Final
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||
| Emirates Team New Zealand | 5 | ||||||
| Desafío Español 2007 | 2 | ||||||
| Emirates Team New Zealand | 5 | ||||||
| Luna Rossa Challenge | 0 | ||||||
| Luna Rossa Challenge | 5 | ||||||
| BMW Oracle Racing | 1 | ||||||
The Finals of the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup pitted Luna Rossa Challenge against Emirates Team New Zealand. Both boats had decisive results in the Semi-Finals, where Luna Rossa Challenge defeated BMW Oracle Racing 5-1, and Emirates Team New Zealand defeated Desafío Español 2007 5-2.
The two teams raced against each other in each of the two Round Robins. Luna Rossa Challenge won their race in Round Robin 1 on 26 April 2007 by 48 seconds. Emirates Team New Zealand won their race in Round Robin 2 on 7 May 2007 by 36 seconds.
Prior to the Final, expert commentators were fairly unanimous that Emirates Team New Zealand were in top form but Luna Rossa Challenge had improved since the Round Robins as evidenced by their comprehensive beating of BMW Oracle Racing, one of the favourites, in their semi-final. In the best of 9 race final Emirates Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa Challenge 5 - 0. However to put this into context, Luna Rossa Challenge 'worst' defeat was in race 3 when Emirates Team New Zealand were only 0:1:38 seconds faster in a race lasting 1:35:37 i.e. a 1.71% performance advantage. In the other 4 races the performance margin was even smaller.
Luna Rossa Challenge won the toss prior to the first race of the Final which gave them the advantage of entering the starting area from the "yellow" side.
In the results tables below, the team with the advantage of entering the starting area from the yellow side (entering from the right-hand side on starboard tack) is marked with . This is decided for the first race by the toss of a coin; then the advantage of starting from the yellow side alternates race by race.
| Date | Team 1 | Team 2 | Winner | Delta | Score | Timings | Race Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:08 | 1 - 0 | ETNZ led by 12 secs at the 1st mark and only 8 secs at the finish. A quote from the LVC organisers press release read, "high-quality match racing of the highest order, the outcome of the race decided on the tiniest of details." | |
| June 2, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:40 | 0 - 2 | ETNZ crossed the start line at full speed. LRC were squeezed to the right and forced to tack at slow speed away from ETNZ who then controlled the race through to the finish. | |
| June 3, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 1:38 | 3 - 0 | LRC won the start but ETNZ picked up a favourable wind shift to be ahead at the 1st mark and then extended their lead through to the finish. | |
| June 5, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:52 | 0 - 4 | A split-tack start, LRC was ahead at the 1st cross. At 2nd cross, LRC did not force their starboard advantage and tacked to leeward. ETNZ took LRC beyond the layline for the first mark, rounded 15 secs ahead and were never threatened through to the finish. | |
| June 6, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL-92) | Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA-94) | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:22 | 5 - 0 | LRC made a significant change from race four with longer wings on its keel in hopes of better upwind speed but with a penalty of more drag downwind. After remeasurement, both LRC boats did some quick testing. Race 5 began with LRC at full speed and a 1 second lead over ETNZ. However, by the first mark, ETNZ led by 20 secs. The remainder of the race entailed LRC catching ETNZ but then dropping back. At one point in the last downwind leg LRC were within one boat length but dropped back before the finish. |
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