will the challengers measure up?

The benchmark is set - will the challengers measure up?

Valencia, 08 April, 2007 - The fleet racing of Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13 was the opening act of the decisive year of the 32nd America's Cup. Beginning with the fleet 'unveiling' and continuing with seven races, Act 13 marked the opening of the season, the debut of the final configuration of Port America's Cup and a chance to set the scene for the climax to come.

Ashore, Port America's Cup was bustling with activity. Nearly 230 000 visitors came to the Port to enjoy the racing, sample the new restaurants and cafés, and explore the entertainment on offer. At nearly one-million square metres, Port America's Cup offers a full range of activities, from exhibitions, games and activities, to spectator boats and even a chance to sail on a real America's Cup Class boat.

In addition, there is often a 'special' activity to see or participate in. On Sunday, this was a tennis 'match' on the water featuring Juan Carlos Ferrero and other tennis stars, who are in town for the Comunidad Valenciana Open Tennis Tournament.

In the racing on the water last week, the 11 challengers had an opportunity to take a final look at the Defender, Alinghi, who won't race again before the first race of the 32nd America's Cup Match on June 23rd. They may not have liked what they saw; Alinghi dominated the regatta, winning four of the seven races, and claiming Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13 by a 14 point margin.

Alinghi: Skipper Brad Butterworth must have been pleased with his team's impressive performance, but he knows that from now onwards, Alinghi is on its own, preparing in-house for the America's Cup Match. "It is not an easy game to win," Butterworth said after the prize giving ceremony. "The challengers will develop through the Louis Vuitton Cup. We are going to have to develop outside of it and that is going to be the battle."

Emirates Team New Zealand: The Kiwis came into Act 13 leading the Louis Vuitton Ranking which assigns bonus points to challengers, and they extended their lead by sailing a strong regatta. Skipper Dean Barker didn't sail in the races, handing the wheel to understudy Ben Ainslie, who helmed NZL 84, their first new boat, to second place. "We've certainly had to scrap and fight hard to get second place," Ainslie said. "It's been a good warm up and now we're looking forward to the serious racing."

BMW ORACLE Racing: If the American team had beaten Emirates Team New Zealand, it would have passed them on the Louis Vuitton Ranking and grabbed an extra bonus point. BMW ORACLE started Act 13 strongly, but had some poor results in the middle of the regatta, from which it couldn't recover. In fact, it took some strategic sailing in the final race to preserve second position on the Ranking. "When we went around the bottom mark the Louis Vuitton Ranking points came down to the last lap of the last race. With us winning, Luna Rossa second, Alinghi third and Mascalzone Latino in fourth, Luna Rossa was beating us on the Ranking. We needed to slow them down, slow down the action in order to move Alinghi forward and get back into second overall," explained navigator Peter Isler.

Luna Rossa Challenge: Luna Rossa Challenge wasn't able to pass BMW ORACLE Racing or Emirates on the challenger ranking with its performance in Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13. And on the final day, Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia overhauled them to become top Italian team in the fleet races. But Luna Rossa is still near the top of the challenger ranking and looking forward to the Louis Vuitton Cup. "I am not worried about the result in Act 13," said helmsman James Spithill. "I'm sure when the game gets harder we will be ready for the match racing next week."

Desafío Español 2007: The home side rose to the occasion by winning a race on the final Saturday, pleasing the large crowds in Port America's Cup. More importantly, Desafío Español stayed finished close enough behind Mascalzone Latino to preserve an extra bonus point. "We are very happy with our performance. Our boat speed and crew work are fine," said helmsman Karol Jablonski. "It is about learning about the boat and the crew for the Louis Vuitton Cup which is most important for us."

Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team: Vincenzo Onorato's squad made a strong impression in Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13, finishing in third spot, just one point behind the Kiwis. Importantly, they were the best of the three Italian teams in the opening regatta of 2007. "We sailed really well. Now we have to be careful to keep the level up," said skipper Vasco Vascotto. "I think its going to be a hard America's Cup but our guys are well prepared. The stress will disappear and we will start to enjoy it."

Victory Challenge: The Swedes didn't make the mark they wanted to in Act 13, but recovered from a horrible first day to improve towards the end of the regatta, although they couldn't climb higher than eighth place on the leaderboard. But the team has two bonus points, and is focussed on the match racing of the Louis Vuitton Cup. "We are happy with the boat's performance, and I think we are all very even," said Santiago Lange, who works the traveller on the boat. "In this Act we have struggled with the fleet racing and made mistakes, especially on the first few days. Our team is much more focused on match racing. Fleet racing is very different."

