KEY POINTS:
The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series already had a fair dose of irony on board before the revelation that Emirates Team New Zealand will progress directly to the final after taking part in the challenger series.
With the America's Cup seemingly locked in the courts, the LVPS - the
brainchild of Vuitton's Bruno Trouble and Team NZ - is a breath of fresh air; a return to high-end, high-octane yacht racing rather than legal briefs through a famous Cup sponsor.
Ironic, too, is the likelihood that key characters like Ernesto Bertarelli, boss of defending Cup champions and chief provocateur Alinghi, will end up sailing an Oracle boat - property of his nemesis and fellow billionaire Larry Ellison, the man who took Alinghi to court.
Russell Coutts, not that long ago an arch-villain in New Zealand, , will also likely crew a Team NZ boat in a series where the boats will be supplied by BMW Oracle and Team NZ.
But even greater irony can be attached to the fact Team NZ will take part in the challenger series qualifying rounds before dropping out and moving straight to the final against the top challenger.
When Alinghi announced its controversial protocol for the next America's Cup, one of the unpopular conditions was that Alinghi could take part in the three-stage build-up to the challenger series (while not racing in the series itself). This was felt by many to be self-serving.
Trouble, director of the LVPS, said Bertarelli had been on the phone "about 10 times" protesting at Team NZ's right to take part in the challenger series and move straight into the final. However, Trouble said local interest would be much lower if Team NZ were not in the final.
That interest is expected to be high. A special Louis Vuitton trophy is being made, a new bridge is
expected to connect downtown Auckland with the Louis Vuitton
village - which will run from the old Luna Rossa base to the Team NZ base. It is expected to be accessible to the public and informal in nature, complete with localised TV coverage and live graphics representation of the racing.
The courses will be on the inner and outer Waitemata harbour to get around any weather delays.
The 12 teams, assuming a full turn-out, will be divided into two groups of six. Team NZ will be in one group but will not score points before dropping out after the qualifying series, with the top qualifiers going through to the finals.
The inference is that Team NZ will not affect the identification of the top challengers but will also be able to get in some valuable racing before the finals - almost the same rationale used by Alinghi to explain its presence in the build-up to the America's Cup challenger series.