LV back on the boat!

It's been announced today that Louis Vuitton is back on the water with a sponsorship and production of a mini-America's Cup style regatta in Auckland in Feb 09.

Watch the TVNZ clip from Martin Tasker of the press conference held in Auckland yesterday, or the full press conference is on TV3 here

Six teams will race in two identical Team NZ boats from Jan 31 - Feb 14 in a similar series to the Road to the America's Cup events that LV organized leading up to the 2000 and 2003 Cups in New Zealand. There'll be a new piece of silverware presented to the winner - another opportunity for a beautiful piece of sculpture to be brought to life!

Roll on Feb 09!

Pic  of Louis Vuitton's Yves Carcelle presenting the Louis Vuitton Cup to Dean Barker in 2007 - Thierry Martinez (who else!)

Great JFK quote about the sea

I first heard this quote a few years ago during one of Bruno Trouble's speeches at the America's Cup and read about it today referenced in an article that talked about Teddy Kennedy's video tribute shown at the Democratic Convention, which leaned heavily on images of him sailing. Wanted to save it here and share it with you all:

This from a speech JFK gave at the America's Cup in September 1962:

I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it is because in addition to the fact that the sea changes and the light changes, and ships change, it is because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it we are going back from whence we came.

Photo:President and Mrs. Kennedy view America's Cup race, 15 September 1962Off Newport, Rhode Island, aboard the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD 850)

Date: September 15, 1962

Copyright: Public Domain

Credit: Photograph by Robert Knudsen, White House, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston. 

"It's not a perfect world Brucey"...

If any reader's interested in Grant Dalton's press conference hot on the heels of the New York Supreme Court's decision affirming the validity of BMW Oracle's Deed of Gift Challenge for the America's Cup against Alinghi - click here.

Interesting turn of phrase

The America's Cup website has the release announcing that the South African team has officially challenged and finishes with the sentence:

Shosholoza joins the Challenger of Record, Desafío Español and the Defender Alinghi, as the first confirmed participants in the 33rd America’s Cup.

Interesting. In the old days it was always that the Defender and ultimate winning Challenger that were confirmed participants in the America's Cup. Continuing evidence perhaps that the whole format is in for a continued shake up.

Check out this article for a good summary of what some of the changes Alinghi has announced (and importantly hasn't announced) will mean.

Thanks Louis

When I worked with the LV team on the America's Cup project if we ever went out for dinner, lunch or had a party (when corporate paid) we'd often say at the end of the event "Thanks, Louis!"...

Sadly today came the announcement that they are withdrawing from the America's Cup as a sponsor, after 25 years and having created the Louis Vuitton Cup - the oldest sponsorship in sport.

Here's a story from the Guardian in London...

Louis Vuitton cuts America's Cup tie after 25 years

By Alexander Smith

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Louis Vuitton has ended its sponsorship of the America's Cup after a 25-year link with sailing's most prestigious event, unhappy with the way it is being run and the direction it is taking under Swiss holder Alinghi.

"We have brought an end to our partnership with the America's Cup after a quarter of a century," Louis Vuitton Cup Director Christine Belanger said on Friday.

Belanger said the decision had been taken in recent days after discussions within Louis Vuitton, which is part of French luxury goods group LVMH.

Tensions between Louis Vuitton and the organisers of the America's Cup have developed since Alinghi brought the Cup back to Europe in 2003 for the first time in 152 years.

Louis Vuitton has wanted to preserve the event's aura of wealth, elegance and luxury and its appeal to a global audience including the world's super-rich. This clashed with Alinghi's focus on commercialising it, bringing in more money and people.

This change had forced Louis Vuitton to re-evaluate the return on its multi-million euro investment.

"For the last few weeks and months we have been thinking a lot about how the event was evolving ... and we have decided that unfortunately we should withdraw from the event," Belanger told Reuters by telephone from the Spanish port of Valencia.

Louis Vuitton cited a more commercial approach to the America's Cup, questions among some participants about the way the next event would be run and the risk of a fall in the number of teams taking part, as factors behind its decision.

NEW SPONSOR

The America's Cup organiser defended its running of the event, saying it would find a sponsor more in tune with its vision. But America's Cup Management (ACM) would not comment on rumours that it would be privately owned Swiss watchmaker Rolex.

