Team Alinghi became the third team to win one of the three 2004 Louis Vuitton Acts on Sunday, as a pair of top-three performances secured them the Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 3 regatta on the last day of racing.

BMW Oracle Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand were the two race winners on Sunday, putting the Kiwis in second place for Act 3, with the Americans third overall.

Those results give the 2004 ACC Season Champion title to Emirates Team New Zealand, a remarkable recovery from their America's Cup loss in 2003.

Team Alinghi was crowned the winner of Act 3 in front of an enormous crowd lining the waterfront at the Darsena Interior. Fireworks exploded overhead as the team was presented with their trophy and congratulated by the other race crews, along with a flotilla of spectator boats. Emirates Team New Zealand was to be awarded their season champion prize later on Sunday evening.

It was another bright, sunny day on the Gulf of Valencia, and a large spectator fleet was out to follow the final races of the 2004 season. In the America's Cup Park on shore over 200 000 people enjoyed the action over the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts, which were covered by 500 accredited media, among them 150 television crews.

It was a day of extremes on the race course. Both races were held to the South of the Port of Valencia due to an air show above the North race course.

Racing began in the first match (Fleet Race 5) in a light, offshore wind, which proved to be very patchy and inconsistent before dying completely and rebuilding in a different direction. Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing team figured out the tough conditions better than anyone else, winning the race in convincing fashion by a very comfortable 3:42 margin over K-Challenge, who secured their best Fleet Racing result.

Team Alinghi was third, while Emirates Team New Zealand who had led the series by a large margin after the first three races finished in fifth place, allowing the Swiss to open a three point margin on their Kiwi rivals on the points table.

This race was a difficult one for everyone but the Americans, as enormous patches of very light wind meant boats sometimes spent long periods virtually stopped. Team Shosholoza, for example, which sailed a good race and couldn't be faulted on its tactics, rounded the second windward mark in fifth position but stalled before the finishing line, eventually crossing more than 40-minutes behind the race winners. Valencia Louis Vuitton

The second race (Fleet Race 6) took place in a nice Southeasterly seabreeze of 10 to 14 knots. This was the first contest in conditions like those one would expect for the Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup in 2007.

Emirates Team New Zealand won this race on the first run, when it gybed away from the fleet to the right-hand side of the course. The Kiwis had rounded the mark behind Alinghi, but when the teams converged again just before the leeward gate, Grant Dalton's team had an eight-second lead.

This slim margin was never threatened in the stable conditions, with helmsman Dean Barker covering his opponents up the second beat, and down the final run to the finish.

There were many good performances on the day, with K-Challenge sailing strongly again with a second and fourth place finish. The French team nearly reeled in Luna Rossa on the leaderboard, finishing just two points shy at the end of racing.

Le Défi ended the event in sixth place after a tough day, but was able to stay ahead of the surprising Team Shosholoza.

The new entry, +39, recovered with two sixth place finishes on the day, but that wouldn't be enough to finish ahead of the South Africans in either Act 3, or on the final standings for the season.

The racing today concludes the competition calendar for 2004 for the America's Cup. The next racing is scheduled for June 2005, with the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts 4 and 5.


Leaderboard after 6 races (Total Points/race finishing position)

1- Team Alinghi, 40 pts (places : 4,1,3,1,3,2 )
2- Emirates Team New Zealand, 38 pts (1,2,1,6,5,1 )
3- BMW Oracle Racing, 34 pts (5,6,2,3,1,3)
4- Luna Rossa Challenge, 30 pts (3,4,7,2,4,4)
5- K-Challenge, 28 pts (8,3,4,4,2,5)
6- Le Défi, 17 pts (2,7,8,5,7,8)
7- +39, 15 pts (6,8,6,DNF,6,6)
8- Team Shosholoza, 13 pts (7,5,5,7,8,7)

ACC 2004 (Team/Points/Act 1, 2 & 3)

1- Emirates Team New Zealand (6) 3 1 2
2- BMW Oracle Racing (7) 1 3 3
3- Team Alinghi (7) 2 4 1
4- Luna Rossa Challenge (13) 7* 2 4
5- Le Défi (15) 4 5 6
6- K-Challenge (16) 5 6 5
7- Team Shosholoza (21) 6 8 7
8- +39 Challenge (22) 7* 7 8

Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio did everything in his power to start racing on Saturday afternoon, but was unable to squeeze off a start before the wind became too strong to assure safety for the America’s Cup crews and their boats.

With the offshore breeze gusting above 26-knots, and forecast to build to gale force strength later in the day, Reggio abandoned racing shortly before 13:00 on Saturday.

The Race Committee has now scheduled two races on Sunday with a first start at 11:40, on a race course located further to the South of the Port of Valencia off El Saler.

