Alinghi Red Bull Racing has rolled out the boat which the Swiss team is hoping will bring them more America’s Cup glory (Switzerland under Alinghi is a two-time winner of the event) at the 37th America’s Cup at the end of 2024.

The unveiling of the hull took place during a glitzy evening event out of the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Port Vell base in Barcelona on 5th April 2024, but there is much left to be seen, such as the all-important foils and rig arrangement, which will be seen when the boat is first properly launched.

The AC75 was introduced to the America’s Cup in 2021 for the 36th edition of the event, which took place in New Zealand and which saw a successful defence of the trophy by Emirates Team New Zealand. As a brand new class in that edition of the America’s Cup teams were allowed to build two America’s Cup boats, but for the 37th AC teams are only permitted to build one new boat.

Key features, such as the foils, remain hidden until launch day

As such, this is the boat which will see the Swiss fight for the right to compete in the America’s Cup itself later this year.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing did not take part in the last edition of the America’s Cup and, as such, were permitted to purchase an old AC75 from competitors in order to get up to speed with the class, so when they launch, this will not be the first time the team has taken to the water in the unique foiling monohull design, having sailed on a number of occasions onboard the AC75 that they purchased from Emirates Team New Zealand as a training platform.

First AC75 out of the shed

With only a single AC75 allowed to be designed, built, and launched by each team, timing is crucial on order to give development time to teams to optimise their boats but also not to launch too early and cut design time short. Most teams should be launching their boats in the coming weeks, and we expect most to be on the water by mid-May 2024.

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But the Alinghi Red Bull Racing AC75 – named BoatOne – is the first we have seen this cycle and thus the first AC75 to be launched under slightly modified class rules.

The changes to the AC75 class rule for the 37th America’s Cup include the reduction in crew from 11 to 8 sailors as well as some other subtle changes which mean weight saving of about a tonne, which coupled with the increase in foil wingspan, should improve light air performance of the class – an issue last Cup cycle.

Other than crew numbers, key developments for this Cup cycle are: the reintroduction of ‘Cyclors’, which were first developed by the Kiwis for their successful 2017 campaign, but were outlawed for the 2021 edition; the boats no longer feature back stays; and crews will not cross the boats during manoeuvres.

The nature of these rule tweaks means we were not necessarily expecting the new AC75s to look radically different from those in the last cycle and from what can be seen of BoatOne at her unveiling, she looks to be a development, albeit a significant development, of many of the ideas present on the all-conquering Te Rhutai AC75, upon which Emirates Team New Zealand won the 2021 America’s Cup.

The radical- looking stern is a development of several features we saw in the last America’s Cup

A prominent ‘skeg’ or ‘bustle’ is a clear similarity here as are the slab sides of the hull from which the crew – likely cyclors – will sail the boat in an aerodynamically efficient fashion. All in all, from what we can see, this first AC75 can be summed up as a development of Te Rhutai taking many of the features that made that boat so fast and taking them a step further.

Plus there are some developments that come directly from rule changes, with a very open stern area with a good 10ft of open area and just carbon sidewalls that abruptly end, which should reduce weight in the transom and is something we expect to see in many teams due to the lack of back stays and no need for a ‘safe’ zone in which crew can cross the boats.

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There is now just 1 year to go until the America’s Cup proper kicks off in Barcelona, where Emirates Team New Zealand will take on the winner of the challengers selection series to fight for the ultimate prize in sailing, the America’s Cup. It has been a long time since we last saw cup teams racing, but the Preliminary Regatta last month has served as something of a line in the sand for fans, who can now start to get excited about the build up to the competition.

With this in mind, the sight of America’s Cup sailors out of their aerodynamically sleek cockpits hanging off shrouds and standing on the bow of their AC40s trying to get boats moving in displacement mode was probably not the image that the organisers had hoped for after racing in the first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta came to a close over the weekend of 14-16th September. But it is the image many viewers will remember as the racing was marred by poor conditions.

