Alinghi dominate finals

Close racing but the Swiss machine was always the class act reports James Boyd

Above: Alinghi's Ernesto Bertarelli with the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The Louis Vuitton Cup has had the result which most race pundits were predicting prior to the start of the first round robins in October. The match racing and technical skill of skipper Russell Coutts, the tactical prowess of Brad Butterworth and a troupe of ex-Team New Zealanders with the know-how learned from winning the America's Cup two times, the generous financial backing of Swiss pharmeceuticals billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli - all of these factors combined to give the Alinghi team the highest credentials.
The Swiss team fast laned it through the round robins, the quarter finals and semis, dropping just two races on the way to OneWorld in the first round robin and Oracle in the second (they conceded race to Prada in RR2 without racing), showing great consistency all the way.

In the first two races of the final the Swiss team made it look as though they would romp it yet again. In race one Oracle BMW Racing were ahead at the start but Alinghi showed more pace on the beats sailing both higher and faster in the 11-15 knot conditions and over the course of the race seemed to be calling the shifts with immaculate precision. They finished 1 minute 24 seconds ahead. Similarly the second day Alinghi won the start and dominated the first beat sailing on the right. Oracle's problems were compounded when they broke their spinnaker pole just prior to the first bottom mark rounding causing them to trawl their kite. They never pulled back.

The tables began to turn in the the American team's favour in race three. Alinghi got the better start again, but were lured into a tacking duel bringing Oracle back into contention. After the weather mark it was much closer with Oracle on the Swiss quarter wave for most of the run. On the second run Oracle rolled Alinghi to take a narrow lead. The two boats gybed together but Oracle touched Alinghi resulting in a penalty. Oracle rounded the bottom mark first and extended up the final beat to round 29 seconds ahead. They were unable to extend and lost to the Swiss while carrying out their penalty turn just before the finish line.

Lighter more shifty breeze in the fourth race saw both boats evenly matched at the start with Alinghi getting a good lift on the first beat putting them into the lead. They rounded the top mark well ahead but a massive shift down the run saw their advantage evaporate, with Oracle rounding the bottom mark first by 56 seconds, a lead which despite the shifting conditions they retained at the top mark. Oracle extended to make the final top mark rounding 2 minutes 13 seconds ahead which they held until the finish to take what was to be their one and only race off the Swiss - impressively only the second race the Alinghi team had lost in the entire Louis Vuitton series.

The fifth race saw Alinghi get a marginally better start sailing in more stable conditions than the previous day. Oracle rounded the top mark 28 seconds ahead and maintained this lead at the bottom mark. Alinghi engaged Oracle in a tacking duel on the second beat and closed to 10 seconds at the top mark. On the second run with both boats on starboard Alinghi rolled the American team and gaining the lead showed better speed to reach the mark with a slender 9 second advantage. Despite some contention on the final beat Alinghi held this lead until the finish in the closest race of the finals.

Lining up this morning in what was potentially the final race of the series Coutts pulled off a coup putting a penalty on the Americans in the pre-start when he luffed and the Americans failed to keep clear. Oracle pulled out a substantial lead on the first beat, but failed to cover on the second beat and lost their lead. The final run was a neck and neck classic but with Oracle still to carry out their penalty turn, the race belonged to the Swiss.

The Louis Vuitton Cup came to a close with a 5-1 victory to Alinghi, confirming the Swiss team's credentials as the rightful ones to challenge Team New Zealand in the America's Cup series starting on 15 February.

Perhaps most impressive was how during the course of the Louis Vuitton Cup Oracle BMW Racing seemed able to pull the rabbit out of the hat. After the first round robin they were in third place having dropped races to GBR Challenge, Alinghi and OneWorld. At this time the team were looking beatable and their boat seemed to have big holes in its performance envelope. Was this down to its unique design by Bruce Farr that was not as far into the 'long, narrow and heavy' corner of the design envelope as the other teams?

Not performing like the A division team they were supposed to be, between round robins Larry Ellison played his trump card, recalling Chris Dickson from the bench and putting him into the drivers seat. In the subsequent round robin under the new regime, Oracle seemed to have changed gear and they lost just one race - to Prada.

Oracle BMW Racing went on to beat OneWorld with four straight wins in the Quarter Finals, only to get a taste of the medicine they were to be dealt in the finals when the Swiss beat them 4-0 in the semis. They dispatched OneWorld 4-0 again in the semi final repechage to gain the runner-up spot in the finals.



A forlorn Chris Dickson - runner up challenger for the second time

Aside from the Dickson element it was commented that Ellison's team had taken a more extreme attitude to moding their boat to certain conditions. They also had some really cool technology (click here and here to read more about this) courtesy of their backing from the BMW Formula 1 team and the might of Ellison's software empire.

During the post race press conference Ellison announced that he would be coming back for another crack at the Cup.

For the victorious Russell Coutts it is the second time he has won the Louis Vuitton Cup after prising it out of American hands in 1995. After the racing Coutts commented upon how tight the racing had been. "I am not sure we ever had such a significant edge. I think perhaps in the first two races we had a little bit of speed on them but I think the rest of the racing was very very tight. I don’t think the 5-1 scoreline is true reflection of how close these teams were. I think the series was a lot closer than what that is and perhaps we had a little bit of luck along the way which I am not complaining about and we are very very happy to be where we are today."

There now remains the small issue of the America's Cup. At the unveiling ceremony prior to the start of the final Team New Zealand showed their rule beating 'appendage' - but will this be race winning too? Clearly some radical thinking has been going on the Kiwi design house, but we will have to wait until 15 February to see whether or not this will pay dividends on the water.



Larry Ellison congratulates Russell Coutts

Ernesto Bertarelli summed up how he hopes they will deal with taking on the Kiwis in the America's Cup. "I have a huge amount of respect for Team New Zealand and as I have said many times before, we have sailed against the new Team New Zealand several times with Russell and the guys and lost two times, they beat us so we know that they are a very very strong team. I have a huge respect for Dean Barker, I think he is intelligent, smart and a very nice young man and he has the courage to lead Team New Zealand to victory, so we have to concentrate.

In Alinghi we have something very special going on right now. I think being able to have started with the white piece of paper, having met Russell out of nowhere and being able to put together a great team having this momentum with us, has given us a unique chance to have a shot at the Cup. But I don’t think we can discount Team New Zealand. Hopefully we are going to be able to put together a great show, for me it’s an honour to represent the challengers in the America’s Cup and I think I carry all the energy and anticipation of all the people which have put their passion into sailing, Larry to begin with but Mr Bertelli and all the people who love this game, obviously I hope that we are going to bring this game to another level. I think the Cup could benefit from having great professionals like Russell and Brad winning this thing."

Who is your money on to win the America's Cup? If Alinghi win where will they hold the next Cup and will they stick with the present generation of ACC boats? Send yout thoughts to feedback@thedailysail.com or click to contact us through a message box.