Toyota dockside in Bermuda: The shortest Louis Vuitton party ever

Team New Zealand celebrate with the Louis Vuitton trophy after defeating Artemis. Photo / Ricardo Pinto

By Martin Tasker

Back in the olden days the Louis Vuitton parties were a spectacular highlight of the America's Cup, the epitome of style, class and creativity.

Not any more. The lavish theatrical extravaganzas, which were the hottest tickets in town, are long gone.

But even winning a coveted Louis Vuitton trophy has become a comparatively low key affair, as evidenced by the muted celebrations for Emirates Team New Zealand taking out the challenger series to earn the right to tackle Oracle in the America's Cup match.

There is a very clear reason of course. All eyes are firmly on a much bigger prize and from the perspective of Team Principal Matteo De Nora they've only completed 40 per cent of the journey.

Sure there was some champagne-spraying on the boat and on the podium but little was actually drunk and back at the base feet were firmly on the ground.

Addressing a full team meeting shortly after the trophy presentation, Chief Operations Officer Kevin Shoebridge congratulated everyone for their efforts and laid out the programme for the rest of the week.

At the conclusion he invited the team and their families into the VIP hospitality area. Chef Sal Grant producing 230 individual chicken or beef and stout pies which he'd prepared over the past few days. Tomato sauce aplenty of course.

The party lasted little more than an hour, the base emptying as everyone headed home.

So probably for the first time in the history of Louis Vuitton's involvement in the America's Cup there was absolutely no sign of any hangovers when the team turned up for the morning meeting today.

Shoebridge again updated the schedule which would begin with a strategy meeting to work out how to use the time available and discuss what's achievable before racing starts on Saturday.

"There's a long series ahead and work to do," he said, tasking each department with finding a balance between getting jobs and done resting people up.

It's a maintenance day for the boat while work continues on the second wing to have it 100per cent before the weekend. But Shoebridge also acknowledged the willingness of everyone in the team putting their hands up to make a contribution, looking to divvy up what he called the "B-class" jobs for unskilled labour.

Skipper Glenn Ashby picked up on the theme in his pep-talk to the assembly:" This team is all about the people. The reason we are sitting here with a chance to go forward is because all the people involved in this team made it happen.

"We threw the ball out a long way early on. We had to be aggressive in our approach in our design and in our team philosophy in an ever- changing environment. This has set us in good shape. We remain very flexible and that's testimony to the guys in all the departments backing each other and having confidence in everyone's ability."

And while he did offer "massive congratulations" to the team for what they'd achieved so far, he re-iterated the mantra that they're not yet half way: "We have to stay composed and continue to strive for above-the-line performances right through."

The America's Cup Match starts with two races on Saturday and two more on Sunday. It's a first to seven series and Emirates Team New Zealand start off on minus one because Oracle won the round robin phase of the Challenger series ahead of the Kiwis.