Wind finally comes to LVT party 

Source: PhotosportTeam New Zealand at the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice

Louis Vuitton Day 5

Yet more strange days in the world of America's Cup yacht racing, action aplenty on land and sea and plenty to contemplate.

On the water the wind has finally come to the party and there's been some great sailing.

The setting is such that you have to pinch yourself often and take a good look round to absorb the surroundings. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

There's been more snow on the Alps that form the dramatic white backdrop to the very pretty city of Nice, and combined with a cloudless blue sky it is a stunning and unique setting in which to parade these great looking yachts.

The air temperature is cool to cold but the sea is still very warm and in a lull on the race track on Thursday waiting for the northerly offshore breeze to swing round to the south, one of the spectators enjoyed a November dip. I wasn't tempted.

The schedule is a bit of a rude awakening after the MedCup where racing never started before 1300hrs. Here in Nice, breakfast is a pre-dawn affair with the boats off the dock before eight o'clock and racing underway by nine.

Setting the courses is a challenge because the water is too deep for the committee or mark boats to anchor.

Instead they hover on station which is fine in the big steel committee boat but a bit of a challenge for those holding onto the big yellow inflatable Louis Vuitton marks from a little rubber ducky.

These Cup boats are big and powerful and on one mark rounding the rubber boat driver looked on in frightened awe as the yachts powered around him close enough to touch and rocking the buoy and boat with their wakes. Afterwards the driver danced a little jig which was a combination of excited delight and relief at surviving.

It's become clear that the old Alinghi boat which is now GBR 75 is a lot quicker than the older French boat that it's paired with.

Yet even so some of the teams have still managed to score some wins over the younger yacht. Getting the two Mascalzone Latino boats back together has helped get the race schedule back on track and upped the intensity of the competition. Having the four boats on the race track at the same time offers some great pictures, especially when the two races converge.

That said, there have been plenty of boring processions with the more established teams sailing at a much higher level.

Emirates Team New Zealand is the benchmark and it's no surprise they are sitting undefeated at the top of the table.

Grant Dalton's main complaint is the cold but he was warmed by the news that Alinghi had issued its Notice of Race to sail the 33rd America's Cup in Valencia in February.

My commentating mate Peter Lester was first with the news, poring over his computer between races.

I passed it on to Dalton who in turn told Oracle boss Larry Ellison who had yet to hear of the Swiss intentions.

A formal response from Oracle has yet to materialize and Alinghi's call for a 15 knot wind speed limit and a maximum of one metre swells is likely to be a bone of contention.

Recent history suggests the squabble will continue although there seems to b e more optimism that pessimism that the race will go ahead in February.

Having seen both multi-hulls in action it will clearly be a simply awesome spectacle.