Update
THEY’RE BACK – Jack Griffin After over a decade away from the game Alinghi returns, this time partnered with Red Bull. Young Swiss boys who followed Alinghi’s America’s Cup campaigns in 2003, 2007 and 2010 have grown up with Moths, competed in the Extreme Sailing Series and have gone on to win the 2019 world championship for Alinghi in the foiling GC32. At the 2021 GC32 Worlds they tied on points but lost the championship to Red Bull on a countback. Hans-Peter Steinacher and Roman Hagara, double Olympic gold
medallists in the Tornado, led the Red Bull Extreme Sailing and GC32 teams. They and Alinghi locked horns many times and developed a deep mutual respect. Hagara and Steinacher were also the force behind the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup and the Red Bull Foiling Generation. Both parties took pains to declare that this is a partnership, not just sponsorship. Steinacher was onstage with Ernesto Bertarelli at the Société
Nautique de Genève on 14 December to announce the new team and introduce some of the leadership. GC32 co-skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis and mainsail trimmer Bryan Mettraux form the nucleus of the sailing team, which will be 100 per cent Swiss. They will be coached and advised by four-time America’s Cup winner and former Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth. Longtime Alinghi sailing coach and former European speed-skiing
champion Pierre-Yves Jorand will direct sailing operations. Jorand knows about extreme sports and speed – his personal best on skis was 224km/hr. Silvio Arrivabene, formerly of American Magic, will oversee the
design process and brings intimate knowledge of the AC75s. Until the venue is known the team will be based at Décision near Lau- sanne, Switzerland. Asked about the venue for the match, Bertarelli extolled the virtues of Auckland and his fondness for racing there, but said they are ready to race in whatever venue the defender selects. Décision built the winning Alinghi yachts for the 2003 and 2007 campaigns. Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s technical team will get plenty of help
from their cousins at Red Bull Advanced Technologies, developers of the Red Bull F1 cars. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner joined the media event by satellite, but he didn’t say much
14 SEAHORSE
– still hoarse from celebrating Max Verstappen’s world championship victory in Abu Dhabi two days earlier. Alinghi’s design process has been underway for months already.
The design team has first-hand knowledge of the trade-offs and solutions the four teams chose for 2021. Emirates Team New Zealand found a way to get airborne on very small foils and they had an excellent aero package. None of the other technical solutions of any of the AC36 teams
looks like a game changer. New Zealand’s extra mainsail area, Ineos UK’s transverse single-speed grinding stations and Luna Rossa’s double helmsmen are all seen as just the way a given team decided to address a given design question, rather than a dramatic advantage. One thing likely to change for the second-generation AC75s is the return of the cyclors, now allowed by the new version of the class rule. The Swiss team has been negotiating for months to buy an AC75
from one of the existing teams, but the discussions have been difficult and no deal had been cut as of the team’s initial announce- ment. For all the talk of reducing costs and making it easier for new teams to join the competition, the America’s Cup still looks like the hardest trophy in sport to win. We could ask why Alinghi would front up the steep entry fees and
make their announcement before the venue is known. Being the first challenger after Challenger of Record Ineos Britannia puts the Swiss first in line to receive an AC40 for testing. It also puts them at the front of the line after the CoR for choosing a base location and setting up operations in the venue, wherever that may be. Perhaps, even more importantly, it shows just how committed
Ernesto Bertarelli is. No whingeing about the venue, no whining about the highest ever entry fees, no worries about the nationality rule, just a strong signal to his team that they are committed to this campaign in a very serious way.
CupExperience.com
JUST A THOUGHT – Dave Hollom Once upon a time a long time ago race cars were designed for minimum drag and all was well in the world of motor racing (if you ignore the horrendous death rate). Cars could follow each other
GILLES MARTIN-RAGET
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