"We now have to try and find a company which does share our progressive and modern vision of the America's Cup," ACM Chief Operating Officer Michel Hodara told Reuters by telephone from Switzerland.

BMW Oracle's Golden Gate Yacht Club on Thursday protested at the way Alinghi has set up the 33rd America's Cup, arguing it unfairly favours the defender.

Under the Cup's rules the winner decides where, when and how to race the next event.

Louis Vuitton's move leaves the competition with a large financial hole to fill as the company had invested tens of millions of euros, far outspending fellow sponsors Spanish bank Santander, Alcatel-Lucent and Spanish utility Endesa.

As well as being the main sponsor of the 32nd America's Cup which was won on July 3 by Alinghi -- the syndicate bankrolled by Swiss biotech billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli -- Louis Vuitton also sponsors the Louis Vuitton Cup.

This has been the qualifying regatta for the America's Cup itself and the Louis Vuitton Cup has been awarded to the team which has won the right to challenge the America's Cup holder.

Belanger said the Louis Vuitton Cup remained the property of the company and had been lent to ACM, the organisation set up by Alinghi to run the 156-year-old event.

Team New Zealand, who won the Louis Vuitton Cup this year but were beaten 5-2 in the best-of-nine America's Cup series by Alinghi, will hold onto the trophy until it is challenged for again, Belanger said.

But Louis Vuitton had not yet decided whether it would instigate another sailing event, she added.

-- Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris and Jane Barrett in Brussels

And from Womens Wear Daily

Vuitton Drops Sponsorship of America's Cup

Published: Friday, July 13, 2007

By Emilie Marsh

PARIS — The Louis Vuitton Cup is no more.

Vuitton said Friday that it would part ways with the America’s Cup, sailing’s biggest event, after almost a quarter-century of lending its name to the qualifying races that determine which boat will challenge for yachting’s top prize.

In a statement, Vuitton cited a “more commercial approach” to the America’s Cup, which has exploded in scale in recent years, attracting bigger crowds, more boats — and lots of eager sponsors beyond the luxury crowd.

Vuitton had become an integral part of the event, staging glamorous parties around its signature races and selling special Louis Vuitton Cup watches and accessories in its stores. Earlier this year, Vuitton devoted a special photo exhibition to the races at its gallery atop the Champs-Elysées flagship here.“Louis Vuitton has decided not to lend its name to the next Challenger selection series,” the company said in a statement, declining to elaborate. “It will follow with interest the future development of the competition, while not excluding the possibility of reviving the Louis Vuitton Cup in another form.”

Since Team Alinghi chief Ernesto Bertarelli first took the America’s Cup title from New Zealand in 2003, the cost of mounting the event has skyrocketed, some sources estimating tenfold.

After Alinghi’s victory this month, speculation has been rife that sponsorship of the event would go to the highest bidder. It is rumored that Rolex could be among the new sponsors.

Until now, the event’s exclusive appeal attracted sponsors such as Prada, Audemars Piguet, Tag Heuer, Hublot and Girard-Perregaux, who printed their names on masts and sails.

But this past May, Bruno Troublé, organizer of the Louis Vuitton Cup, warned that as the event’s popularity grows, less glamorous brands might look to edge in, which could drive luxury labels away. “It’s a risk to display a luxury label alongside soft drinks,” he told WWD at the time.

Bear with me...

No post today. You know the reason why...just a little too sad and need a little time to gain a little perspective...

Match Point - A Historic Race 7

When we wake up tomorrow we'll have race 7 of the America's Cup on our hands - at least for those of us watching on American time.

It's only the second time there's been a race 7 in Cup history - and you might well remember the last one - 1983. Let's hope that sensational result by John Bertrand and his boys gets replicated by Dalts, Deano and the rest of the team. By race 7 in 1983 Australia 2 was on their way to a historic 4-3 victory after being down 3-1 (in those days the event was a best of seven competition). I wonder how many times the ETNZ boys have reminded themselves (or been reminded) that it can be done.

This can't be last race. It can't be the last time Louis Vuitton, the longest continuous sponsor in sporting history, is involved in the America's Cup. It can't be the last time Moet & Chandon is sprayed on the America's Cup victory podium (it's likely they will pull out of the Cup if parent LVMH withdraws Louis Vuitton's sponsorship). It can't be the last time a journo wins a Louis Vuitton goodie in the daily media prize for picking the final delta.

