Issue date: 08 Feb, 2007
Amongst the sport events in 2007 stands out the 32nd America’s Cup Challenger. This yachting competition, of great importance in international sports takes place in Spain for the first time and features in this philatelic emission.
The excellent sailing conditions and the reliable weather given its thermal breeze have contributed to choosing Valencia as venue for the America’s Cup in its 32nd edition. The sports trophy takes its name from the schooner America , who won in 1851 the One Hundred Guinea Cup, defeating 14 British yachts round the Isle of Wight. The trophy remained in the hands of the New York Yacht Club of the United States until 1983 when the Cup was won by the challenger, Australia II of Australia, ending the longest winning streak in the history of sport. For the first time in 132 years, America had lost the "cup" to another country. In the following years, the trophy was won by New Zealand a couple of times until 2003 when a Swiss yacht, the Alinghi, won the “cup”. The America's Cup regatta is a challenge-driven yacht series that currently involves a best-of-nine series of match racing (a duel between two boats). Since 1983, Louis Vuitton has sponsored the Louis Vuitton Cup as a prize for the winner of the challenger selection series. The America's Cup is a race between the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup and the current holder (the Alinghi). If the challenging team wins the cup, the cup's ownership is transferred from the defender's yacht club to the winning team's yacht club. The class of boat used for the 32nd America’s Cup is the America’s Cup Class (ACC) with 16 crew members. It is designed to a specific rule with several hard and soft limits and trades length, weight and sail area, the three major factors involved in sailboat performance. The designers must make decisions to come up with the best solution of trade-offs for the weather conditions expected. The teams are made up of the best sailors, engineers and yacht builders in the world and their success is the result of a great effort of a team of around 100 people. This is the fourth time that Spain competes in the America’s Cup with the Desafío Español 2007 defending the colours of the Royal Sailing Federation as challenger.
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