Although racing was cancelled on day one due to no wind, was adversely affected on day two for the same reason and was forced to finish early on day three, there was still some thrilling action on the race course for those patient enough to keep watching through the lulls (both figuratively and literally).

What did we learn from the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta?

The simplest answer to this question is ‘not very much at all’. How teams perform in their one-design AC40 foilers bears very little resemblance to how they might perform at the America’s Cup proper in late 2024, when they will be racing their AC75 America’s Cup yachts which have a much more open class rule and which teams are developing behind the scenes right now.

But there is a little more nuance than that. American Magic, with two of the best foiling sailors in Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison won the event.

They have spent plenty of time sailing their AC40 – of which they now have two. Even if the team felt they came into the race a bit “underprepared” as Goodison put it as the sailors had been focussed on sailing against, not with, each other.

It may be a small surprise that Emirates Team New Zealand with the three generational talents of Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge and Blair Tuke onboard did not win the regatta. They have also been sailing plenty in their two AC40s, but at least the Preliminary Regatta showed the all-powerful Kiwi team can be beaten.

A much bigger surprise, however, was the performance of the French Orient Express Racing Team who picked up third place having only launched their single AC40 in August this year, weeks before the event began.

However, it is interesting to note that with no other test platform on the water and no AC75 either, this team spent a significant amount of time working on an AC40 simulator, so they are not quite as unfamiliar with the platform as their launch date might suggest.

This move to simulator time is a theme we have seen in recent America’s Cup as teams develop computer platforms to help with the design process, but we’ve not often seen them used for upskilling in pure sailing skills terms.

Elsewhere, the two teams that have focussed on technical development of their own test platforms (called LEQ12s) in Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INEOS Britannia were fourth and sixth respectively.

For their part INEOS stated their disappointment with the team’s Giles Scott admitting they should have done better despite their limited time sailing an AC40.

Sandwiched between these two were Alinghi Red Bull Racing, who have put a great deal of time and effort into updating and sailing the AC75 they purchased from Emirates Team New Zealand to better understand the platform while they design another boat for the 2024 America’s Cup.

America’s Cup weather worries?

One thing that can be learned from the first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta are the conditions likely to be experienced at the start of the next America’s Cup – or at least the challenger series, which will take place at a similar time 50 miles up the coast in Barcelona.

The timing of this event firmly puts it just ahead of the windiest winter season, with the lightest wind month being August and the windiest month typically around January. As such the spectacle of foiling boats struggling to make it round a race course might well be something we see some of in the early parts of the challenger series – and the Youth and Women’s AC both set to use AC40s and both scheduled ahead of the AC itself.

With the America’s Cup itself taking place in October, winds should in theory be a little stronger. It is worth noting that as Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand will not need to compete in any of the racing ahead of the Cup itself, and so could well see a significant advantage from not needing to focus so hard on very-light wind performance.

Of course, this is sailing and everyone is at the mercy of the elements to some extent.

American Magic out two-boat testing. Photo: Paul Todd/America’s Cup

Test platforms and training

Every team entered into the 2024 America’s Cup needs to purchase a one-design foiling AC40 for racing in the Preliminary Regattas and to ensure they can enter teams into both the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups (both of which will use AC40s).

All teams set to take part in the 37th America’s Cup now have AC40s on the water, however, some have had them on the water longer than others, and some have two out on the water sailing.

Although the AC40 is a one-design class and must adhere to strict rules for the Preliminary Regattas and the Youth and Women’s AC, outside of these events they are allowed to be modified in order to conduct testing ahead of the launch of team’s single allowed AC75 America’s Cup boat – though they must be able to be returned to their one-design configuration for racing.

Photo: Martin Keruzore/OERT

The French Orient Express Racing Team were the last team to enter this America’s Cup and were also the last to get an AC40 – only launching it in mid-August. And as such hold the difficult duel position as both last team to enter the Cup and the team with the least time on the water. But an impressive showing in the America’s Cup Preliminary regatta at least shows they have the sailing chops to mix it with the rest of the field.