It just can't.


P.S Potent story on the Herald website about Bertarelli's control of the behind-the-scenes organisation at the Cup. Goes someway to validating suspicions I had about why certain Kiwis with Cup experience weren't offered jobs in the current regime...

P.S.S The latest acronym coming out of Valencia - ABBA - Anyone But Bloody Alinghi. Fingers crossed its all comes crashing around their ears.

©Thierry Martinez
A few nervous Kiwis watching the action at the weekend at the Southwestern Yacht Club in San Diego
A lone lucky red sock keeps vigil...

3-2 - too tense

As Kimball said today "Race 5 removed any doubt that NZL 92 might be a sufficient weapon to win the America's Cup. It is that."...and "Dalton said that, from here, "How you react is the key to how you go forward as a team. You can make it the defining moment, but it's important that we don't."

Truer words never spoken. Gut wrenching stuff...but what an awesome performance (after the Gallipoli-sized spinnaker snafus - as Kimball called it). Here in San Diego the general feeling in the Ryan-O'Neil-Dallimore-Duncan camp is good and positive with me especially, feeling that the guys definitely have it in them. My prediction - they won't loose another race...

...fingers crossed...!

2-2... too close

Anyone in New Zealand got any finger nails left?

A sleep in tomorrow for us in the US, and an early night for all you Kiwis. Enjoy it - it will be the last one for a few days.

I will be watching the next three races at the South Western Yacht Club in San Diego - back to our old 1992 hangout when the club was the Challenger host club in support of the Louis Vuitton Cup. We can't get Versus in the hotel where we're staying for this weekend's family reunion and celebration of sister Sheila's 50th birthday, so Veronica has organised for us to open up the club and stage a Kiwi-takeover. The Kiwi flag is coming off the kitchen wall and will be coming to San Diego with me, along with tattoos and tshirts - we will be staging our own little Kiwi sit in. Maybe we should invite DC....

Anyone reading with any contacts in San Diego, be sure to invite them. Fri/Sat/Sun at South Western Yacht Club - from 5.30am. BYO!!!! They're opening the door and turning on the big screen - but no staff, so BYO coffee.

I may need to get red bull. Depending on the result we may not need it....

A round up of some of the media commentary about today's race

(Photo: Chris Cameron ETNZ)

From Magnus Wheatley on the Rule 69 blog:

2-1 up and everything to play for. The Alinghi team deteriorating into a mass of recriminations, back-stabbing and head-scratching....

Is this pay-back time or what for the scenes in Auckland in 2003? The Kiwi fans are going nuts, the kiwi media can't believe what they're seeing and the mighty tower of Babel created by Bertarelli and Bonnefous is crashing around them...

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch...go the Kiwis. 5-4 to Team New Zealand was my prediction and I'm sticking to it!

From my current fav - Kimball Washington:

Something happened here today. The underdogs took a big bite out of the big dogs and the place went crazy. There were reporters running, Kiwi fans running, an ear-shattering chorus of horns, why, you'd think the America's Cup had done been won. Instead, it's Emirates Team New Zealand up 2 races to 1 in a first-to-five.

Picture NZL 92 closing oh so slowly toward their final meeting with Alinghi on an agonizing light-air reach to the finish—if you think it's hard to watch something like that, try being on board when you need to go faster and the boat . . . just . . . won't . . . go . . . faster—and New Zealand Herald reporter Julie Ash was watching and hardly breathing and wringing her hands and shaking like a leaf....(be sure to click through the link above to read it all but if you can't be bothered at least read the next bit...)

He went on to say...
...So we've just had the most dramatic America's Cup race in 24 years, and who does Alinghi send to the press conference? Rodney Ardern, runner/grinder Dean Phipps, runner/pitman.

Well-spoken, superb sailing athletes whose skills go far beyond those job descriptions. But not up to the drama of the moment. I was not angry. I was insulted.....

A seemingly VERY good statistic for Kiwi fans from Tom Ehman on the BMW Oracle blog:

...Except for the weird multi-defender match of 1871 in which the challenger Livonia won Match 3, and the even weirder 1988, to the best of your Ed.'s knowledge and memory, the winner of Match 3 has always gone on to win the AC. (Click through to read the history)

From Gary Jobson on SailingWorld.com

...It was a tough day for the helmsman. At one point on the first windward leg Alinghi's helmsman Ed Baird looked over his shoulder at Emirates Team New Zealand surging into a big lead and uttered (expletive deleted) and thrust his head down. He looked mighty frustrated....

