Gala Dinner Honours Trophy Finalists at Louis Vuitton Pacific Series
by Keith Taylor on 18 Feb 2009
Stilt walkers wielding tall sails performed a ghostly dance in the Business School. Photo: Luca Villata Louis VuittonPacific Series
www.louisvuitton-pacificseries.com
American and Kiwi shore crews were still at work on Saturday night decommissioning the four Louis Vuitton Pacific Series yachts as special guests, sponsors and key supporters gathered in the elegant surrounds of the University of Auckland Business School for the prize giving ceremony and gala dinner honouring Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand.
Yves Carcelle, president and CEO of Louis Vuitton Malletier welcomed 250 VIP guests to a Moët et Chandon champagne reception, followed by dinner and entertainment in the school’s imposing new Owen G. Glenn building.
Diners gathered at their tables in the school’s glass-enclosed foyer while outside in the stage-lit courtyard two ghostly white-clad stilt dancers pirouetted and parried with sail-shaped banners symbolizing Cup boats engaged in ritual pre-start circling.
After their main course and before dessert, guests were treated to a fast-paced multi-media show chronicling the entire regatta as seen through the lens of French photographers Gilles Martin-Raget, Guillame Plisson and Franck Socha.
Brad Butterworth, skipper of Alinghi, thanked Carcelle for making the event possible. 'Alinghi came down here and raced in such perfect conditions in such a great regatta thanks to Yves and Louis Vuitton, Butterworth said. 'It was so much fun.
'As for Alinghi, we couldn’t quite convert. It was a great job that Dean (Dean Barker ETNZ skipper) and Ray (Ray Davies, tactician) and the boys have done. This event was so well run and well organized by Kevin Shoebridge and his guys on the shore team who kept us going. Maybe this will change things and we can get on with the multinational event in 2010 with all these things and see the sort of racing we saw today.'
Dean Barker thanked Butterworth and Alinghi for coming to New Zealand to compete. 'It certainly adds a huge amount of credibility when a team that is the best in the world comes down to an event like this,' Barker said. 'It was a great opportunity for us to race them and come out on the right side for once. Thanks guys for coming down.'
Barker acknowledged his team. 'It’s been a hard two or three weeks trying to get back to where we left off and the guys have done a fantastic job. It’s been an absolute pleasure for me to sail with such a great bunch of guys. Even through the tough times it’s still a lot of fun.'
The Emirates skipper thanked Louis Vuitton and all the sponsors, but especially the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and its 100-plus band of volunteers, who worked so hard to keep the event on track.
'Sailors want to go sailing and it’s a great opportunity for us to go out and race,' he said. 'The number of teams that came down here to race is a testament to that.'
Barker concluded: 'Thank you for all the support for our team. We look forward to what the future may hold!
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/54200