By contrast, Defenders of the America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand were the first to launch an AC40 back in 2022 and were the first to conduct two-boat testing once their second AC40 was launched. Neither of these outcomes are a surprise, with a single builder of AC40s, teams were allocated a build slot based on their order of entry to the 37th America’s Cup.

In terms of boat launches, teams have taken a number of different approaches. With a wait for AC40 delivery and time of the essence (as ever in the AC), some teams chose to build their own training boats.

Boat terminology has become a little confusing, but test platforms are generally referred to as LEQ12s (short for ‘Less or Equal to 12m’ the parameters for a test platform as defined by the America’s Cup rules, to limit teams building platforms too similar in size to an AC75).

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli training in their LEQ12.

The two teams which have chosen this route are Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. To add a little more confusion to the nomenclature, Luna Rossa refer to their boat as simply LEQ12 while the Brits have named their ‘LEQ12’ T6. Both of these were launched in late 2022.

For both of these teams, their LEQ12 has been the primary test platform, with both also adding AC40s to their roster of boats following the launch of their LEQ12 test platforms.

To further confuse the issue, if teams take an AC40 out of one-design configuration that too becomes (officially) an LEQ12. This is because there are limits on the number of parts any team can design and own. So an LEQ12 can have a certain number of test foil shapes (for example) and this same rule applies to foils on a non-one-design AC40.

INOES Britannia launched their LEQ12 bristling with sensors. You can make out one camera here, above and aft of the foil arm buried in the hull, surrounded by carbon there are hundreds more load, speed etc. sensors. Photo: C.GREGORY / INEOS BRITANNIA

In addition to AC40s and LEQ12 test boats, teams are also able to sail their AC75s from the 36th America’s Cup, though with limitations on when they can be sailed. These limitations vary somewhat with teams that took part in the last America’s Cup, who already have AC75s, more restricted than new entries, who were able to purchase an AC75 and sail it earlier in the cycle.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing are a new entrant in this Cup cycle and they purchased Emirates Team New Zealand’s first AC75 from the 2021 Cup cycle and relaunched it in August 2022 immediately getting some time on the foiling monohull under their belts. They have since relaunched once again after adding some further developments.

They have split their time between AC75 sailing and AC40 sailing, once their own one-design was delivered, and have recently been two-boat tuning with the delivery of their second AC40.

Sailing ‘legacy’ AC75s will be a key part of the build up to the next America’s Cup, with teams only allowed to build one new AC75 this time around (two were permitted for the 2021 Cup).

Emirates Team New Zealand training on an AC75 with cyclors now returned to Cup sailing . Photo: Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

“The rule that you can only build one AC75 this campaign is to save cost, but it’s a big change from the America’s Cup that I grew up with, in the old IACC class monohulls,” explained Jeff Causey, INEOS Britannia’s boat operations manager. “Back then, it was all about two-boat testing. Every team that could afford to designed and built two boats, and then lined them up against each other for countless hours of side-by-side tuning out on the water. We don’t have that available to us this time.”

The USA flagged team, American Magic has taken a similar approach to Alinghi Red Bull Racing, getting plenty of time out on the water onboard their AC75 from their base in Pensacola and sailing their first AC40 there too, before moving out to Barcelona earlier this year where they got their hands on their second AC40 allowing them to get some two boat testing and training under their belts.

It should be noted that the AC75 rules have been slightly tweaked for this edition with ‘cyclors‘ once again allowed and some changes to the foil arms and sail control systems – among other tweaks, such as reduced crew numbers. And we have seen teams making changes to their legacy AC75s to reflect this, with many teams opting for cyclors at this early stage.

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The second day of racing for the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta was something of a mixed bag. Three solid fleet races in full foiling conditions were followed by an attempted two-boat match race, which started as the wind died.

With a 10-minute time limit for the two competing boats, American Magic and Emirates Team New Zealand, to reach the top mark the final match race was looking unlikely from the start. After a painful exhibition of the two teams nursing their AC40s upwind – crew on the bow, hanging from the shrouds, doing everything they could to dampen the pitch and roll of the AC40s hulls as they wallowed in the water – the race was abandoned. Swiftly afterwards race organisers confirmed that all racing had been abandoned for the day.

