The Swedish team Victory Challenge is the eighth challenger in the 2007 America's Cup regattas. The Swedes had already been accepted by the America's Cup management before the entry deadline in December, but did not want their participation to be officially announced until now.
It was therefore long suspected that the American team Sausalito Challenge was behind the ominous challenger. However, no official decision has yet been made regarding their application for a place in the field of participants.
The Swedes, who cut an excellent figure as newcomers in the last Cup under the leadership of Jesper Bank - they were narrowly beaten by Prada in the quarter-finals and finished in fifth place - will once again be supported by Hugo Stenbeck. The son of Jan Stenbeck took over his father's media empire and the team management of the Cup syndicate after his death during the last Louis Vuitton Cup.
This time the skipper is the renowned match racer Magnus Holmberg, who shared the helm with Jesper Bank in 2003. The Dane Bank had also negotiated with the Swedes for a long time, but was unable to reach an agreement with them. He eventually switched to the German team Fresh Seventeen.
The challenging club is new for Victory. In 2003 it was the Gothenburg Yacht Club, now the Gamla Stans Yacht Club in Stockholm is behind the challenge. The official sponsors of the campaign are the media companies Modern Times Group and Tele2 telecom, both of which belong to the Stenbeck Group
Victory still has two America's Cup yachts, the SWE-63 ("Örn") and the SWE-73 ("Orm"), designed by Mani Frers. Both yachts will be converted to version five for the Louis Vuitton Acts in 2005 and 2006.
Rumours also emerged today that the Stars&Stripes yachts from Team Dennis Conner have been sold to Malaysia. A new team is apparently being formed there.
John Sweeney from Sausalito Challenge has also announced good news. Last week, he held out the prospect of a place on the sailing team for anyone who pays ten million euros. A sheikh, a rapper and a footballer have already expressed interest. However, he also announced that his team could survive without the ten million.
