Just three spots remain open for the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act 1 after two French teams and a team from South Africa, have signed to participate in the first three Acts of the 32nd America’s Cup.

With space limited to just eight slots due to space restrictions, five teams have now confirmed their intention to race in the first Act held in Marseille from 5-11 September 2004.

The Defender of the America’s Cup, the Swiss Alinghi team, and the Challenger of Record, the U.S. Oracle BMW Racing team will race in Act 1. including the French teams, Le Défi and the K-Challenge, who will both race in front of a home crowd, as well as South Africa’s Shosholoza team who will make their first appearance in America’s Cup racing.

Stephan Kandler, the CEO of the K-Challenge said; “First, we want to show our current sponsors and our potential partners what the America’s Cup has to offer in Europe. Secondly, it’s an ideal opportunity for us to evaluate some of the personnel we are recruiting, and to train our sailors. We’re very excited about it.”

Luc Gellusseau, the Operations Manager for Le Défi agrees.”We want to be part of this. The America’s Cup is in Europe and it is important for us to demonstrate what this means to our partners. With the first Act being sailed in Marseille, it was a very easy decision to make.”

Act 1 of the 32nd America’s Cup, the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act, runs from the 5-11 September 2004 combining Fleet and Match Racing. The opening of the event park, a parade through Marseille’s Vieux Port, and practice racing will take place on Saturday 4 September.

Act 2 of the 32nd America’s Cup, the first Valencia Louis Vuitton Act, is a Match Racing event from the 5-12 October 2004.

Act 3 of the 32nd America’s Cup, the second Valencia Louis Vuitton Act, is a Fleet Racing event, from the 14-17 of October 2004.

For more information log onto www.americascup.com