Teams tried everything to get the most from their boats in the extremely light winds

This awarded American Magic the Preliminary Regatta win by just one point.

But the day had started very differently. With around 10-12 knots of south-easterly breeze and a rolling swell at 1500hrs, the AC40s were fully powered up and flying under their J2s (headsail choice is mandated by race committee). The first race start was a stormer – the fleet all hitting the line at speed, French Orient Express Racing Team looking to repeat yesterday’s success with another port start.

Emirates Team New Zealand and American Magic took up the early battle for the front, each slam-dunking tacks on their opponents, until New Zealand team’s height and speed took gave them a direct line to the port top mark, building a lead that was never under threat. American Magic took second, with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli taking third from the Swiss Alinghi Red Bull Racing.

The second race was another showcase start, the French team again showing their willingness to get their AC40 fully in the mix despite their limited time in the boat with a heart-stopping approach at full speed at the committee boat end.

The American team dominated the race, coming off the line at pace to pull away. Behind them were place changes and tacking battles – Luna Rossa and Alinghi evenly matched, while the French made it hard work for Emirates Team New Zealand to get past them. With Emirates Team New Zealand finishing 4th, the third fleet race of the day would determine who would go through to the final match race of the Preliminary Regatta.

The points calculations were further complicated when it became apparent that Alinghi Red Bull Racing wouldn’t be racing, as they parked up with hydraulic issues while the other five boats lined up to start.

Yet again American Magic delivered another super-smooth performance. Meanwhile, though Emirates Team New Zealand had evident pace, they also showed a few chinks in their boat handling with a major splashdown that let several boats past. The Kiwis had to hunt hard to overhaul Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Orient Express Racing Team, who were duking it out for second. At the finish it was American Magic 1st, from Emirates Team New Zealand, with Orient Express Racing Team rounding off a superb first event with a 3rd.

The deciding race may have been abandoned, but there was plenty to glean from the day’s fleet races about the team’s relative performances.

A day of learning for the America’s Cup teams

American Magic and Emirates Team New Zealand were, without question, a notch above – unsurprisingly given both teams have been training using two-boat AC40 programmes.

Paul Goodison, American Magic helm, told Yachting World after racing: “We’re over the moon, obviously. We weren’t shy about saying this was a performance regatta and we needed to put our best foot forward to get the team on a roll, and to deliver it is a really good feeling.

“It’s interesting but we missed some of the fleet practice races that all the other teams did a few weeks ago, to focus on our development side because we had a couple of key milestones to make. So we were actually a little bit worried that we hadn’t done the time [in the AC40s] coming into this event – mainly because the four of us onboard usually sail on two different boats so we’re going against each other more than sailing with each other.

“So one of the biggest things we’ve had to work on the last week is basically the communications, because when you can’t see half the race track you need to communicate what you want to do with the other guy and be sure you’re on the same page. And I felt like we did a pretty good job of getting further down the path with that, and today I feel like we gelled really well as a four.

“I think the biggest thing for us winning here is that’s it a whole team thing, it just lifts the spirits. Some people in the shed have been working very very long hours to get us out on the water in the smaller boats, but also at the same time getting the AC75 ready to sail at the end of this month. So they were all working their balls off to give us the opportunity to go sailing every day! And being able to pay them back by showing them were good enough to take it the best guys was important.”

Another team that was delighted with their performance – and who will no doubt have ruffled a few feathers among the longer standing teams, were the newest entry. The French Orient Express Racing Team finished 3rd overall and were in the mix from the very start despite only taking delivery of their AC40 in mid-August. Helm Kevin Pepponet told Yachting World afterwards:

“There were some close calls today – we got a penalty with Luna Rossa, the second start was pretty intense for us, but we are handling the boat better day after day, and we are getting much more confident on the boat and in the team. Of course we have a lot of work to do to catch the top two. American Magic and Emirates Team New Zealand were a way ahead and today there were pretty impressive, but we have another event in just one month – and the Cup itself will be totally different. It gave us a lot of confidence launching this America’s Cup campaign and there is a really good dynamic in the team.”