Team Shosholoza: The South Africans achieved all of their goals in Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13, finishing in seventh place, which was good enough to move up the Louis Vuitton Ranking and steal an extra bonus point. The team was often among the leaders early in the races and finished as high as second place. "We achieved our goal to move into the two point group for the Louis Vuitton Cup," said skipper Mark Sadler. "We've had some disappointing races but we've also learned a lot."

Areva Challenge: It was a difficult Louis Vuitton Act for the French team, who were unable to hold off the charge by Shosholoza. Areva Challenge slipped down the Louis Vuitton Ranking with its ninth place finish in Act 13, and surrendered a bonus point in the process. "We have to find an efficient way of working to perform well and score points right from the beginning of the Round Robins," said Tanguy Cariou, strategist on the boat. "FRA 93 has real potential. We just have to work to develop it and get the most out of it. We don't have much time, but we know we can do better than the ninth place here."

+39 Challenge: The third Italian challenger burst out of the gates to lead the fleet around much of the first race, before an unexpected wind shift shuffled the fleet and left them in 10th place. They were up among the leaders again in Race Three when disaster struck. A collision with the German boat resulted in a dismasting, the brand new spar tumbling to the deck. +39 Challenge won its protest and received redress from the Jury, resulting in it earning two bonus points. But the team hasn't been able to sail since the collision and is now focussed on repairing the mast in time for the Louis Vuitton Cup.

United Internet Team Germany: The Germans had some good results early, but were unnerved by their collision with +39 Challenge. The team is well down on the Louis Vuitton Ranking table, but determined to improve for the Louis Vuitton Cup. "Since our accident with +39 we changed our rig to an older one and we seem to have problems with it upwind," admitted trimmer Matti Paschen. "We were better off the first days racing here."

China Team: A back marker in most of the Louis Vuitton Acts, China Team was more competitive with the new CHN 95, although still under prepared in comparison to the rest of the fleet. "Act 13 was training for us," said bowman Gilles Andre. "But we can identify the things we need to improve. The races are starting to be a lot more compact and manoeuvres more fluent so we have started to be a bit of a nuisance to the others. That is giving us confidence to continue making progress and give our all for the start of Louis Vuitton Cup."

The Louis Vuitton Cup

The challengers will begin racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup on April 16th. The teams will begin the Round Robin section of the event armed with the bonus points they've earned through the Louis Vuitton Ranking. In the Round Robins, a victory is worth two points, so each bonus point is equivalent to half a win. At the conclusion of the second Round Robin, only four teams will advance to the Semi Final, with the top two meeting in the Final. The winner claims the Louis Vuitton Cup and earns the right to race Alinghi in the 32nd America's Cup Match.

Louis Vuitton Ranking

Team

Cumulative Ranking

Points

Ranking

Bonus Points

1

Emirates Team New Zealand

158

1

4

2

BMW ORACLE Racing

147

2

3

3

Luna Rossa Challenge

145

3

3

4

Desafío Español 2007

106

4

3

5

Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia

103

5

2

6

Victory Challenge

83

6

2

7

Team Shosholoza

73

7

2

8

Areva Challenge

72

8

1

9

+39 Challenge

66

9

2*

10

United Internet Team Germany

42

10

1

11

China Team

18

11

1

* Awarded redress by the Jury

______________

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Since 1851, the America's Cup has transcended the sport of sailing to become a symbol of the pursuit of excellence. Offical partners LOUIS VUITTON, ENDESA, SANTANDER, ALCATEL - LUCENT and the America's Cup share a heritage rich in passion, innovation and extraordinary achievement. The 32nd America's Cup enjoys the support of Nespresso, Adecco, Ford, El Corte Inglés, Estrella Damm, Grupo Leche Pascual, Coca-Cola and Vodafone.

Racing for the 32nd America's Cup began with a series of Louis Vuitton Acts in 2004, 2005 and 2006 across Europe. It will end in 2007. Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13 - Fleet Racing - (April 3 to 7) precedes the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger selection series (April 16 - June 12). The winner will race the Defender, Alinghi, in the 32nd America's Cup Match beginning June 23, 2007.

ENDS

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