Semi-finals
As winner of the round-robin events Emirates Team New Zealand won the right to choose their opponent in the semi-finals and chose Desafío Español 2007. Hence BMW Oracle Racing raced against Luna Rossa Challenge in the other semi-final. The first team in each semi-final to win 5 races then qualified for the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Each pairing had raced against each other twice in the preceding round-robin events.
In their previous meetings, Emirates Team New Zealand had a 2-0 record against Desafío Español 2007 with winning margins of 1:12 and 0:43. In their semi-final competition Emirates Team New Zealand always led at the 1st mark and beat Desafío Español 2007 5-2, advancing to the finals.
Likewise, BMW Oracle Racing had a 2-0 record against Luna Rossa Challenge with winning margins of 0:06 and 0:19 but were comprehensively beaten 1-5 by Luna Rosa Challenge in their semi-final. Superior tactics by Luna Rossa Challenge in the pre-start sequences were a significant factor in their semi-final win. Luna Rossa Challenge advanced to face Emirates Team New Zealand in the finals.
| Date | Team 1 | Team 2 | Winner | Delta | Score | Timings | Race Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 14, 2007 | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 2:19 | 0 - 1 | Teams split tacks from the start and sailed to opposite sides of the race course. For most of the race the boats sailed well apart on very different courses but LRC took much better advantage of very variable wind patterns to win. | |
| May 14, 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:43 | 0 - 1 | ETNZ won the start and sailed a defensive race keeping a loose cover on DE2007 throughout the race. | |
| May 15, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:40 | 2 - 0 | ETNZ won the start and easily controlled the race throughout. | |
| May 15, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge | BMW Oracle Racing | BMW Oracle Racing | 0:13 | 1 - 1 | LRC was again strong in the pre-start manoeuvres, won the start and lead throughout until the last leg. A tense struggle resulted on the last downwind leg to the finish resulting in a win for BOR. | |
| May 16, 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Desafío Español 2007 | 1:14 | 1 - 2 | ETNZ incurred a penalty by not keeping clear when DE2007 was executing a gybe during the pre-start engagement. DE2007 lead at every mark and increased their lead on the final leg to the finish | |
| May 16, 2007 | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:31 | 1 - 2 | LRC again won the start and were 29 secs ahead at the first mark and 49 secs ahead at the final mark. BOR narrowed the gap slightly on the last leg race to the finish line. | |
| May 18, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | 0:42 | 3 - 1 | ETNZ won the start and extended their lead as the race progressed. | |
| May 18, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:23 | 3 - 1 | LRC lead the race at each mark through to the finish. | |
| May 19, 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Emirates Team New Zealand | 1:49 | 1 - 4 | DE2007 was ahead at the start but a small wind-shift gave the advantage to ETNZ who extended their lead through to the finish. | |
| May 19, 2007 | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | Luna Rossa Challenge | 1:57 | 1 - 4 | LRC won two penalties against BOR during the pre-start. The first a 'port and starboard' incident. The second penalty was given when BOR was bearing away and their stern touched LRC. | |
| May 20, 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Desafío Español 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | 0:15 | 2 - 4 | Teams split tacks away from each other at the start. DE2007 narrowly lead when they came back together again and it was an extremely close race all the way to the finish. | |
| May 20, 2007 | Luna Rossa Challenge | BMW Oracle Racing | Luna Rossa Challenge | 0:33 | 5 - 1 | BOR changed helmsmen for this final race but LRC were easily fastest away at the start and lead at each mark through to the finish. LRC qualified for the LVC final and BOR were eliminated. | |
| May 23, 2007 | Desafío Español 2007 | Emirates Team New Zealand | Emirates Team New Zealand | 1:18 | 2 - 5 | Race sailed in winds approaching 20 kts. ETNZ lead over the start line and extended their lead through to the finish. ETNZ qualified for the finals of the LVC and DE2007 were eliminated. |
Read more about this topic: 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup