The Teams

The defending champ

Team New Zealand
New Zealand does not compete in the Louis Vuitton Cup, but will face its winner in the America's Cup. Stung by the defection of 26 crewmen, designers and support staff after their successful 2000 Cup defense, Team New Zealand may have something up its skirt. Team NZ's two new "Black Magic" boats have been shrouded in mystery with "modesty skirts" worn not only when they're going in and out of the water, but while they're being towed out to race. It has created rampant speculation that the Kiwi boats have been fitted with a fore rudder or some other radical new below-water design. The hometown team, tuned in to the intricate winds of Hauraki Gulf, remains the odds-on favorite to repeat. But much of the hometown advantage has been lost by other syndicates' years of preparation in Auckland.

Rumored budget: $30 million.

Odds: 3-5

The challenger

Alinghi
Societe Nautique de Geneve, Switzerland
www.alinghi.com
The Swiss syndicate, based on the talents of its skipper (talented Team New Zealand defector Russell Coutts, defending America's Cup skipper) and its early season performance (winning many supposedly private, "unofficial" tune-up matches on Hauraki Gulf), is emerging as an early favorite to win the Vuitton Cup. The syndicate, backed by Swiss pharmaceutical billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, includes sailors and technicians from 14 nations (15 if you count the chef). A victory would bring the America's Cup to Europe for the first time.

Rumored budget: $70 million.

Odd: 5-1

Teams eliminated in earlier rounds

OneWorld Challenge
Seattle Yacht Club, U.S.
www.oneworldchallenge.com
OneWorld, a truly world-wide team (sailors are from seven nations) was assembled by cellular mogul Craig McCaw, who has invested millions in winning the Cup to draw attention to his enduring cause: environmental stewardship. Paul Allen is another major investor. The OneWorld team's two boats, designed by top New Zealand designer Laurie Davidson and others, were fabricated in Sedro-Woolley. The team is skippered by America's Cup veteran Peter Gilmour of Australia.

Rumored budget: $75 million.

Odds: 10-1*

Team: Skipper: Peter Gilmour, 42. Crew: Mark Chisnell, 39, England; Justin Clougher, 40, Australia; Don Cowie, 39, New Zealand; Richard Dodson, 42, New Zealand; Ben Durham, 25, Australia; Andy Fethers, 24, Australia; Kevin Hall, 31, Maryland; Kelvin Harrap, 31, New Zealand; Morgan Larson, 30, California; Brian Ledbetter, 37, Seattle; Matthew Mason, 37, New Zealand; Don McCracken, 41, Australia; Charlie McKee, 39, Seattle; Jonathan McKee, 42, Seattle; Mark Mendelblatt, 29, Florida; Craig Monk, 34, New Zealand; Mike Mottl, 33, Australia; Mark Newbrook, 28, Seattle; Joey Newton, 24, Australia; Jeremy Scantlebury, 37, New Zealand; Kevin Shoebridge, 39, New Zealand; Alan Smith, 37, New Zealand; Ed Smyth, 26, Australia; Kazuhiko Sofuku, 36, Japan; James Spithill, 22, Australia; Mark Strube, 32, Florida; Andrew Taylor, 38, New Zealand; Tatsuya Wakinaga, 36, Japan; Peter Waymouth, 33, New Zealand; Kimo Worthington, 41, California; Yasuhiro Yaji, 35, Japan.

Oracle BMW Racing
Golden Gate Yacht Club, San Francisco, U.S.
www.oraclebmwracing.com
An ongoing pet project of Silicone Valley software billionaire and sailing buff Larry Ellison, the Oracle team brings a major new sponsor (BMW), and, like all other competitors except one, two new, high-tech boats, USA-71 and USA-76. Oracle is another multi-national syndicate, and considered among the top contenders in the Vuitton Cup.

Rumored budget: $85 million.

Odds: 8-1

Team Dennis Conner
New York Yacht Club, U.S.
www.stars-stripes.com
While most attention in Auckland's Viaduct Basin in the past six months has centered on more heavily financed competitors from the U.S. and Europe, crews hired by Conner trained off California. There, the syndicate's lead boat sank in July off Long Beach, leaving the New York-based effort scrambling right up to race week to install a new bow. As such, the Stars and Stripes crew, with veteran helmsman Ken Read, is something of a wild card. But nobody ever counts Conner out of a Cup race. Unlike any other U.S. skipper in this race, he's won it four times ó and lost it twice.

Rumored budget: $40 million.

Odds: 12-1

Prada Challenge
Yacht Club Punta Ala, Italy
www.pradalunarossa.com
The defending Louis Vuitton Cup winner of 2000 is back, hoping to avenge its 5-0 America's Cup skunking by Team New Zealand. One of the most heavily financed efforts in 2000, the Italian-fashion-house-sponsored boats have been caught up to in the money race. The syndicate hopes to rely more on experience this time around; they're one of few entrants to return with a nearly intact team. That places them among the top few favorites.

Rumored budget: $60-90 million.

Odds: 7-1

Le Defi Areva
Union Nationale Pour la Course au Large, France
www.ledefi.com
The French team was glad to get out of France and into Auckland's Viaduct Basin for training this summer: Their boats, sponsored by nuclear-power giant Areva, have been engulfed in controversy at home ó the targets of nuclear activists. One of the boats was even damaged after being rammed by a Greenpeace vessel. The French boats already are making splashes because of their appearance: They're painted a shocking, day-glo yellow. The skipper is double Olympic medalist Luc Pillot. The crew is composed of many sailors with Olympic, but little America's Cup, experience.

Rumored budget: Unknown.

Odds: 101-1

Mascalzone Latino
Royal Yacht Club of Savola of Naples, Italy
www.mascalzonelatino.com
The "other" Italian entry, with only one new boat on its pier, Mascalzone is a big underdog. Headed by founder and skipper Vincenzo Onorato, a shipping billionaire, the team is young and lacking America's Cup experience. The boss has admitted he's just happy to be here, getting his feet wet.

Rumored budget: $35 million.

Odds: 126-1

Swedish Victory Challenge
Gothenburg Yacht Club, Sweden
www.victorychallenge.com
The Swedish entry, sailing along after the August death of syndicate head Jan Stenbeck, is composed largely of Swedes, Danes, Finns and Norwegians, with a few New Zealanders thrown in for good measure. Its boats, SWE-63 and SWE-73, were designed by German Frers Jr., formerly of Prada. The skipper is Olympic veteran Mats Johansson.

Budget: Unknown.

Odds: 51-1

GBR Challenge
Royal Ocean Racing Club, Great Britain
www.gbrchallenge.com
The first British Challenge since 1986 is skippered by Ian Walker. Unlike many of the other, multi-national syndicates, the British team, at the direction of founder Peter Harrison, vows to remain "an unabashedly British campaign" designed to bring the America's Cup back to where it all started ó with a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851.

Rumored budget: $25 million.

Odds: 51-1