| Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | 7–21 March 2010 | |
| Winner | Team New Zealand | |
| Location | Auckland, New Zealand | |
The Louis Vuitton Trophy was organised after the success of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series and the continued legal battle surrounding the America's Cup yachting competition at the time. Because of the long delays from the legal action, and the fact that the 2010 America's Cup became a Deed of Gift match without a defender or challenger selection series, the Louis Vuitton Trophy series was established as a competition for other America's Cup racing syndicates.
The Auckland event was hosted by Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
See also: List of IACC yachts.
The event used two International America's Cup Class yachts loaned specifically for the event; Team New Zealand's NZL-92 and NZL-84. One of BMW Oracle Racing's old boats, USA-87, was on standby to be used as a backup in case of damage, but was not required.[2]
Eight teams competed in the Auckland event. BMW Oracle Racing did not compete due to the pressures of the 2010 America's Cup.[3]
| Ranking | Country | Team | Club | Skipper/Helmsman | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team New Zealand | Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron | Dean Barker | Host | ||
| 2 | Mascalzone Latino | Club Nautico di Roma | Gavin Brady | |||
| 3 | Azzurra | Yacht Club Costa Smeralda | Francesco Bruni | |||
| 4 | Team Artemis | Royal Swedish Yacht Club | Paul Cayard | |||
| 5 | Team Origin | Royal Thames Yacht Club | Ben Ainslie | |||
| 6 | ALL4ONE | Cercle de la Voile de Paris | Jochen Schümann/Sébastien Col | |||
| 7 | Aleph | Bertrand Pacé | ||||
| 8 | Team Synergy | Karol Jabłoński |
7–16 March
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17–20 March
The final series used the McIntyre final eight system, with all teams competing in the first elimination round. Team New Zealand and Mascalzone Latino Audi Team both earned a bye during the second elimination round. The second elimination round was scheduled for a best of three but was reduced to just one race due to low winds in the morning of the 18 March. As top seed after the first elimination round, Team New Zealand decided to face Azzurra in the Semifinals.[5]
|
| width=175 | Team Name | width=50 abbr="Race1" | 1 | width=50 abbr="Race2" | 2 | width=50 abbr="Race3" | 3 | width=50 abbr="Race4" | 4 | width=50 abbr="Race5" | 5 | width=20 abbr="Points" | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mascalzone Latino Audi Team | L | L | X | X | X | 0 | |||||||
| Team New Zealand | W (00:12) | W | X | X | X | 2 |
Large TV screens were set up in the Viaduct Harbour for spectators to watch. Coverage was also streamed online.
TVNZ featured the early round robin results in there One News sports coverage, as did TV3's 3 News. From the elimination stage TV One had a nightly half-hour report and the two final days featured live broadcasts on TV One.
The event was broadcast on a special radio station set up for the event, LiveSport Sailing 103.0 FM.
A Junior series for under-15's was again run at the same time as the main regatta. The competition used O'pen BIC yachts around a short course in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour. The winner received the opportunity to be 18th man on one of the boats boat during the Cup Final races and an O'pen Bic yacht. The event was sponsored by the New Zealand Herald.
The Louis Vuitton Trophy is part of an "Auckland Festival of Sail", as the event was preceded by the Omega Auckland match-race regatta and followed by the BMW World Sailing Cup final.[6] The Auckland International Boat Show also took place from the 11–14 March.[7]
A one-day superyacht regatta was also planned to be held alongside the Louis Vuitton event.[8]
The New Zealand Government committed NZ$1.5 million to help fund the Festival and the Auckland City Council contributed $650,000.
The Auckland Match Racing Regatta was held from the 3 March until the 6 March and included ten well known skippers. The teams of five sailed in identical Bruce Farr designed MRX's. The regatta was won by Dean Barker who defeated Ben Ainslie in the final.[9] The winning crew consisted of Barker, Ray Davies, Jeremy Lomas, Don Cowie, James Dagg and Tony Rae.[10]
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The BMW Sailing Cup world final was held from the 22 March until the 25 March and included seven amateur national teams sailing in Farr MRX's.[11] The regatta was won by New Zealand, who became the first country to win back to back titles.[12]
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Team New Zealand
Mascalzone Latino Audi
ALL4ONE Challenge
Team Artemis
Team Origin
Synergy Russian Sailing