Louis Vuitton Cup - America's Cup

[SANDRO43]

LUNA ROSSA batte BMW ORACLE e va in finale !
Valencia, 20th May 2007
Prada's Luna Rossa (ITA-94) won today her 5th regatta against Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle Racing (USA-98), the American entry that flopped despite high expectations and the event's highest budget, estimated to be $270 million.

BMW's Kiwi CEO, skipper and helmsman Chris Dixon was replaced today by backup helmsman Sten Mohr, after being inflicted an unprecedented 2 penalties in yesterday's regatta pre-start phase by Luna Rossa's Aussie helmsman James Spithill.

Luna Rossa will meet the winner of the other semi-final (Emirates Team New Zealand and Desafio Espanol, now 4-2) in the Louis Vuitton Cup final round, which designates the contender to America's Cup defender, Swiss Alinghi.   

[Dan C.]

Hmmm . . . . okay, so we have a boating competition called the America's Cup with no American boat in yet.  Which means we could not win the cup back from Switzerland, a landlocked nation.  If this does not say America is in decline, I don't know what does! 

[SANDRO43]

Dan C., don't be a glutton :

The cup, originally offered as the Royal Yacht Squadron cup, is now named after the first yacht to win the trophy, the schooner America. The trophy remained in the hands of the New York Yacht Club of the United States from 1852 or 1857 (when the syndicate that won the Cup donated the trophy to the club) until 1983 when the Cup was won by the challenger, Australia II of Australia, ending the longest winning streak in the history of sport. For the first time in 132 years, America had lost the "cup" to another country.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Cup)

[SANDRO43]

For the second time in the past 5 years, Luna Rossa lost 5-0 the final round of the Louis Vuitton Cup regattas to the Kiwis, who will therefore be the contenders to America's Cup defender, Swiss Alinghi.

Post-facto analysis blamed the defeat on a few wrong calls by the usually-uncanny Luna Rossa tactician, Brazilian Torben Grael, and the boat's design, aimed at winds in the 16-knot range, while the narrower Kiwi boat was more suited to the then-prevailing lighter winds in the 10-knot range, allowing her to sail more close-hauled and to be more agile in turns.

[Dan C.]

Darn!!     I read that half the Italian boat's crew are Americans, so I was rooting for them!