The draw for the Act 4 match races starting today in Valencia has determined Spain as the first opponent for the German team. After that, the French await.
For Jesper Bank, the opponent is unlikely to play a major role. His team is primarily concerned with getting the ship across the course without any major damage. After a week of training, any victory would be a surprise.
Because all the other teams are further along in their preparations. The boats with which they will be competing in Valencia give an indication of this.
The South Africans are launching their latest ship. RSA 83 was only completed a few weeks ago. After problems with the new mast, it was even questionable whether the team would be able to compete at all. They are now said to have bought a second-hand rig and trained with it for a maximum of two days.
NZL 82 from Team New Zealand, on the other hand, has already been pushed to its limits and beyond. In the Cup final, which was lost 5-0, it almost sank when water sloshed in. The side decks have now been raised and the much-discussed "hula" hull appendage has been removed.
ITA 77 from the Capitalia-Mascalzone team is Dennis Conner's legendary "Stars & Stripes", which sank off Long Beach in 2002 after the rudder stock broke. The ship could not be raised and repaired in time for the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup, but replaced its sister ship USA 66 for the quarter-finals. It eliminated the British, but lost 4:0 to One World.
USA 76 from BMW Oracle is the boat that at least scored a victory against Alinghi in the Louis Vuitton Cup final (1:5). It was extensively converted from a strong-wind racer to a light-wind racer, and many thought it was faster than the New Zealanders' boat.
SUI 75 is Alinghi's latest boat. However, it was never used in the Cup races. It even tested the "Hula" for a while. The boat will sail its first official regatta in Act 4.
ITA 74 sailed all races in the Louis Vuitton Cup for Prada in 2002 and was particularly successful in the second round robin with 7:1 victories. The team then fell out with designer Laurie Davidson and gave the boat new bow sections. It won 4:0 against Victory, but was narrowly eliminated in the semi-final with a 2:3 loss against One World.
GER 72 from United Internet Team Germany comes from Mascalzone Latino, the only team that only built one boat for the last Cup. It finished in last place and only managed to win one of 16 races against the French.
CHN 69 from Team China is the former bright yellow boat of the French team Le Défi, which only just missed out on last place, losing 4:1 to Victory in the quarter-finals. The boat was sailed by the French in the previous acts, although they did not yet have a sponsor.
SWE 63 is the older of the two Swedish Victory Challenge boats. "Örn" only sailed in the first round robin at the Louis Vuitton Cup and was then replaced by "Orm".
FRA 60 is at the start for K-Challenge. The French have leased the ship from the New Zealanders and converted it to version 5. It is one of the oldest ships at the start.
ITA 59 from Team +39 is even older, but has already served Alinghi well. The old "be happy" for the first Swiss team FAST 2000 was modified by Alinghi within the maximum permitted rules and was able to keep up with the later Cup winner SUI 64 for a very long time in training for 2002.
The pairings this Thursday:
Flight 1
NZL 82 vs FRA 60
ITA 74 vs ITA 77
ESP 67 vs GER 72
SWE 63 vs USA 76
ITA 59 vs RSA 83
SUI 75 vs CHN 69
Flight 2
ITA 77 vs NZL 82
GER 72 vs FRA 60
ESP 67 vs ITA 74
SWE 63 vs ITA 59
RSA 83 vs SUI 75
USA 76 vs CHN 69
