After building a 25-year legacy by sponsoring the Louis Vuitton Cup, which rivals the America’s Cup in world-class sailing, and the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland, New Zealand last February, the famed French luxury goods house has announced plans for a new regatta.
The event will be known as the Louis Vuitton World Series and will be held in November in Nice, France. It will be done in association with a new professional sailing group called the World Sailing Team Association featuring eight racing teams. For starters, these teams include K-Challenge from France, BMW Oracle Racing from the U.S., Emirates Team New Zealand, Mascalzone Latino from Italy, Team Artemis from Sweden, Team Synergy from Russia, Joe Fly Italia, and Team French Spirit from France. More racing teams are expected to sign up in the coming weeks.
The LV World Series’ teams will be challenged in successive duels during a 14-day period on two pairs of identical boats in an effort to return to the original spirit of “match racing.” This series of international regattas will determine an ultimate winner that will take possession of what is bound to become one of sailing’s most coveted and prestigious trophies .
Louis Vuitton’s successes, from crafting travel trunks to becoming an international luxury brand, can be compared to the parallels of the how the Louis Vuitton Cup rapidly rivaled the two-yacht America’s Cup for prestige, even though the LV Cup leads up to the America’s Cup itself. A book that celebrates this era in world-class sailing, The Louis Vuitton Cup: 25 Years of Yacht Racing in Pursuit of the America’s Cup, was written by yacht designer, professor of naval architecture at the University of Nantes, and marine author and artist Francois Chevalier.
Via Luxist