From Sailing Anarchy - the headlines "What a load of Butter Balls" and "Bungleworth"...and a story filled with too many expletives to republish here (I'm not the kinda gal!).

The NZ Herald had too much coverage to highlight any one piece, but check out the AC site here.

And of course from Thierry - some great shots of the day including this one of Kiwi midbowman Richard Meacham's dip in the Med today.

C Thierry Martinez

YIPEEEEEEE

What a race.

The Kiwi's just pulled off their second victory in the America's Cup - coming from ahead, then behind, then ahead again. I can't remember a race in the America's Cup when the lead changed quite so dramatically.

Luckily we have a small tv in the office so I managed to watch the whole thing (sneakily!). Nearly choked my way through a conference call with head office while Alinghi passed ETNZ on the beat..went very quiet for a while, then resumed rapid heartbeats on the last run. Three people walked in our office with metres to the finish - they were promptly moved out of the DAMN WAY!

As I said to one of the girls they need to understand that I sat throught that race seemingly very quietly which is one hell of an achivement. My insides were screaming!

ROLL ON RACE 4!

more later....

Fly Emirates

©Thierry Martinez

The wheels are up on Emirates Team New Zealand. We have ourselves a boat race!

New Zealand pulled one out of the bag today to go 1-1 against Alinghi on Day 2 of the 32nd America's Cup.

As they rounded the top mark for the second time, Robbie's comment was "Terry's exactly where he likes to be - defending - that's him at his best".

So we were in for a great finish - with the Kiwis ahead, Anna instant messaging me quotes from TVNZ's Peter Montgomery blow-by-blow commentary (who had Russell Coutts as guest commentator in the studio today), and listening to the AC website radio commentary plugged into the stereo (with the terrible Versus audio way down low - if they cut to an ad break just before a cross again I'm going to ring someone up!).

Geordie Shaver (he sailed with Robbie on Stars&Stripes 2000 and Oracle Racing 2003; and is now doing the website radio commentary) had the quote of the day, "Lions one, Christians one."

You work out which is which.

(Spare a thought tonight for New Zealand designer Laurie Davidson and would-be Kiwi Bruno Trouble who are being induced into the America's Cup Hall of Fame.)

Roll on Tuesday morning - I may be late for work....!

The real questions that need answering at the America's Cup

I want to know...how many pieces of chewing gum does it take to win the America's Cup?

Anyone noticed how much gum these guys are chewing - especially one certain New Zealand trimmer and also, I notice today for the first time, Brad Butterworth aboard Alinghi.

When I was a kid we were always told to never chew gum while playing sport for fear of choking on it... (mmm, let's hope Dalts doesn't pat Louie on the back too hard, too soon).

How many pieces do they chew in a race, or do they hang on with the same piece of gum the entire race (yuck)....?

What brand do they chew - and importantly, what flavor....? (These guys need to be thinking future sponsorship/endorsement opportunities....perhaps the pack poking out of the shirt pocket, tucked behind the ear, maybe someone could invent a little gum carrier pocket to wear on the arm of sunglasses...).

What do they do with their used gum? Does Louie have a little (big!) pile stuck under the lip of the side of the boat near his winch...could that possibly be providing extra bondage making the boat just that little bit stronger in heavy air....

These are the questions that should be being answered. Forget questions at press conferences about tactics, crew work, nationality, weather...."what's up with the gum?!"

Summer Solstice

If there's one pathetic excuse for the scarcity of my blog posts lately, I'm going to use the heat...

We're experiencing, supposedly, unseasonably warm here in the Midwest. It has peaked in the early - mid 30s every single day for the past two weeks and we've had the occasion thunder and lightening storm late in the evening to complement the heat. And it doesn't get below 23-24C at night.

Luckily for me our office (The Bunker) is in the basement at Miller and two of the girls I work with are pregnant and extremely sensitive to the heat so the air conditioning is set at like 18C.

