (0:58)
DIC W (0:19) L W (0:24) L W (1:40)
TOR W (0:06) RET** L L W (0:04)
ALI FOR*** W (0:27) W (0:44) W (0:15) W (0:23)
LR L L L L L

*Both boats were deducted points for contact in the BMW Oracle vs Team Origin race: BMW Oracle −1, Team Origin −0.5[3]
** Team Origin retired after failing to raise a headsail at second mark. The headsail foil was damaged from the earlier collision.
*** Team New Zealand completed the prestart without Alinghi after the Swiss boat forfeited the race. The race was then abandoned. Alinghi conceded because they saw no point in sailing the race when there were no points to be gained for them, while they risked losing points in the event of contact between the boats.[4]

Silver Fleet

5 – 9 February
The remaining four teams competed in the Silver Fleet.

Seed Team Name Races W D L Pts
6 China Team 33003
7 Pataguas K-Challenge 32012
8 Greek Challenge 31021
9 Team Shosholoza 30030
PKC CHT TSH GRC
PKC L W (0:14) W (0:27)
CHT W (0:57) W (0:15) W (2:58)
TSH L L L
GRC L L W (1:26)

Third round

10–11 February
The challengers ranked 2–7 sailed off with the winner advancing to the Challenger final. Seeds 8 and 9 also sailed off for a final ranking.

  Sail Off Quarter Finals Semi Final
                           
       
  3 Damiani Italia W(0:29)  
    Team Origin L  
4 Team Origin W(1:52)
  7 K-Challenge L  
    Damiani Italia L
  BMW Oracle W(0:35)
  5 Luna Rossa W(0:01)  
6 China Team L  
Luna Rossa L
    2 BMW Oracle W(0:09)  
     
Seed Team Name 1
8 Greek Challenge W (0:31)
9 Team Shosholoza L

Challenger Final

11–12 February
The winner of the Gold Fleet competed against the winner of the Third Round.

Seed Team Name 1 2 3 4 5 T
1 Alinghi W (0:01)W (1:07)-XX2
BMW Oracle Racing LL-XX0

Due to poor weather the Challenger series was reduced to a best of three series.

Cup Final

13 – 14 February
As host, Team New Zealand qualified automatically for the Cup Final. They met the winner of the Challenger final in the Cup Final.

Team Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T
Team New Zealand LW(0:28)W(0:34)W(0:19)-XX3
Alinghi W (0:12)LLL-XX1

Due to poor weather the Final series was reduced to a best of five series.

2009 Louis Vuitton Pacific Series

Team New Zealand
First Title

Confirmed Teams

Twelve teams were originally confirmed – however after two withdrawals the field contracted to ten teams.[5] The teams arrived in Auckland on 23 January.[6]

Country Team Club Skipper Notes
 New ZealandTeam New ZealandRoyal New Zealand Yacht SquadronDean BarkerHost
 United StatesBMW Oracle RacingGolden Gate Yacht ClubRussell Coutts
 FranceK-ChallengeCercle de la Voile de ParisSébastien Col
 South AfricaTeam ShosholozaRoyal Cape Yacht ClubPaolo Cian
 ItalyLuna RossaYacht Club ItalianoPeter Holmberg
 United KingdomTeam OriginRoyal Thames Yacht ClubBen Ainslie
 ChinaChina TeamQingdao International Yacht ClubIan Williams
 ItalyDamiani ItaliaCircolo Canottieri Aniene and Club Canottieri Roggero di LauriaVasco Vascotto
 GreeceGreek ChallengeNautical Club of KalamataSotiris Buseas
  SwitzerlandAlinghiSociété Nautique de GenèveBrad ButterworthAmerica's Cup Defender

Withdrawn Teams

The following teams were scheduled to participate or were on the waiting list but did not take part in the event.

Country Team Notes
 ItalyItalia Francesco De AngelisOriginally on Waiting List – Were contacted to see if they could make the event.
 ItalyMascalzone LatinoWithdrew due to financial concerns, citing Global financial crisis.[7]
 GermanyTeam GermanyWithdrew due to financial concerns after losing main sponsor Audi.
 FranceTeam French Spirit Marc PajotOriginally on Waiting List – Was unable to find the funds to participate.[8]

Broadcasting

Television

TVNZ carried live coverage on TVNZ Sport Extra on the Freeview platform. The coverage consisted of in-studio presenters and commentators, with the race coverage provided using Virtual Eye and a single live camera. The broadcast was also be streamed live on tvnz.co.nz. The broadcast was promoted as a world first, due to the event being broadcast predominantly with Virtual Eye animation.[9]

A ONE Sport highlights package was also broadcast each night on TV ONE. A modified version of this highlights programme, as well as selected footage for news stories, was distributed nightly via satellite to international broadcasters by Dominique Curchod Communication.

Radio

The event was also broadcast in New Zealand on a special radio station, BSport Sailing 103.0 FM.[10]

Junior Series

A Junior series for under-16's was run at the same time as the senior series. Competitors were selected by Auckland yacht clubs and competed in a series of races using O'pen Bic yachts around a short course in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour.[11] Twenty O'pen Bic boats were bought over for the event by Series organiser Bruno Trouble. The event was won by Chris Steele, who received an O'pen Bic yacht and the opportunity to be 18th man on the Alinghi boat during the Cup Final races.[12]

References

  1. "Yachting: Standoff may spark Cup-like regattas – Yachting – NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  2. Johannsen, Dana (31 January 2009). "Yachting: Collision dents hopes". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  3. Johannsen, Dana (7 February 2009). "Yachting: Team NZ in first face-off with Alinghi since 2007". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  4. "Shock for Team NZ as Alinghi refuse to race". Television New Zealand. 7 February 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  5. "Yachting: 10 to contest in series". The New Zealand Herald. 10 January 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  6. Johannsen, Dana (7 November 2008). "Yachting: Pacific Series teams named". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  7. "Yachting: Italian team pulls out of Pacific Series". The New Zealand Herald. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  8. Lewis, Paul (14 December 2008). "Yachting: Squeeze could trim series further". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  9. Virtual Live TV for Regatta Archived 31 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine ETNZ Official Site, 28 January 2009
  10. Tune in to Live Racing for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Archived 29 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine ETNZ Official Site, 17 January 2009
  11. McFadden, Suzanne (3 February 2009). "Yachting: Best young sailors battle for honours". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  12. McFadden, Suzanne (14 February 2009). "Yachting: Teen champ wins Alinghi place". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2011.

See also

Preceded by
Inaugural
First Louis Vuitton Auckland Regatta
30 January – 14 February 2009
Succeeded by
2010
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