Alinghi win the Louis Vuitton Cup in sensational style

by Magnus Wheatley 19 Jan 2003 08:52 GMT

Photo © Thierry Martinez/Alinghi Team

Imperiously and relentlessly Alinghi won the sixth race against Oracle and with it the Louis Vuitton Cup showing undeniable class, boatspeed and raw talent. Russell Coutts and his all-star team hunted down Chris Dickson and the Oracle afterguard to once again prove that at this level and in these boats they are simply in another league. Team New Zealand must now be praying that they have a faster boat as on the water Alinghi are an irresistible force that just don’t make mistakes.

In 9 knots of breeze, flat water and brilliant sunshine, Alinghi entered the starting box from the committee boat end on starboard just before a small windshift filtered down the track in Oracle’s favour. Peter Holmberg went for the cross, sheeted in but Coutts & co spotted it early and hunted down Alinghi’s starboard side. Initially the dial-up was forced but Holmberg broke early and bore away on starboard gybe. Coutts followed just astern and Holmberg made a fatal error of judgement in trying to gybe on to port and cross Alinghi’s bow. Coutts kept his bow down and as Oracle gybed back to keep clear, the Americans were adjudged to have not given room and opportunity whilst failing to keep clear and were handed a penalty to be completed before the end of the race.

So with Dickson on the back foot, the two lined up for the start with Alinghi getting the hook and opting for a split tack start out towards the committee boat end. The breeze dropped as the gun fired to a paltry 7 knots and Oracle was looking fast, trailing out to the port side of the course whilst Alinghi persisted with the right and the starboard advantage. Oracle dialed down into the first 10-degree header, half way up the beat and after the resultant tack back to get in touch, held an early lead. Alinghi closed the game up in the final third of the beat but by the first windward mark it was all Oracle as they lead by 15 seconds.

Both boats bore away and set to their biggest asymmetric kites with Dickson looking decidedly unsteady as Alinghi bore down on their transom three boatlengths astern. In a great display of match-racing Oracle dummy gybed first and Alinghi bought it before both boats angled back up again and carried on down the track on port gybe. Thinking that there was no way they’d pull that one again, Alinghi responded first as Oracle went in for another gybe and again Dickson had called a ‘dummy’. This time Alinghi disengaged and trailed off to the right side of the course but as the two came back together at the bottom mark it was Oracle who had extended into a 28-second lead. Oracle were looking good to get suitably far in front to do their penalty turns but as the breeze filled in and settled to a little under 10 knots, Coutts and his ace trimmers started to put the pedal to the floor.

Dickson was now forced to gamble all and to sail his own race so as Alinghi initiated a tacking duel he disengaged from combat and trailed out towards his ‘lucky left’ side. Just as in Friday’s race the gamble failed and with Coutts getting totally in phase with the shifts up the middle of the course, it was no surprise to see the lead coming down with every tack. Dickson held out to the port layline but as the two came together at the top mark, Alinghi tucked in on the lee-bow of Oracle before storming to a 10-second lead. The mood on Oracle dropped noticeably and even the expected gybing duel was a lacklustre affair as Coutts elected not to cover preferring to gybe on the shifts and sail his own race. With triple Olympic medallist Jochen Schumann calling the wind combined with two-time America’s Cup winner Murray Jones hoisted high up the rig the afterguard on Alinghi were on fire.

Rounding the final leeward mark with a comfortable 24 second lead, Alinghi were not going to make any mistakes and were in no mood to offer up any passing lanes. Marshalling Oracle’s every move, the American team couldn’t get any leverage at all as Coutts closed every door and by the final mark the delta had remained constant and Alinghi were on their victory march. It was devastating sailing. Oracle were in desperate trouble and tried valiantly down the final to get into a position to score a foul. As the wind increased for the first time of the day to just above 10-knots Oracle brought the pressure down on port gybe and snatched a tenuous lead, rolling Alinghi to windward.

However time was running out for Dickson’s men. With Brad Butterworth calling the layline to the finish to absolute perfection, Coutts recaptured the lead, keeping clear of USA-76 as they heated up for the final angle and crossed the line to take the winners gun and the Louis Vuitton Cup. Oracle exonerated their penalty to eventually record a 2 minute 34 second loss whilst there were wild scenes of pandemonium on Alinghi. The Moet bottles came out and the skies filled with champagne spray as syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli congratulated every single one of his team for a truly outstanding display of seamanship and match-racing.

As the two boats towed in to the Viaduct harbour, Auckland erupted and every viewing platform in the downtown village was filled to capacity. All the boats in the harbour fired their horns whilst the Alinghi team succumbed to tradition and every single member of the team received the customary dunking. Yves Carcelle president of Louis Vuitton handed over the Cup to Ernesto Bertarelli and for sure there’s going to be one hell of a party tonight. At the press conference afterward, Larry Ellison announced his intention to challenge again for the Cup and the word on the street is that both Bruce Farr and Chris Dickson have been retained for 2006. After today’s display I’ll bet Larry would give his right arm to have Russell Coutts’s signature on the bottom of an Oracle contract but there are some things that money just can’t buy. Alinghi march on to the finals starting on the 15th February and it’s what they do in the next three weeks that will decide whether the Cup comes to Europe for the first time since 1851. Team New Zealand are waiting in the wings, clip-on and all and America’s Cup XXXI is about to come alive. As the Kiwi’s say, ‘It’s Russ against us’ and their worst nightmare is about to come true. Stay tuned.

Quotes from the boat: (from the Alinghi Media Centre)

Jochen Schuemann, Strategist - "I think that we are ready to go and compete for the America's Cup. To win the Louis Vuitton Cup is a magnificent result, and we are pleased we have achieved our objective. I am happy I am involved in such a team and obviously I include all the sailors who aren't on the boat today who have contributed to our success today."

Russell Coutts, Skipper - "What we have just done is fantastic and we are obviously very happy. Of course, winning is a sensational feeling. And of course, we love that this sensation will be repeated in a few weeks."

Christian Karcher, Grinder - "This is what I have always dreamed of, and it will be even better when the rest of the team joins us on board the boat. But in only three weeks we will encounter Team New Zealand. We are rally happy that we have arrived at this point and we hope that it's contagious."