Others will have been disappointed. INEOS Britannia made little secret of the fact they were under prepared in the AC40s, having instead been focusing on their LEQ12 development boat, but they were consistently off the pace, scoring three 6th places and two 4ths over the weekend.

Helmsman Giles Scott admitted: “We’re licking wounds, as expected after the day we had. We know we were a little bit unprepared but let’s be honest, we should have done better that we did this weekend, we can’t shy away from that.

“So yeah, we’ve got to have a good look at ourselves and, with regards to the AC40, use Jeddah as a bit of a milestone. And also just go back and review where we’re at in terms of the bigger picture, and looking forward to racing in the big boat. Because there’s been good lessons here – really, really good lessons. We’ve come away bitterly disappointed and with our tails between our legs for sure, but we’ve been in some pretty dark places before and the key is how you rebound from it.”

The second America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from 29th November to 2nd December 2023, again in the AC40s.

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It was a day of firsts in Villanova, some 30 miles along the coast from Barcelona today: the first races in the 37th America’s Cup cycle, the first ‘proper’ races in the new AC40 one-design class, and the first chance to see how the new teams – and new crew combinations – compare with one year to go until the Cup proper.

This first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta event has a slightly different feel to the usual Cup events – something of a matinee performance. The practice races earlier this week were a chance for teams and organisers to iron out a few teething problems, while the event also had a pleasing air of informality – there are no paid for spectator stands, instead racing is free to view from the beach, and the team bases are equally matched marquees without any glossy hospitality quarters.

Although today began hot and still, by lunchtime the flags were fluttering well and the 200-plus Pati Catala dinghies (a classic local design that has no tiller or rudder, but is instead steered by trimming the mainsail and shifting bodyweight) were racing off the beach for a special celebration regatta in moderate breezes.

Coming off the foils can see an AC40’s boat speed halved compared to a boat in flight mode.

At the pre-start for Race 1, all teams were burning around on their AC40s with ease. The on the water view from a team chase RIB was a frankly eye-opening indication of the closing speeds that can occur with six foiling AC40s in confined water. They may be just 40ft, but with some teams reporting hitting over 50 knots in practice sails (see Matt Sheahan’s column in the current issue of Yachting World for more), these are not toothless mini-models, but a genuinely impressive class in their own right.

When there’s breeze, that is…

America’s Cup AC40s first race

Sadly by the start of Race 1 the wind had dropped, and with around 7-8 knots at the gun few teams were positioned for a clean foiling start. With just 1 minute 40 seconds to go the French Orient Express Racing Team had dropped off their foils and were sluggish in the water, but recovered impressively to cross the line at speed on port, and keep going, maintaining flight and pace to round the top mark in first.

Close behind them was Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, who traded places for 1st place as the breeze began to fade and the AC40s came off their foils onto a low-riding displacement mode. The remainder of the race was characterised by the curious sight of crews climbing out of their stream-lined, aero-efficient cockpits to stand on the bow to lift the AC40 transoms out of the water.

With a shortened course the leading French and Italian pair crawled down to the finish line, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with right of way on starboard. But as the boats made their final gybes the Italians picked up a penalty for their foil coming too close to the French. This gave the French Orient Express Racing Team the first ever event win in the AC40s. In a final twist, it turned out that Luna Rossa had started incorrectly and were DNS. [In a final, final twist, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli was then reinstated 2nd place later that evening]

The French team went into this race as the outsiders, having only taken delivery of their AC40 in mid-August. They were, unsurprisingly, delighted with taking the first win.

Orient Express Racing Team trimmer Jason Saunders commented after racing: “Yeah, we’re surprised. The training hadn’t been going as well as that.

“We’d actually been struggling a lot in those [light] conditions and we’ve spent a lot of time analysing the data, analysing the footage that we’ve got, and we’re just super happy for the whole team, because it’s a massive team effort to be able to help us to progress. And today we were able to put that into place and we showed that we certainly improved. Once we’re up and foiling, we’re able to match with the best. That’s pretty positive for day one.”

