[Le Défi Areva is chosen after careful deliberation. Photo: Dan Ljungsvik]

(2002-11-04, Auckland) Victory Challenge chooses to meet Le Défi Areva in the quarterfinals.
Alinghi Challenge chooses Prada Challenge as its opponent.
With this, the two other quarterfinal line-ups are also decided; Oracle BMW Racing against OneWorld Challenge and GBR Challenge against Team Dennis Conner.
"After a fair amount of deliberation we found that the French would be the best choice", says Hugo Stenbeck

Mats Johansson, project leader and skipper of Victory Challenge signed the decision to choose Le Défi Areva and took with him across Halsey Street, where CORM, the challengers' organisation, has its head office.

It was 1.31 pm local time - half past one in the morning in Europe - when the document was stamped as being received.
"As nice as it is to have the option of picking your opponent for the quarterfinals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the performance of the competition is so close that such a privilege can be quite daunting", says Hugo Stenbeck and adds:
"It is a very difficult decision, as we are very confident that everyone has another tool in their belt that will bring them to the next level. "We had to make a systematic decision."

Jesper Bank, helmsman, clarifies:
"Picking your opponent is often seen as a privilege. Statistically you often get it wrong though. We have done the mathematical choice here and hope the numbers are telling the truth."

Victory Challenge, with seven wins and seven points and a fifth place after the first rounds of the challenge competition for the America's Cup could also have chosen GBR Challenge and Team Dennis Conner. These are the teams in the bottom half of the quarterfinal.

Alinghi Challenge could choose between Prada Challenge, OneWorld Challenge and Oracle BMW Racing. Michel Bonnefous, President of Alinghi explained their difficult decision:
"The choice was difficult to make because the three teams are all at the highest level of competition. We believe that Prada is the logical choice to race at this stage of the competition. We expect it to be an extraordinary series of matches, sure to incite passion and excitement in Europe."

[From Victory Challenge's first win against Le Défi]

Prada Challenge won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000 but had difficulties in the first round robin this time out and is in fourth place so far.

The quarterfinals start next Tuesday 12 November, Monday night in Europe. They will be sailed in best of seven races - the first to four wins. But what happens in the two groups after that is very different depending on whether you're in the top half or the bottom half.

The two teams that win the quarterfinals between Alinghi/Prada and Oracle/OneWorld advance directly to the semifinals. The two losers are given a second chance. They will meet the winners of the quarterfinals Victory Challenge/Le Défi Areva and GBR Challenge/Team Dennis Conner.

The two losers in the bottom half of the quarterfinals go the same way as Mascalzone Latino after the round robins, they are eliminated.

There will probably not be much chance to rest between the quarterfinals and the second chance matches. If seven matches are needed in any of the quarterfinals they will finish on 19 November. The 20th is a reserve day. Then there will be two days off. On 23 November, it's time for the second chance matches, also in best of seven races. This part of the Louis Vuitton Cup is to be finished by the end of November. December 1 is a reserve day. The semifinals start on 9 December.

A team in the top half that advances directly to the semifinals after four straight wins will have a long wait, however, from 17 November to the second Monday in December. That's just over three weeks. Nonetheless, practically every racing-free day is used to prepare for the next round.

Only half the Victory Challenge team has today off after completing the second round robin of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The others arrived at the base to go out sailing. This was an action that only the fickle Hauraki Gulf could stop as, once again, it was blowing too much.
"We're going to try and use the time before our quarterfinal to trim Orm even more", said Mats Johansson and continued:
"We haven't seen her full potential yet. Orm has more speed and height to give. There's not much time. But we'll be doing everything in our power to develop her even more. That's the main task. But we'll be trying to put together the schedule so that each sailor gets at least two days off during the week."

Bert Willborg/Victory Challenge