Another team wowing the crowds at this event is BMW Oracle Racing, with three time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts at the helm. A Kiwi himself, Coutts is truly enjoying the racing in his home waters, and is pleased with the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series course area of the Waitemata Harbour, which has been providing challenging and shifty wind conditions for all the sailing teams. “I think it’s a great piece of water for this format,” said Russell Coutts, adding “I think it adds another dimension to the racing.”

   To allow the most even playing field possible for this match racing, the four International America's Cup Class yachts being used for this event are all supplied by BMW Oracle Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand. Team New Zealand provided NZL-92 and NZL-84 for the event, while BMW Oracle Racing shipped USA-87 and USA-98 from Spain to share with their competitors. These International America's Cup Class sailboats were developed specifically for America's Cup competition. The yachts, though not completely identical, were designed to a particular formula which keeps the boats comparable, while still forcing the teams to adapt to the details of their designs.
  For the second Louis Vuitton Pacific Series round robin, beginning February 5th, the fleet will again be divided into two. The "gold fleet," comprised of Emirates Team New Zealand, Team Origin, Damiani Italia, Alinghi, BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa, and the "silver fleet" of Shosholoza, Greek Challenge, K-Challenge and China Team.

  Paring down of the fleet continues through the challenger finals, ending in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series finals, which will run February 13th and 14th, meaning it will end up being a very sweet Valentine's Day for the winner