Bruno Trouble's on-wave form guide for the Louis Vuitton Cup

Although Bruno Trouble is loath to predict who will win the Louis Vuitton Cup, let alone the America's Cup, the head of the Louis Vuitton challengers' regatta is happy to sum up the nine syndicates vying for the honour of challenging Team New Zealand on the Hauraki Gulf in February.

(The teams are ranked by the order of their bases along Syndicate Row.)

PRADA (Italy): "One of their strengths is the fact they have returned to the cup from last time with the same people, the same designers, the same crew. They will will have an additional strength: the experience."

ORACLE BMW RACING (USA): "Their big strength could be their hull designer, Bruce Farr. The boats he designed last time for Young America, which were bought by Prada after the cup, have never been beaten by the Luna Rossa boats in training. The likely helmsmen, John Cutler and Peter Holmberg, don't have big egos, which should be good for the team."

MASCALZONE LATINO (Italy): "For sure it is a small team, but the owner, Vincenzo Onorato, has won every single race he has been involved with. They will surprise a few teams. Even though they are small, they are much stronger than any of the smaller teams from last time."

ONEWORLD (USA): "They have a very good team - in fact during the dress-rehearsal regatta in February, they had the best manoeuvres on the water by far."

ALINGHI (Switzerland): "Alinghi are one of the favourites. Ernesto Bertarelli started with a blank page and what's been achieved in two years is really amazing. Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth are still in another league - they are not your average skipper-tactician couple."

GBR CHALLENGE (Britain): "The British certainly have very good sailors - winning so many Olympic medals in Sydney. It is a matter of pride for them coming back after so long. England have to participate and try to bring back the cup after 150 years."

VICTORY CHALLENGE (Sweden): "The first Swedish boat appears to be very fast, and has beaten Team New Zealand's 2000 boats in training. When you come to the America's Cup for the first time and you have a fast boat, it's a dream. They are training incredibly hard and they don't break many things, which is a good sign."

LE DEFI AREVA (France): "The French are pretty sure they are coming here with a fast boat and they have the advantage of having been here last time with almost the same team, except Bertrand Pace. The French are never predictable - you cannot discount them."

TEAM DENNIS CONNER (USA): "Somehow the America's Cup belongs to Dennis. How can we host this event without him? Dennis has much more money than last time, he has two boats instead of one, and he's very comfortable working with the New York Yacht Club again. What happened to them in Long Beach [USA-77 sinking] was tough for them, but it looks like the boat can be easily repaired."

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