This is the period of the campaign when there is never enough time…each team will be wishing they had another week to make the boat faster, more sessions to get the crew work tighter, the sail development more advanced, or additional time in the gym so that the grinders are stronger. The exception to the rule is Oracle BMW Racing who gave the sailing team the first week in September off.

Over the past several weeks all nine of the Challengers have arrived in Auckland, either returning from Northern Hemisphere summers, or setting up in New Zealand for the first time.

All but one of the teams have built two new boats for the series in an effort to advance through the Louis Vuitton Cup and win an opportunity to meet Team New Zealand at the 31st America’s Cup Match in February, 2003.

Two-boat training is an integral part of maximising boatspeed, and all of the teams are now putting in hard hours on the Hauraki Gulf, braving the early spring winds and water to find that extra fraction of speed that might be enough to give them a little edge.

The format of the Louis Vuitton Cup is designed to produce the strongest possible Challenger. The first two Round Robins, sailed in October, will eliminate one team, and rank the remaining eight. The top teams that consistently win will have more time for in-house testing and development, whilst the bottom teams spend more time racing each other in an effort to remain in the tournament.

Over the past several weeks all nine of the Challengers have arrived in Auckland, either returning from Northern Hemisphere summers, or setting up in New Zealand for the first time.

New arrivals include the New York Yacht Club’s Team Dennis Conner, who has spent August setting up shop in Auckland. Conner’s team saw September in by sailing USA-66 Stars & Stripes for the first time on the Hauraki Gulf. The squad spent most of the Northern summer sailing in California. Team Dennis Conner also announced it will replace the bow on its newest boat, USA-77, which is being repaired after sinking off Long Beach at the end of July.

Also new to the Viaduct Basin in Auckland is the French Le Défi AREVA. Arriving late in August, the team took delivery of its bright yellow boats and will spend September completing its speed testing programme.

The Seattle Yacht Club’s OneWorld Challenge has been one of the busiest challengers over the New Zealand winter. The team has likely spent more time on the Hauraki Gulf than any other, working its two new boats, USA-65 and USA-67, against each other. OneWorld also had its status cleared up by the Arbitration Panel in August when it was dealt a one-point penalty in the Round Robin section of the event for breaching the America’s Cup Protocol. With that issue cleared up, the team is focusing on its in-house training programme under skipper Peter Gilmour.

Great Britain’s first foray into the America’s Cup since 1986, the GBR Challenge, launched its first new boat, GBR-70, ’Wight Lightning’, in Auckland in the middle of July. Since that time, Wight Lightning has been joined by GBR-78, although the second boat hasn’t been sailed yet. The team is concentrating on bringing GBR-70 up to speed, and is using one of its older boats as a trial horse with skipper Ian Walker directing the effort.

Sweden’s Victory Challenge is trying to stay on track after the death of syndicate head Jan Stenbeck in August. The team is conducting in-house racing with its new boats, ’Örn’ SWE-63 and ’Orm’ SWE-73. To begin September, Victory Challenge raced both boats against the two new Oracle-BMW boats. The results are being kept secret by both teams, but the Swedish challenge has come away happy.

"Now we know we’re on a par with and have the capacity to beat a team like Oracle. It’s an important verification", said Mats Johansson, skipper and strategist aboard Örn (SWE-63).

For Oracle-BMW Racing, the two new boats arrived in Auckland mid-July and the squad has been hard at work ever since. USA-71 and USA-76 have been running through in-house racing and a full testing programme under sailing manager John Cutler.

Mascalzone Latino, the new all-Italian entry to the Louis Vuitton Cup has spent the month of August in full training mode in Auckland. This is the only team among the challengers to build just one new generation boat, ITA-72. Having a lower budget and making its debut in the America’s Cup, the Mascalzone Latino challenge will spend September striving to ensure it is competitive by October 1st.

The highly touted Swiss Alinghi Challenge has also been racing other challengers, lining-up against Oracle BMW Racing and OneWorld among others. SUI-64 and SUI-75 are the new generation boats and skipper Russell Coutts has been pushing them hard on the Hauraki Gulf as he prepares for his first Louis Vuitton Cup since 1995.

The last week of August saw both of the finalists from the 2000 America’s Cup match launch new boats in Auckland. Italy’s Prada Challenge christened its second new boat, ITA-80, ’Luna Rossa’ and had it out sailing before the end of the month.

Just days earlier, Lady Pippa, widow of Sir Peter Blake launched Team New Zealand’s first new boat, NZL-81, ’New Zealand’. The Defender is going through as rigorous a testing and trialling programme as most of the challengers. The Kiwi’s expect to take delivery of their second new boat, NZL-82, at about the same time the Louis Vuitton Cup gets underway at the beginning of October.

The sailors aren’t the only ones readying themselves for racing. The America’s Cup 2003 Louis Vuitton Media Centre is currently being set up in the New Zealand National Maritime Museum. This state of the art facility will be home to up to 2000 international media over the next six months as tens of thousands of stories are filed across television, print, radio and online media.

The America’s Cup 2003 Louis Vuitton Media Centre opens on the 23rd of September. Media will be informed shortly about the all the facilities available for them in Auckland.

The official website for coverage of the Louis Vuitton Cup is http://www.LouisVuittonCup.com, which will be re-launched in mid-September with a new design, more content, and the backing of new media giant Yahoo ! Louis Vuitton is paying for the new design, build and content of the site, while Yahoo ! is taking care of the hosting. Perhaps most importantly, Yahoo ! will also extensively promote the site through its vast new media empire.

Virtual Spectator (http://www.VirtualSpectator.com) is also back and will be the only online source for live coverage of the racing. The improved race viewer will allow subscribers to watch each and every match of the Louis Vuitton and America’s Cup. Virtual Spectator has recently brought in designers and programmers from the video game world and the new animations are truly spectacular.

The America’s Cup Louis Vuitton Opening Parade will take place on Saturday, the 28th of September with all the teams marching down Queen Street in downtown Auckland. Two days later, the Louis Vuitton Cup skippers will participate in the morning draw and skippers press conference. The nine challenging teams will draw to determine their opponents for the first Round Robin of the Louis Vuitton Cup and face the press in the only formal press event scheduled before racing the next day.