The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

and was won by

Alinghi Alinghi, or Alinghi Red Bull Racing because of the sports marketing branding by Red Bull, is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup, as well as ...

in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and '' Match Race'' in the sport of sailing. As per the Deed of Gift of the America's Cup the yacht club that holds the Cup is the one that chooses the location for the next challenge to take place. ''

'', the syndicate representing the Société Nautique de Genève, the winners of the thirty-first edition, are based in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

which is a landlocked country, so ''Alinghi'' put the hosting rights out to a competitive bid process. During a preliminary selection the bids of Barcelona,

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

, Porto Cervo and Elba were eliminated. The four finalists were

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

(near

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

), Marseille, Naples (ITA) and Valencia. On November 27, 2003, it was announced that the venue would be Valencia, Spain. A new building, '' Veles e Vents'' designed by

David Chipperfield Sir David Alan Chipperfield, (born 18 December 1953) is an English architect. He established David Chipperfield Architects in 1985. His major works include the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (1989–1998); the Museum ...

, was built in the harbour of Valencia to house the central base for all the America's Cup teams. By winning the 32nd America's Cup, ''Alinghi'' changed what seemed to have become a tradition: that the winner of race three goes on to win the match. Emirates Team New Zealand, despite winning the third heat, was not able to capture the Cup. The score of the 32nd America's Cup has also differentiated the match from previous editions. The past three America's Cups – 1995, 2000 and 2003 – were all sweeps. Eleven challengers from nine countries submitted formal entries prior to the closing deadline of April 29, 2005.

Challenger selection - Louis Vuitton Cup 2007

In preparation for the 2007 America's Cup, there were a series of regattas leading up to the Cup races, called "Acts" which culminated in the

2007 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain, from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, ...

. The winner,

Emirates Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Team New Zealand became a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the America's Cu ...

, became the ''Challenger'' and raced against the ''Defender'',

, for the America's Cup. In 2004, there were three acts, Act 1 held September 2004 in Marseille, France; Act 2 held October 2004 in Valencia, Spain; and Act 3 held October 2004, also in Valencia. These events featured fleet and match racing between America's Cup class yachts representing the syndicates that were vying for selection as challenger for the America's Cup in 2007. Points were awarded for each Act, and the team with the highest score at the end of the year is declared the ACC (America's Cup Class) Champion for that year. In 2004, Emirates Team New Zealand narrowly won over second place American challenger BMW Oracle Racing and third place Swiss defender Team

. The schedule of Acts in 2005 included Acts 4 and 5 in Valencia (June 16-June 26), Acts 6 and 7 in Malmö,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

(August 25-September 4) and Acts 8 and 9 in Trapani, Italy (September 29-October 9).

2007 America's Cup program and results

All races were run on a windward-leeward course consisting of four legs with legs 1 and 4 being in length, and legs 2 and 3 being for a total of . In the results table below, the team entering the starting area from the side (i.e. entering from the right-hand side on starboard tack) has a slight advantage. The team was decided for the first race by the toss of a coin. side advantage then alternates race by race.

Race Deltas

Crew

Alinghi

Peter Evans sailed the training boat for Alinghi. Other team members included Peter Holmberg, Mike Drummond, Matt Mitchell, Brian Sharp, Mark Newbrook,

Jordi Calafat Jordi Calafat (born 27 June 1968) is a Spanish sailor and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in the 470 Class at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, together with Kiko Sánchez. He joined Alinghi and helped them prepare for the 2007 ...

, Nicholas Texier and

Craig Satherwaite __NOTOC__ Craig may refer to: Geology *Craig (landform), a rocky hill or mountain often having large casims or sharp intentations. People (and fictional characters) *Craig (surname) *Craig (given name) Places Scotland *Craig, Angus, aka Barony of ...

. Grant Simmer was the managing director and Jochen Schümann the sports director.

Emirates Team New Zealand

Ben Ainslie and

Kelvin Harrap Kelvin Harrap (born 1970) is a New Zealand sailor who has represented his country at the Summer Olympics and sailed in multiple America's Cups and Volvo Ocean Races. Harrap was born 1970 in Napier, New Zealand. He sailed the 1993–94 Whitbrea ...

sailed the training boat for Team New Zealand.

References and notes

External links

32nd America's Cup Official Website

Peter Lester
NZ yachting commentator
AC 32 Challenger Commission
Official website of the Challenger Commission for the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia
Team Alinghi
Official website the America's Cup Defender
BMW Oracle Racing
Official website of Challenger of Record of the America's Cup
CupInfo.com
America's Cup News and Information for 2007
America's Cup News, articles & photosValencia Sailing
Website with original photos and commentary on all America's Cup related activity
Cup In Europe web site
Exhaustive information, photos and commentary in French.
Coupe de l'America
French website about the competition.
Mariantic
America's Cup News & Views
2007AC.com - America's Cup ForumsSouth African team websiteThe effect of the America's cup on the city of Valencia
article at ErasmusPC {{America'sCup

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

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