Editorial- It's game on!

by .. on 16 Apr 2007

Spectacular Boat Parade for the 32nd America´s Cup ACM 2007/Carlo Borlenghi

Welcome to the Monday edition of Sail-World.Com/Australian newsletter

Lots of Australian sailing news from the weekend. Double handed Osaka race has sensationally become a single hander, Magnetic Island Race Week NOR, CYCA Ladies Day, Veterans Race, Australian Blind Match racing, Short Handed Trans Tasman and Queensland Youth titles - and there is a Victorian HP Coaching position available.

Tonight (Australian time) the talking stops and the sailing starts in the 32nd America’s Cup.

In the new shortened Cup format, seven of the 11 teams have just three weeks left in Valencia.

There are some very mixed views about the 32nd America’s Cup as a venue and a format. Our Sail-World columnist, Bob Fisher, doesn’t pull any punches with his comments on the venue. Luna Rossa’s Patrizo Bertelli, the most experienced team boss and now in his third Cup campaign, is pretty blunt about the format.

However BMW Oracle’s Larry Ellison likes it and he is stealing some lime-light.

Whatever your views on the format, BMW Oracle Racing has stolen a march on the other challengers with the choice of German supermodel Tatjana Patitz as their 18th 'man' for the opening round. Patitz who was borm in Germany but lives in California, very neatly covering the dual sponor hertitage of BMW Oracle Racing.

Tomorrow Sail-World launches the first of our daily newsletters on the America’s Cup which will give you the key results, photos and stories from the day’s racing, plus expert analysis from Bob Fisher, who has been covering sailing and America’s Cup for almost 40 years and is a top sailor in his own right. Bob is renowned for his independent perspective on Cup and sailing matters, and he doesn’t hold back in today’s column.

Sadly, most of the Challengers will have been eliminated from the new format Louis Vuitton Cup in just three weeks time. © ACM2007/Steffano Gattini

For the opening day the draw is as follows:

Monday, April 16th

Louis Vuitton Cup' - Round Robin 1 - Flight 1

Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team (ITA 99) - Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92)
+39 Challenge (ITA 85) - AREVA Challenge (FRA 93)
United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) - BMW Oracle Racing (USA 98)
Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) - Victory Challenge (SWE 96)
China Team (CHN 95) - Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94)
Bye: Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97)

Louis Vuitton Cup' - Round Robin 1 - Flight 2

Desafío Español 2007 (ESP 97) - +39 Challenge (ITA 85)
Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team (ITA 99) - AREVA Challenge (FRA 93)
United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) - Team Shosholoza (RSA 83)
China Team (CHN 95) - BMW Oracle Racing (USA 98)
Victory Challenge (SWE 96) - Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94)
Bye: Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 92)

If you have friends, clubmates or fellow sailors who follow the America’s Cup, but aren’t subscribed to Sail-World, please forward this newsletter and tell them to signup using the following link: www.sail-world.com/subscription to receive the best and first in comprehensive coverage of this premier yachting event.

Good Sailing!

Rob Kothe & Sail-World NZ's editor Richard Gladwell

If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/32651

Related Articles

Olympic class winners, Cup news, Etchells Worlds
49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships, Cup news, Etchells Worlds The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics are still years over the horizon, but top sailors are already deep into this Olympic quadrennial. Take the recent 2026 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships, where all three classes saw new world champions minted.
Posted on 19 May Australia's back!
Like, did we ever leave? Not really… Like, did we ever leave? Not really… Ever since Sir Frank Packer KBE kicked it off, we've been there, or thereabouts. For instance, Grant Simmer OAM has been involved with every one of them since winning it in 1983.
Posted on 17 May Team Australia America's Cup launch videos
Videos with key members of the team, Grant Simmer OAM, Glenn Ashby, and Tash Bryant Team Australia's challenge for the 38th America's Cup was launched yesterday at the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club.
Posted on 14 May The Same, But Different
A packed schedule coming up with a diverse range of events I am so enjoying reading all the event news now the season has begun in earnest in the UK. The sun has been plentiful throughout April and May, encouraging everyone to get back out on the water.
Posted on 12 May An update on Cascadia Sailing with Jen Glass
Jen Glass on Cascadia Sailing's preparations for the NYYC's Women's International Championships Cascadia Sailing is an American-Canadian team that's training for this year's NYYC Women's International Championships. They are one of 20 teams that was invited to compete at this world-class keelboat event.
Posted on 12 May Peter Gibbons-Neff on his Classe Mini project
A Q&A with Peter Gibbons-Neff about his new Classe Mini campaign In 2023, American singlehanded sailor and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve officer Peter Gibbons-Neff raced his 21-foot Classe Mini across the Atlantic Ocean in the storied Mini Transat race. Now, he's back, with the goal of winning.
Posted on 6 May TP52s, IMOCA 60s, Congression Cup
52 SUPER SERIES and IMOCA 60 season openers, 61st Congressional Cup When the conversation turns to Grand Prix keelboat racing, it's never long before the 52 SUPER SERIES enters the mix. The 2026 season is will feature five events, starting with this week's Puerto Portals 52 Super Series Sailing Week.
Posted on 5 May Close Encounters…
Of the Jimbo kind. To know Jim Close is to have an experience. To know Jim Close, aka Jimbo, or Mumbles, is to have an experience (Boom. Boom. Basil Brush). It's not a reflection. It's a casting of vision. Yes. What a trip. Part acid. Part journey through space. Part adventure in existentialism.
Posted on 4 May Rotters and Colanders
Initiatives which blow preconceptions about sailing out of the water In these times it's all too easy to fall back on old adages about sailing, saying the costs are too high, it's elitist and things are in decline, but there are some incredible bright spots which blow preconceptions about sailing out of the water.
Posted on 28 Apr French Olympic Week and Charleston Race Week
Racing action at French Olympic Week and Charleston Race Week For many Americans, 2028 might feel like a far distant horizon right now, however for Olympic sailing hopefuls, the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be held in and around the city of Los Angeles, are rapidly hoving into view.
Posted on 21 Apr