Louis Vuitton TrophyNice Côte d’AzurDate7–22 November 2009Winner AzzurraLocationNice The Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Côte d’Azur was the first in a series of regattas that compete for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. The regatta was held in Nice between 7 and 22 November 2009. The Louis Vuitton Trophy format uses existing International America's Cup Class yachts loaned to the regatta by various America's Cup racing syndicates, keeping costs relatively low for the competing teams.
The Louis Vuitton Trophy was organised after the success of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series and the continued legal battle surrounding the America's Cup yachting competition at the time. Because of the long delays from the legal action, and the fact that the 2010 America's Cup became a Deed of Gift match without a defender or challenger selection series, the Louis Vuitton Trophy series was established as a competition for other America's Cup racing syndicates.
The Nice event was hosted by ALL4ONE Challenge and Club Nautique de Nice.
The Yachts
For the event Mascalzone Latino provided ITA-90 and ITA-99 while All4One and Team Origin loaned FRA-93 and GBR-75 respectively.Preparations gather pace for Louis Vuitton Trophy - Nice WSTA, October 21st 2009After the arrival of the two Mascalzone Latino ACC boats the four boats to be raced in Nice are now all present WSTA, October 26th 2009
Teams Eight teams participated in the Nice event. Despite loaning two boats to the event, Mascalzone Latino did not participate.
RankingCountryTeamClubSkipperNotes1AzzurraYacht Club Costa SmeraldaFrancesco Bruni, Tommaso Chieffi2Team New ZealandRoyal New Zealand Yacht SquadronDean Barker3Synergy Russian Sailing TeamKarol Jabłoński4Team OriginRoyal Thames Yacht ClubBen Ainslie5/ALL4ONE ChallengeCercle de la Voile de Paris/Kieler Yacht-ClubSébastien Col, Jochen SchümannHost6BMW Oracle RacingGolden Gate Yacht ClubGavin Brady, Hamish Pepper7Team ArtemisRoyal Swedish Yacht ClubPaul Cayard8TFS - Pages JaunesBertrand Pacé
The Races
Round Robin One 7 November - 14 November Up to four flights per day were scheduled through the conclusion of the round robin and lasted no longer than one hour in duration. The first three days were characterised by light winds and only two races were completed each day. However, on day four the race organisers completed four full flights (eight races) to get the regatta back on schedule. Team NameRacesWL Team New Zealand761 Azzurra761 Team Origin751 Team Artemis734 Synergy Russian Sailing734 BMW Oracle Racing734 ALL4ONE Challenge725 TFS - Pages Jaunes707TNZBORARTA4OTFSSYNAZZORGTotal TNZ11111106 BOR01110003 ART00011013 A4OR0110002TFS00000000SYN01011 003AZZ01111116ORG1101110 5 A = Abandoned, P = Postponed, R = Retired
Round Robin Two 14 November-18 November Stage 2 was a half round robin where the top four teams raced the bottom four teams. As the half round robin was not completed, teams received half points for matches sailed twice.
Team NameRacesWLRR1TotalPoints Team New Zealand330696 Synergy Russian Sailing330364.5 Azzurra413674.5 Team Origin431584.5 BMW Oracle Racing413343 Team Artemis422353 ALL4ONE Challenge413232 TFS - Pages Jaunes413010.5SYNBORA4OTFSTotal TNZ111A3 AZZ01001 ORG011 13 ART00112 TNZAZZORGARTTotal SYNA1113 BOR00011 A4O01001 TFS01001 A = Abandoned, P = Postponed, R = Retired
Knock-Out Series 19 November-22 November Stage 3 is the knockout semifinals and final.
Ranking Phase Teams in the bottom half of the Round Robin will sail off for places 5-8.
Finals As Team New Zealand won the Round Robin, they got to choose their Semi Final opponents from the top four. The first to score two wins will win each series.
*Team New Zealand were penalised a point and Synergy was penalised half a point for failing to avoid a collision. Synergy were then further penalised half a point for not doing everything to keep clear in the same incident.International jury finds against Synergy in protest hearing LTV, 20 November 2009
2009 Louis Vuitton Trophy NiceAzzurraFirst Title
Junior Series During the regatta forty junior French sailors competed in Open Bic boats. The winner received an Open Bic boat and a chance to be 18th man during the Trophy finals.Future champions of the Louis Vuitton Trophy LVT, 17 November 2009
References
External links cupinfo.com www.louisvuittontrophy.com/home/ - Official Website