Another occasion to go racing

by Suzanne McFadden on 18 Feb 2009
Evocative of two tall-rigged yachts in a wary circling duel, the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series trophy incorporates a solid crystal base representing the Southern Hemisphere.

While pride, status and bragging rights are all at stake in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, the tangible reward is a trophy that richly deserves a place in an art gallery or a yacht club’s cabinet.

The trophy was designed especially for this inaugural event by the design and innovation department at Louis Vuitton Malletier in Paris – the same people who develop new materials for the latest designs in luggage. The brief given to the designers was simple, says Bruno Troublé – it had to represent sailing and be a piece of modern art.

The stunning new trophy symbolizes tall-sparred boats circling warily; the machine-finished blue silver top rests on an engraved crystal base representing the Southern Hemisphere. Weighing 12kg, it can tilt to any angle in the base of its custom-made Damier Graphite Louis Vuitton carry case. Over the past week, the trophy has had one of the best seats in town - overlooking the racing on the Waitemata Harbour, on display in the Sky Deck of the Sky Tower.

The winner of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series will take the trophy and its case with them – either going to Switzerland or joining the original art deco Louis Vuitton Cup now residing in the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron at Auckland’s Westhaven Marina. And if the event is staged again somewhere in the Pacific region, the trophy will be up for grabs once more.

The chances of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series happening again are growing stronger by the day, and event coordinator Troublé says there is a strong possibility the event will return to Auckland.

When he came up with the idea – ignited by a suggestion by Emirates Team New Zealand head Grant Dalton – that a friendly regatta be sailed in Cup boats, the ebullient Frenchman knew it had to be held in Auckland, and in the month of February. 'There was one simple reason. Most of the sailors have been sailing in the Northern Hemisphere in different boats – RC44, TP52, IMS big boats - and in February, they would not be doing any other sailing,' he says.

Knowing a Southern Hemisphere summer would be ideal for such a regatta, Auckland was an obvious first choice. 'It had to be New Zealand – not South Africa or Australia – because Louis Vuitton had had such good experiences here before, and we knew we could enjoy the full support of Grant Dalton,' says Troublé.

'The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was to be a one-off event but now we are seriously considering doing it again because it has been such a success.' And how does he rate the event’s success? 'From the smiles on the faces of the sailors. Everyone is positive – I spent some time on the boat with Sir Keith Mills [TEAMORIGIN principal] – and they are all very pleased. And the media coverage here and around the world has been great.'

In New Zealand, the daily live coverage on TVNZ has come courtesy of highly-acclaimed computer graphics from Virtual Eye, a world first in live virtual broadcasting. It also screens a half-hour highlights package every night.

A 2m 30s news segment is distributed free to 950 television channels on three satellites covering all continents – ESPN International, Eurosport, CNN and CCTV in China among them. The three worldwide agencies - Reuters, SNTV and Eurovision - are also on the distribution list; there has even been interest from countries that do no have boats in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series - TRT 3 in Turkey, NTV in Russia, and Abu Dhabi TV in United Arab Emirates.

'So it is a strong possibility that we will return to Auckland next year and do this again. If the BMW Oracle boats stay here, we will have two good pairs of boats again,' Troublé says.

What Troublé hopes the public will understand is that this event was never designed to take away from the age-old battle for the Auld Mug.

'It is not the Louis Vuitton Cup, it is totally different. I don’t even want to see the two trophies sitting together!' he laughs. 'Louis Vuitton loves the America’s Cup too much to even consider creating this as an event that would compete with it. This is simply another occasion to go racing.'