Low riding mode

With a fading breeze racing the start of Race 2 was delayed, and it looked very likely that racing would be abandoned for the day. However, by 5pm some boats had headed to the top of the course and were foiling unassisted, with other teams using their chase RIBs to tow their AC40s to get them up to speed before casting off in flight mode, and the race committee quickly followed suit by setting off Race 2.

The start area, however, was still in a patch of much lighter wind, and one by one the AC40s fell off the foils in the pre-start. All but one, in fact, with Alinghi holding flight mode to cross the line on foils and pull away in a completely different race. Behind them the French made another good start with INEOS Britannia behind, both firmly stuck in low-rider mode.

Halfway up the first beat, however, Emirates Team New Zealand got back up on foils and, racing at twice the boat speed of all the other teams (Alinghi also having dropped back down), essentially sailed rings around them, approaching the top mark for the final time while other had barely rounded it for the first.

Emirates Team New Zealand was noticeably able to get their AC40 foiling earlier when other teams were in low-rider displacement mode at the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Villanova.

Getting back on the foils

One observation I heard in Villanova, which seemed confirmed by today’s races, is that Emirates Team New Zealand are often seen to foil first, in 5-6 knots of breeze, with other teams needing 1, 2 or more knots extra to get back up onto the foils mid-race.

For teams struggling to foil, the alternative is to sail in VMG displacement mode, sailing the most direct route to the mark. With shortened races, such as today, this also gives the advantage of protecting their position on the course as teams are scored according to their placing on the water if they do not finish the race.

There seemed to have been some confusion over how these points were awarded for those watching the TV commentary, but there was no doubt the teams were racing for rankings on the water no matter how they would be finished (a bit like a Whiskey flag to award tail enders in a dinghy fleet with a result).

The AC40 crews using body weight to get their boats moving when not in foiling mode. Photo: ACEM

Ben Ainslie, skipper and Principal of INEOS Britannia, explained that it’s a balancing act between knowing when to best sail as fast as you can in displacement mode, and when to try and get back onto foils:

“We were actually not in that bad shape sailing around in displacement mode [in the second race]. We were in second place, saw New Zealand had go back on foils, decided to try and pop up, but we didn’t make it and got overtaken.”

“You got to make sure you’ve got some runway, you’re not too close to the boundary going into it. Then you’re trying to figure out is there enough wind, you’re looking at the wind speed on the boat, also looking at the wind on the water and what the other boats are doing, have they got up or not?

“And of course, there’s a lot of technique in it. The Kiwis are very good at it – kind of not surprisingly, they got great sailors and they spend a lot of time in the boat. So, yeah, we’re certainly in catch up mode on that.

“It’s a lot of things. It’s to do with the setup of the boat, of course, the aero side of things, but also the foils. And then, like any other boat, really, it’s just very subtle. We all know how difficult sailing any boat in light airs is. It’s a very subtle technique: when to trim on the sails, when to try and accelerate and when to try and lift the boat out of the water, drive, the pitch of the boat. It’s really dynamic and takes a lot of choreography.”

Does that stance look similar to the one above? The local Pati Catala vintage catamaran dinghies are sailed with body weight rather than a rudder. Photos: ACEM

Today might not have showcased the AC40s’ real potential on their debut, but it did prove that the Kiwis are not actually invincible, and that no team – even the least experienced – can be discounted.

Tomorrow there’s a more solid breeze forecast, and bigger sea state forecast, which is likely to deliver the teams a whole new set of boat handling challenges.

The post First America’s Cup AC40 races: France and New Zealand share wins appeared first on Yachting World.

The six competing teams in the 37th America’s Cup are set to get their first chance to line up competitively against one another at the first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta, from 14-17 September 2023.

The event, which sees the America’s Cup teams move 50km up the coast to Vilanova i La Geltrú from the main event base in Barcelona, includes four days of racing in the AC40 one-design foiling monohull.

