Dean Barker didn't bat an eyelid at the official press conference when he announced the team's decision to compete against BMW Oracle. No fun, no smiles, no laughing matter. And Chris Dickson accepted the choice just as stoically. His succinct comment: "We are looking forward to exciting races."
The BMW Oracle skipper is under pressure. The preliminary round was disappointing with three defeats against the big teams. And there are few signs that the Americans are only sailing at half strength. That probably won't work with Larry Ellison on board either.
Rolf Vrolijk at any rate considers BMW Oracle to be the weakest of the three new top boats so far. And as if that wasn't enough, Russell Coutts has also come out of the woodwork. He believes that Luna Rossa will win the Louis Vuitton Cup final against Team New Zealand at the same time next year, only to go down without a chance against Alinghi.
The cards will be completely reshuffled once again today in the knockout round. The first four teams start from scratch. The winners of the two semi-finals - which require two match wins - will then meet in the final.
The same procedure will be followed in the other two divisions. This means that Team Germany, which is currently in eleventh place, can still reach ninth place in its division with a win, which would certainly be a success.
Meanwhile, the protest by opponents +39 was rejected. The Italians believed that the tie with Areva Challenge and Shosholoza had to be resolved in a different way. As a result, the South Africans won the tie-breaker due to their better placing in the previous Act. They are allowed to sail in the second division.
Next year, the mode for the Louis Vuitton Cup will be slightly different. (see www.yacht.de/yo/powerslave,id,250,nodeid,250,ps_lo,.html ). Two round robin series are sailed and only the best four teams make it to the semi-finals.