On another note, I came across this photo taken at the America's Cup 150th Jubilee in 2001 in Cowes, England of me on the replica of the original ''America" that sailed in the 1851 100 Guinea Cup, that later became known as the America's Cup named after this yacht.

Roll on Saturday - when we get to watch ETNZ and the All Blacks. Let's hope it's a big weekend for New Zealand sport..

More from Angus

Africa's Inspiring Entry

By Angus Phillips
Washington Post

Friday, June 15, 2007; Page E03

VALENCIA, Spain There's a bit of racing still to go in the America's Cup as Emirates Team New Zealand tries to wrest modern sport's oldest trophy from Swiss Alinghi in the Cup match starting Saturday. But to my mind the best story of the 32nd Cup has come and gone, largely unnoticed.

"Twenty years from now, when people remember this event, they will remember Shosholoza," French former Cup skipper Bruno Trouble said at a dinner last week.

Guest of honor that night was Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 75, the South African Nobel Prize laureate, who agreed to be referred to as "Arch, Archie, whatever you like." He was accompanied by his wife of 52 years, Leah, who glared reprovingly when someone offhandedly remarked that "behind every great man is a great woman."

"I'm in trouble now," said Tutu, laughing. "My wife might agree to alongside, but never behind!"

This joyful, diminutive, self-effacing fellow helped hold a nation together while the man who would be president, Nelson Mandela, sat in prison for 27 years, refusing to accept his own freedom until his people got theirs. Tutu later headed Mandela's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which doled out forgiveness to oppressors in return for simple honesty.

He came halfway across the globe to pay his respects to Shosholoza, the campaign that provided some of the Cup's biggest thrills even though it wound up seventh of 11 challengers. As the first-ever African entry, Shosholoza carried the hopes of a continent. In compiling a 9-11 record, including a stirring win over semifinalist Luna Rossa and several near-misses against other top players, it upheld them.

Shosholoza's competitiveness was a pleasant surprise. Its remarkable energy and openness and unforgettable theme song were even more pleasant reminders of what sport, and this event in particular, can be. Tutu made his journey to celebrate that.

"These guys have done a superb job of work," he said, gesturing at the beefy assemblage of sailors, mostly native South Africans who had never competed at this level before. "They shook the sailing world.

"Sailing is the last thing we'd ever think our guys would want to do. To bring [two] sailors from the black community and make this a rainbow team was a fantastic achievement. You have made us very proud. Even when you lost, we were not disgraced. We are enormously proud, especially after our cricket team didn't do so well. . . .

"Sport is a powerful tool for uniting a nation that was for so long divided. It is a visual reminder of what South Africa is about. We were told we couldn't live, work and play together. In one stroke, Shosholoza was able to present the image of what we have become."

His speech was uplifting, which is not a word that comes to mind often in this money-crazed ballroom for billionaires. Imagine -- a Cup campaign with a conscience!

The Swiss holders of the Cup have bigger fish to fry, of course. Billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi's moneybags, did not stop by to pay respects to Tutu, nor did the organization he installed to oversee this 32nd Cup defense, America's Cup Management. (Ed: unbelievable).

Trouble, the French ex-skipper who now represents Louis Vuitton, sponsor of challenger trials, arranged the dinner for Tutu, and it was, at least for this weary cynic, a highlight. Tutu's speech was moving, as was that of Capt. Salvatore Sarno, head of Shosholoza. The transplanted Italian shipping magnate said he would be back for another Cup, though he doesn't know where he'll get the money. He'll keep the budget small, he said, as it was this time -- about $30 million as opposed to the hundreds of millions Bertarelli and his pals are spending.

"We have homeless people in South Africa," Sarno said. "We have AIDS. To think of a big budget like that, it would be an outrage to people that we want to represent as well."

One guest at the Shosholoza camp to greet Tutu was another Italian, Andrea Stella, who lost use of his legs when he was shot by muggers trying to steal his car in Miami seven years ago. Like Sarno, he's trying to use the Cup to spread a message.

Stella built a wheelchair-friendly catamaran, Il Spirito di Stella, in which he takes disabled folks for a sail here for free. He tried to get AC Management to provide free or deeply discounted dock space in the Cup Port to advance his efforts, but didn't get far. Nor did a local organization with a similar purpose, Mar Sin Barreras (Sea Without Barriers), which also sought space from ACM.