Racing begins with official practise on Thursday 14 September, followed by three fleet races on 15 and 16 September, and then two further fleet races on the Sunday before a single match race final. Coverage will be live-streamed via americascup.com as well on The America’s Cup YouTube channel.

The AC40s lined up to test the tech ahead of the Preliminary Regatta, but are yet to officially race. Photo: Ugo Fonollá/America’s Cup

As it is held in the supplied AC40s, rather than the America’s Cup final designs of the AC75, the Preliminary Regatta will have little direct bearing on the Cup match proper, which takes place 11 months later. However, it is a good opportunity for the teams to bank some foiling race practice, and perhaps glean some indications of whose preparation schedules have been the most fruitful so far.

As with any one-design fleet, the AC40s will put a premium on boat handling, so the one thing the Preliminary Regatta will give some indication of is clues to the sailing teams’ preparation level.

“All the teams are looking forward to lining up in the AC40 against other teams because it’ll give us a good read and a good yardstick on just how our sailors are doing in terms of their technique and the sharpness of their racing skills. It’ll also give us some good feedback on some of the things that we think are fast about the way you sail an AC40; everything from bustle clearance to sail trim. We’ll get a chance to measure those things when AC40s line up against other AC40s,” explains Jeff Causey, INEOS Britannia’s boat operations manager.

Jimmy Spithill explained that even within the one-design there will be variations in set up: “The hardware is exactly the same as the others, and it really comes down to the teams using the controls: cant, ride height, the trim of the boat. Obviously sails and technique, there’s a lot of little things there.”

However, INEOS Britannia’s Leigh McMillan cautioned: “We’re certainly going to put some more time in the AC40s. But the Cup itself, and designing and having a fast boat for the America’s Cup, has got to be our absolute goal. It’s not all about the AC40 for now!”

How do the America’s Cup teams stack up?

Photo: Job Vermeulen/America’s Cup

Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)

The Defenders moved their team from New Zealand to Barcelona this July. Nathan Outteridge and Pete Burling have been taking the dual helms of their AC75 and two AC40s. The Kiwis have performed consistently in the Practice Racing in Barcelona with a tight-knit team that trust in their process.

Photo: Ugo Fonollá/America’s Cup

INEOS Britannia (GBR)

The British squad moved from their winter training base in Palma, and have been trialing a T6 test boat and AC40. Giles Scott is sailing team manager for skipper Ben Ainslie. But it has not been the strongest display from the team in practise racing so far, with execution of manouvers in the AC40 looking less than polished.

Photo: Alex Carabi/America’s Cup

Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)

Vilanova Preliminary Regatta will be the first time Ernesto Bertarelli’s famous Swiss team takes part in an America’s Cup race since 2010, now skippered by Hans- Peter Steinacher. Combined helms, Arnaud Psarofaghis and Maxime Bachelin have formed a dynamic partnership, rooted in steady progression, and Alinghi Red Bull Racing have surprised to the upside in the practice regattas.

Photo: Paul Todd/America’s Cup

American Magic (USA)

Australian Tom Slingsby and Brit Paul Goodison are among the sailing squad headliners. The US team has secured some of the highest number of hours in the AC40s thanks to a two-boat programme. They chose to sit out the first few days of the recent practice regatta, preferring to complete their aero and foil testing schedule, but when they came to the racecourse, they were sensational and already look ones to beat in the one-design class.

Photo: Ivo Rovira/America’s Cup

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA)

Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni return on the twin wheels of the Italian AC40, though Spithill cautioned they have had less time racing against other boats than some other teams. However, Luna Rossa have been unafraid to ride very different modes to the others and at times have shown unbelievable boatspeed.

Photo: Martin Keruzore/OERT

Orient Express Team (FRA)

The newest team on the block, the French squad were flying on their first AC40 test sail after launching mid-August, skipper Quentin Delapierre crediting the time they put in on the simulator. Whether they can challenge for the title in Vilanova is a tall ask with so little time in the AC40 compared to the more established teams but they should put up a good fight.

America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta schedule

The format of the Regatta will consist of up to 8 fleet races followed by a single Match Race Final between the two highest scoring Competitors in the fleet racing.

