LV Victory Sees America’s Cup Rematch

Emirates Team NZ has demolished Luna Rossa 5-0 to win the Louis Vuitton Cup. Team NZ will now meet Swiss defender Alinghi in the America’s Cup best-of-nine series, beginning June 2003. In stark contrast to their usual reserved appearance, the Team NZ crew jumped up and down and cheered as they finished 22 seconds ahead of the Italian challenger. “This is our ticket to the America’s Cup which is why we’re here, so it was a huge relief once we crossed the line,” said NZ trimmer Tony Rae. The stage is now set for a rematch of the 23 series, when NZ lost the America’s Cup to Alinghi. In other Team NZ news, the team’s mystery backer was recently revealed to be Swiss-Italian millionaire businessman Matteo de Nora. De Nora has been involved with Team NZ since 2003. After that year’s disastrous campaign, de Nora persuaded a syndicate of wealthy America’s Cup fans to help finance the struggling NZ challenge. In addition, his family-owned fuel-cell company, Gruppo de Nora, has secretly spent two years developing lightweight batteries to power the electronics on Team NZ boats, giving them a noticeable weight/speed advantage.