For BMW Oracle and Alinghi, the day offered at least a partial answer to the many questions being raised in light of their ‘weaker than usual’ performances over the past week. In short, these are still two very strong America’s Cup teams.

The Defender of the America’s Cup, Team Alinghi, showed it is still a force to be reckoned with on Friday with two strong races to take the series lead in the Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 3.

The BMW Oracle Racing team also had two good performances on the day, with a second and third place finish, the former all the more remarkable for having to re-start for being over the starting line early.

France’s K-Challenge also punched above its weight today. Sailing a 2000-generation boat, FRA-57, Thierry Peponnet’s team finished in fourth place in both races, and after a disastrous opening race to Act 3, his team now sits in fifth position.

The leaders at the beginning of the day, Emirates Team New Zealand, had a spectacular opening race, and at that point, appeared to be running away with the series.

With some of its main rivals starting prematurely in the opening race on Friday, Emirates TNZ streaked to its second victory of the Louis Vuitton Act 3. But in the second contest of the day, it was the Kiwis who were too aggressive at the start, and after re-starting correctly, Grant Dalton’s team could only manage a sixth place finish.

The result leaves Team Alinghi one point clear at the top of the table. BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa are both six points behind the Kiwis, with Luna Rossa getting the edge from the tie-breaking formula that favours stronger results in individual races.

Whilst both teams have a second and third place finish, the Italians also can claim a fourth, while the Americans next best race is a fifth. It wasn’t a good day for the Italian +39 Challenge. Although the team managed a sixth place finish in the first race of the day, it was forced to abandon the second contest after one lap of the course with equipment problems. The team was trailing the fleet at the time.

Racing was initially postponed with the wind very shifty, despite being a full 12-14 knots. The breeze became soft and shifty in the first race, and although it regained velocity later in the afternoon, the shifts continued to make the race course a difficult challenge for the tacticians. Racing continues with two Fleet Races scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Leaderboard after 4 races (Total Points/race finishing position)

1- Team Alinghi, 27 pts (4,1,3,1)
2- Emirates Team New Zealand, 26 pts (1,2,1,6)
3- Luna Rossa Challenge, 20 pts (3,4,7,2)
3- BMW Oracle Racing, 20 pts (5,6,2,3)
5- K-Challenge, 17 pts (8,3,4,4)
6- Le Défi, 14 pts (2,7,8,5)
7- Team Shosholoza, 12 pts (7,5,5,7)
8- +39, 7 pts (6,8,6,DNF)

It was an incredibly difficult day on the Gulf of Valencia for the first Fleet Races in the host city of the 32nd America’s Cup. Conditions looked great early, with a nice Westerly 12-14 knot breeze streaking white caps across the water. But once racing started, on time at 12:40, the first race was a minefield for the tacticians and strategists with many pitfalls across the race course in the form of wind shifts in both speed and direction.

Emirates Team New Zealand, fresh off a win in the Louis Vuitton Act 2, and the French Le Défi team were the best at making sense of the conditions and finished in first and second, while the highly touted Team Alinghi and BMW Oracle had a harder time, coming home in fourth and fifth place.

In the second race, the conditions were even tougher. The wind died completely on the second lap of the course, as a weak sea breeze killed off the gradient wind. The very light new wind came from nearly the opposite direction, so the final run to the finish became a beat upwind, complete with tacking for most of the teams.

This time it was Alinghi who managed to just squeeze ahead of the Kiwis at the finishing line. The French K-Challenge was close behind in third place.

For a time it seemed as though the race might be abandoned with none of the teams finishing in the 40-minute leg time limit. But in the event, Alinghi finished with a full 10-minutes to spare, just two-seconds in front of NZL 81.

The results leave Emirates Team New Zealand clear ahead on the leaderboard with a two-point cushion over Alinghi, and Luna Rossa two further points in arrears.

Both French teams had a good day and hold fourth and fifth, while BMW Oracle Racing, the winners of the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act, are in unfamiliar territory down in sixth position.

The South African Team Shosholoza also had a good day, finishing with boats behind it in both races, for the first time in Valencia. Racing continues with two Fleet Races scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Leaderboard after 2 races (Total Points/race finishing position)

1- Emirates Team New Zealand, 15 pts (1,2)
2- Team Alinghi, 13 pts (4,1)
3- Luna Rossa Challenge, 11 pts (3,4)
4- Le Défi, 9 pts (2,7)
5- K-Challenge, 7 pts (8,3)
5- BMW Oracle Racing, 7 pts (5,6)
7- Team Shosholoza, 6 pts (7,5)
8- +39, 4 pts (6,8)