Louis Vuitton Pacific Series - Pair and Draw for Round Robin 1

10:59 AM Tue 27 Jan 2009 GMT

'The skippers await the commencement of the draw for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series' Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo

The draw for Round Robin 1 in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was made tonight at Sky City Convention Centre in front of a large gathering of Team skippers, media and crew.

It was standing room only in the convention centre room as the first real act in racing for the Louis Vuitton Pacific S

Also on show was the exquisite Louis Vuitton Pacific Series trophy in its especially made Louis Vuitton travelling case.

The exquisite Louis Vuitton Pacific Series trophy which will be retained by the winner. - Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo

The first announcement was the pools into which the teams had been seeded, which are as follows:

Pool A:

Emirates Team New Zealand, Pataugas K-Challenge, BMW Oracle Racing, Damiani Italia Challenge and China Team

Pool B:

Greek Challenge, Team Origin, Team Shosholoza, Alinghi and Luna Rossa

As there are five teams in each pool and only four boats, one team in each pool will have a Bye each race day.

There will be four races each day, with each team racing once per day.