Louis Vuitton Trophy sets sail for La Maddalena in Sardinia

by WSTA on 21 Apr 2010 The Louis Vuitton Trophy is coming to Sardinia in May, with 10 elite sailing teams set to race for two weeks on the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean Sea off La Maddalena.

With just one month to go before racing begins on May 22nd, the host team, Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, is eager to extend a warm welcome to teams, sponsors and guests alike.

“La Maddalena is among the best places in the world to sail,” said Vincenzo Onorato, the team principal of Mascalzone Latino Audi Team. “The waters are warm, the wind conditions are very good and the people of La Maddalena will be gracious hosts. I want to welcome all of my sailing friends and fans of the sport to join us here in May.”

The Louis Vuitton Trophy - La Maddalena follows two successful regattas in Auckland (February 2010) and Nice (November 2009) over the past six months. Further events are planned in Dubai in November and Hong Kong in January of 2011.

For La Maddalena, two additional teams will join the eight who competed in Auckland, and both are world-class sailing squads. BMW Oracle Racing, who won the America’s Cup Match in February, rejoins the Louis Vuitton Trophy after it missed the Auckland regatta due to its Cup commitments.

Luna Rossa, which has competed for the America’s Cup three times, winning the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000, will race for the Louis Vuitton Trophy for the very first time, after sailing in a precursor event, the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in 2009. Luna Rossa has assembled an impressive crew, including skipper Ed Baird, winner of the 32nd America’s Cup with Alinghi and tactician Torben Grael, who skippered Ericsson to a win in the last Volvo Ocean Race.

The addition of Luna Rossa will make for three Italian teams in La Maddalena, including Azzurra, the winning team in the Nice event. Also on the start list is the champion from Auckland, Emirates Team New Zealand. The full line-up for La Maddalena is 10 teams, representing eight countries:

• Aleph, FRA, skipper Bertrand Pacé
• All4One, FRA/GER, skipper Jochen Schümann
• Artemis, SWE, skipper Paul Cayard
• Azzurra, ITA, skipper Francesco Bruni
• BMW ORACLE Racing, USA, skipper James Spithill
• Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL, skipper Dean Barker
• Luna Rossa, ITA, skipper Ed Baird
• Mascalzone Latino Audi Team, ITA, skipper Gavin Brady
• Synergy, RUS, skipper Karol Jablonski
• TEAMORIGIN, GBR, skipper Ben Ainslie