For those who felt that the 33rd America’s Cup lacked the cut and trust action of a multi-challenger event in closely matched boats, Team New Zealand’s CEO Kevin Shoebridge had some good news.

“If we get all the races in we could see 55 races in two weeks,” he said as he outlined the logistics behind the first event of the 2010 Louis Vuitton Trophy which kicks off on Tuesday here in Auckland.

“Although it seems like a simple format with eight teams and two boats, there’s a potential for plenty of problems along the way. It’s a huge amount of wear and tear and a huge amount of maintenance. We’ve got 45 guys maintaining the boats, 20 guys in the shore crew, seven sailmakers plus chase boat drivers.”

Coming just three weeks after the two boat Deed of Gift 33rd Americas Cup in Valencia, many see this four regatta series, which is organised by the World Sailing Team Association (WSTA), as being the first step towards the next America’s Cup cycle. Last year the regatta, which was then called the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, proved to be very successful in luring teams with future Cup aspirations. Since then a regatta was held in Nice in November last year with further events planned in Sardinia, Dubai and Hong Kong over the next 10 months. 

Among those competing in Auckland, Emirates Team New Zealand is the only team to remain in the same guise as for the 32nd America’s Cup. The remaining seven, while consisting of many familiar names on the various crew lists, are assembled in newly formed teams.

The racing will take place off North Head in the Waitemata harbour and be broadcast live on the internet.

Tuesday’s racing is due to start at 1000 (local) with the following pairings:

Race 1 : All4One in NZL 84 vs Mascalzone Latino in NZL92
Race 2 : TEAMORIGIN in NZL 84 vs Azzurra in NZL 92
Race 3 : Artemis in NZL 84 vs ETNZ in NZL 92
Race 4 : Aleph in NZL 92 vs Synergy in NZL 84

HOW TO WATCH

CLICK HERE for free live online viewer

Racing will be broadcast live online throughout the event and include TV from three cameras plus extensive Virtual Eye animations and audio off the boats.

LINKS
Louis Vuitton Trophy Official Site
Results

RACE SCHEDULE
10:00am (21:00 GMT): Opening trailer and welcome by Peter Lester
10:00 – 10:05 Weather, races of the day information, further news
10:05 Start procedure;
Approximately 16:30 (03:30 GMT) Finish live race broadcast
Approx. 18:00 (05:00 GMT) Press conference
Approx. 18:30 (05:30 GMT) Highlights of the races go on air
21:30 – 1:00 (08:30 GMT) Replay of the broadcast of the day

EVENT SCHEDULE
March 9 ‐ 15: Start of racing; Round Robin 1
March 16: Alternate Race Day
March 17: Elimination Round I
March 18 – 19: Elimination Round II; Semi‐Finals (best of three)
March 20 – 21: Semi‐Finals; Finals (best of seven)

TEAMS
Team Origin (Great Britain: Skipper Ben Ainslie)
Mascalzone Latino (Italy, Skipper: Gavin Brady)
Azzura (Italy, Skipper: Francesco Bruni)
All4One (France/Germany, Skipper: Jochen Schumann)
Synergy Russian Sailing Team (Russia, Skipper: Karol Jablonski)
Emirates Team New Zealand (Skipper: Dean Barker)
Artemis (Sweden, Skipper: Paul Cayard)
Aleph Sailing Team (France, Skipper: Bertrand Pace)

SKY TV COVERAGE IN UK
Louis Vuitton Trophy 16/03/10 18:00 Sky Sports 3
Louis Vuitton Trophy 16/03/10 23:00 Sky Sports 3
Louis Vuitton Trophy 16/03/10 26:00 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 17/03/10 09:00 Sky Sports 2
 
Louis Vuitton Trophy 2 17/03/10 18:00 Sky Sports 3
Louis Vuitton Trophy 2 17/03/10 22:00 Sky Sports 4
Louis Vuitton Trophy 2 17/03/10 23:30 Sky Sports 3
Louis Vuitton Trophy 2 17/03/10 26:30 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 2 18/03/10 09:00 Sky Sports 2
 
Louis Vuitton Trophy 3 18/03/10 18:00 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 3  18/03/10 23:30 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 3 18/03/10 28:00 Sky Sports 3
Louis Vuitton Trophy 3 19/03/10 09:30 Sky Sports 2
 
Louis Vuitton Trophy 4 19/03/10 18:00 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 4 19/03/10 23:30 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 4 19/03/10 26:30 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 4 20/03/10 06:30 Sky Sports 3
 
Louis Vuitton Trophy 5 20/03/10 18:00 Sky Sports 4
Louis Vuitton Trophy 5 20/03/10 23:30 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 5 20/03/10 29:00 Sky Sports 3
Louis Vuitton Trophy 5 21/03/10 10:00 Sky Sports 3
 
Louis Vuitton Trophy 6 21/03/10 18:00 Sky Sports 4
Louis Vuitton Trophy 6  21/03/10 23:30 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 6 21/03/10 29:00 Sky Sports 2
Louis Vuitton Trophy 6 22/03/10 10:00 Sky Sports 4
 
Louis Vuitton Trophy 7 22/03/10 18:00 Sky Sports 3
Louis Vuitton Trophy 7 22/03/10 25:00 Sky Sports 4
Louis Vuitton Trophy 7 22/03/10 28:30 Sky Sports 4