I asked Il Spirito's skipper, Cocco Maurizio, why ACM was unwilling to help such worthy causes.

"They're Swiss," he said, rubbing together his thumb and two fingers. "It's all about the money."

Well, it is the America's Cup, after all. It has always been about the money.

Yet 20 years from now, when folks gather to talk about the 32nd America's Cup, they will remember Shosholoza, and perhaps a few will recall Il Spirito di Stella if they were lucky enough to find the catamaran and its high-minded owner tucked away in an overpriced slip in the Cup harbor.

Next week, Bertarelli and his well-fed crewmen will pound out a victory over Team New Zealand or lose and drink the cup of humiliation to the dregs. Either way, they'll get their name in lights for a while.

But they'll never affect the world as Tutu and others of his ilk have, or lift hearts the way Shosholoza did, and Andrea Stella does.

Sorry. Won't happen.

Schnack-Net

For those OVER my America's Cup ramblings, check back tomorrow...(this may be a bit much for you....)

...but in my internet browsings today I stumbled across Professor Roger Boshier and Schnack-Net. I feel a little behind the 8-ball that I hadn't heard of him during the 2003 Cup, but, as Sheila would say, "there you go".

Professor Boshier, from the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada, is an ex-pat New Zealander now based in Valencia and, according to the BYM News (sailing) website, is doing some research work for ETNZ.

BYM News contacted Professor Boshier and asked if he would be prepared to answer questions about some recent papers he'd written, aimed at providing better understanding of ETNZ's America's Cup campaign. Professor Boshier - agreed, but instead of responding directly to BYM News, he published modified versions of the questions and his answers in his Schnack-Net newsletter (an email newsletter he has been producing since 2001).

Check out the BYM site and his responses...(I am still laughing about the ducks....)

If you enjoyed that and want to read a little more of Prof Boshier's prose on the America's Cup and it's links with New Zealand (including the heritage of the name Schnack-Net and what Team New Zealand's winning of the America's Cup in 1995 has to do with American servicemen in New Zealand during WWII) read on.

Now, get back to work!

Nicely put Angus...

According to reports it seems Angus is headed home from Valencia now that the American money is no longer in the Cup and the Post can no longer justify his presence (the Media Centre will be a sadder place for it), so it seems we're not the only ones sitting this one out.

Here's his rather nice precis from yesterday's Washington Post of where the Kiwis have come from, and what they have yet to do....

Now That Team New Zealand Is Rebuilt, It Must Put Everything Together
from the Washington Post
By Angus Phillips
Sunday, June 10, 2007

VALENCIA, Spain "Bring It Home," say T-shirts sported by New Zealanders wandering around Port America's Cup here. That's cheeky.

For 132 years, from 1851 to 1983, the home of modern sport's oldest living trophy was the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan. It's about as far as you can get from Auckland, where the Auld Mug kept residence at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron a mere eight years, from 1995 to 2003.

New Zealand's complete Cup history comprises just 20 years, but it makes up in controversy what it lacks in longevity. The initial Kiwi challenge was 1987, with the first fiberglass 12-meter. "Why would you build one out of fiberglass unless you wanted to cheat?" asked Dennis Conner, spawning Kiwi invective that still bubbles.

New Zealand made it to challenger finals that year before being dispatched by Conner, then went to the Cup match in 1988, losing, and to challenger finals in 1992. The Kiwis finally beat Conner in 1995 sailing Black Magic, skippered by a magician called Russell Coutts and overseen by a seagoing knight, Sir Peter Blake.

The pair defended successfully in Auckland in 2000, then went separate ways, leaving the team in shambles. Coutts defected, taking big dollars and five top crew to Switzerland to sail for billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli. Blake, a national hero on par with Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary, left to save the world's oceans but was slain by pirates in the Amazon.

Coutts & Co. came back in 2003 to demolish their old mates, 5-0, in a shellacking that left the nation mourning. Kiwis were humiliated when the raceboat broke down twice and took on water so fast, crewmen used buckets to stay afloat. The best sailors from the world's best sailing nation looked like stooges on a world stage.

Now they're back, heads high after soundly beating 10 other challengers for the right to sail for the Cup. Of 17 crew members on Emirates Team New Zealand, which Wednesday won the chance to face Alinghi on June 23 here in a best-of-nine Cup match, more than half are veterans of that embarrassing thrashing on the Hauraki Gulf. Time for revenge?

