The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and ''

Match Race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consi ...

'' in the sport of

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

. As per the

Deed of Gift of the America's Cup The Deed of Gift of the America's Cup is the primary instrument that governs the rules to make a valid challenge for the America's Cup and the rules of conduct of the races. The current version of the deed of gift is the third revision of the orig ...

the yacht club that holds the Cup is the one that chooses the location for the next challenge to take place. '' Alinghi'', the syndicate representing the

Société Nautique de Genève The Société Nautique de Genève is a yacht club based in Geneva (Switzerland). It was founded in 1872 with the goal of developing nautical sports and high level sailors. Currently the club has about 3000 members. The club held the America's Cup ...

, the winners of the thirty-first edition, are based in Switzerland which is a

landlocked country A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked de facto states. Kazakhstan is the world's largest ...

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

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Palma de Mallorca,

Porto Cervo Porto Cervo (; ) is an Italian seaside resort in northern Sardinia. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Arzachena, in the province of Sassari. Created by Prince Karim Aga Khan and various other investors, Porto Cervo is the main centre of Co ...

and

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...

were eliminated. The four finalists were Cascais (near Lisbon),

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

(ITA) and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. On November 27, 2003, it was announced that the venue would be

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. A new building, ''

Veles e Vents Veles may refer to: *Veles (god), Slavic deity * Veles Municipality, in North Macedonia *Veles, North Macedonia, a city, seat of the municipality, formerly called Titov Veles * Veles Bastion, Stribog Mountains on Brabant Island, Antarctica *Veles, ...

'' designed by David Chipperfield, 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, t ...

. 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 Cup i ...

, became the ''Challenger'' and raced against the ''Defender'', Alinghi, 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 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 Cup i ...

narrowly won over second place American challenger BMW Oracle Racing and third place Swiss defender Team Alinghi. The schedule of Acts in 2005 included Acts 4 and 5 in

(June 16-June 26), Acts 6 and 7 in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

, Sweden (August 25-September 4) and Acts 8 and 9 in

Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an imp ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

(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 Peter William Holmberg (born October 4, 1960) is a sailor from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who won a silver medal in Men's Finn class in the 1988 Summer Olympics, making him the only Virgin Islander medalist so far. He was born on Saint T ...

Mike Drummond Mike Drummond is a New Zealand sailor and yacht designer who is a member of the America's Cup Hall of Fame. Drummond was born in Christchurch and joined New Zealand Challenge before the 1987 America's Cup and he then helped to design, and sail ...

, Matt Mitchell, Brian Sharp, Mark Newbrook, Jordi Calafat, Nicholas Texier and Craig Satherwaite.

Grant Simmer Grant Simmer (born 1957) is an Australian sailor and yacht designer who has competed in multiple America's Cups. He sailed as navigator on ''Australia II'' when it won the 1983 America's Cup. He stayed with Alan Bond's syndicate and was navigato ...

was the managing director and

Jochen Schümann Jochen Schümann (, ; born 8 June 1954 in East Berlin) is a German sailor and three-time Olympic champion. He competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he won a gold medal in the ''finn class''. He competed in the Soling class a ...

the sports director.

Emirates Team New Zealand

Ben Ainslie Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie (born 5 February 1977) is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four consecutiv ...

and Kelvin Harrap 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 America's Cup, 2007 America's Cup, 2007 America's Cup, 2007 March 2007 sports events in Europe