"We see it as unfinished business," said crewman Tony Rae, evenly. He is in his fifth campaign for TNZ. "To lose like that was tough on all of us. It's good to have a chance to correct that."

Turncoat Coutts no longer stands in the way. He had a falling out with Bertarelli after the 2003 win and is not involved. The three-time Cup winner will be replaced at Alinghi's helm by one of two American journeymen, Ed Baird or Peter Holmberg. Neither has sailed a Cup match.

One -- probably Baird -- will square up on the starting line in two weeks against TNZ's 33-year-old skipper Dean Barker, who steered the last race of the 2000 victory and all five losses in the 2003 debacle.

"Alinghi is a very refined piece of kit," Team New Zealand tactician Terry Hutchinson said. "They're a very good team. But our guy [Barker] has been there before. Theirs hasn't."

Which begs the ultimate question: Can a tiny nation of keen sailors rally from crushing defeat to regain the trophy they now see as their own? Can the Kiwis bring it home?

It would make a great story but most observers have doubts. In preliminary regattas leading to this Cup summer, Alinghi has been the top competitor. "They've been the form team for the last four years," Barker conceded. "They dominated Act 13," the last regatta in April before challenger round robins began, "and they're probably a click beyond that now. They'll be fast and good; we give them all respect."

On the other hand, said Barker, a defender from Switzerland, which has no port on the sea and no seafaring history, leaves itself open to some ridicule. "They make good chocolates and clocks and things," he said with a chuckle. But sailing?

"It is our culture and hopefully it will be the point of difference between us and Alinghi," said TNZ's new leader, Grant Dalton, who like Blake came to the Cup from a background of ocean sailing and adventuring of the highest and most grueling sort.

Blake and Dalton dueled around the world in the 1988-89 Whitbread-'Round-the-World Race, finishing 1-2 in the standings. Both set speed records for circumnavigation in multihulls and both came from the hard-knocks school of sailing, not the yacht-club set.

Dalton, like Blake before him, sails on TNZ as the lowliest member of the race crew. He's listed as a "floater," meaning he's either down below in the sewer helping repack sails or on deck doing whatever no one else has time to do. He never comments on tactics or strategy during racing.

He is, by all accounts, the hardest nail on the boat. "This program wouldn't exist without him," Hutchinson said. "He works the hardest of anyone on the team and anything we can do for him now, he deserves."

"He starts first, finishes last, he's there every day, he puts the job first, he's 120 percent committed. It's about drive, determination and sheer hard work, and it rubs off," Barker said.

It's been a long, hard slog for Team New Zealand to salve the festering wound of that drubbing on the Hauraki Gulf and to rebuild. "It helped us build a strong team," Barker said.

But the America's Cup has always been about boat speed, and the strongest team on Earth can't overcome a speed deficit. The hope here is that TNZ winds up equal, or at least close to it, and it comes down to sailing skill. "That's all you ever want -- equal speed, and let the sailors fight it out," said Ray Davies, TNZ's strategist.

If they can find it, I'd put my money on Team New Zealand to take the Cup back home, where every school kid knows a tack from a jibe. Let the Swiss get back to what they do best -- clocks and chocolates and things.

Still celebrating...!

Here are a couple of great clips lifted off YouTube from TVNZ's coverage of the Louis Vuitton Cup, for those of you out of New Zealand.

The first one is of the presentation yesterday. I love the shot of Yves Carcelle drinking Moet from the Louis Vuitton Cup at the end of the first clip...the second clip is a preview on Day 4 of the finals, but rather a lovely emotive piece (you ex-pats will love it!).

5 Zip!!!

©ACM 2007/Photo:Carlo Borlenghi (double click to enlarge the pics)©Thierry Martinez

© Thierry Martinez

The pictures say it all. Emirates Team New Zealand through to the America's Cup. The Kiwis have been in the Louis Vuitton Cup finals of every America's Cup they've entered, and are the only team to have won the special trophy twice.

...Bruno will be pleased!

More on that theme...

More tshirt ideas:

bonaNZa
boNZer
broNZier
eNZone
faNZine
fraNZy
freNZy
staNZa
uNZip (my favourite!)

Let’s hope we have no use for:

goNZo
wiNZe
dowNZone