Racing will take place on:

• Thursday 14 September Official Practice
• Friday 15 September Race Day 1 – 3 Fleet Races
• Saturday 16 September Race Day 2 – 3 Fleet Races
• Sunday 17 September Race Day 3 – 2 Fleet Races, Match Race Final (1 race).

Racing is scheduled to be between 1530 and 1730 hours each day, though this can be changed if conditions so require.

In preparation for the first preliminary regatta Vilanova i la Geltrú in just 1 month’s time, four teams lined up for the first AC40 races to help test the new RMS and broadcast systems. Photo: Ugo Fonollá / America’s Cup

How to watch the America’s Cup preliminary regatta

The America’s Cup races will be live-streamed across the official America’s Cup website: www.americascup.com as well as available to watch on YouTube in most territories.

This may not be available in territories where broadcast rights have been sold, but as yet there is no information available about broadcast deals, so it is safe to assume most territories will have Youtube access to racing.

The America’s Cup Social Media channels on Instagram, Facebook, and X (Twitter) will also be fully activated and updated throughout the racing with a mix of multi-media. Daily race reports will be available on the America’s Cup website after racing.

You can also follow all of our coverage on Yachting World’s America’s Cup mini site.

For those wishing to watch in Barcelona, the America’s Cup Race Village will offer spectators the chance to experience the unique buzz and atmosphere of the regattas off the water.

The Race Villages free throughout all America’s Cup events, with large maxi screens to view the racing action live with commentary plus event and team activations alongside an array of food and beverage stations.

The Race Village in Vilanova i La Geltrú, will open at 11:00 daily and run through to 20:00 with live racing between 15:00 to 17:30 and sailor presentations and interviews after the racing each day.

When is the next America’s Cup preliminary regatta?

After this first America’s Cup Preliminary regatta, teams head to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for a second regatta between 29th November to 2nd December 2023. The third and last preliminary regatta will be held in August 2024 in Barcelona.

As with the first event, the regatta in Saudi Arabia will have racing in AC40s, but the final preliminary event in 2024 will see all the America’s Cup teams race in their new AC75s for the very first time.

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Several years after Emirates Team New Zealand successfully defended the America’s Cup back in 2021, we are about to see racing in this cycle for the first time. But what have teams been up in the last couple of years as they look ahead to the 2024 America’s Cup?

The first official event of the 37th America’s Cup will take place from 15th September 2023 as the five America’s Cup teams gather in the Catalonian port of Vilanova i la Geltrú for the first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta.  The racing itself will take place in the One-Design AC40 class, which might make for entertaining racing, but will show us very little about where each team is in their technical development path towards the ultimate goal of winning the 2024 America’s Cup.

So what have the teams been up to since the last America’s Cup in 2021?

INEOS Britannia and Orient Express Racing Team training in their AC40s

America’s Cup test boats and AC40s

Every team entered into the 2024 America’s Cup needs to purchase a one-design foiling AC40 for racing in the Preliminary Regattas and to ensure they can enter teams into both the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups (both of which will use AC40s).

All teams set to take part in the 37th America’s Cup now have AC40s on the water in preparation for the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta. However, some have had them on the water longer than others, and some have two out on the water sailing.

Although the AC40 is a one-design class and must adhere to strict rules for the Preliminary Regattas and the Youth and Women’s AC, outside of these events they are allowed to be modified in order to conduct testing ahead of the launch of team’s AC75 America’s Cup boats – though they must be able to be returned to their one-design configuration for racing.

Oreient Express Racing Team were the last to launch an AC40

The French Orient Express Racing Team were the last team to enter this America’s Cup and were also the last to get an AC40 – only launching it in mid-August. And as such hold the difficult duel position as both last team to enter the Cup and the team with the least time on the water.

By contrast, Defenders of the America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand were the first to launch an AC40 back in 2022 and were the first to conduct two-boat testing once their second AC40 was launched.

Neither of these outcomes are a surprise, with a single builder of AC40s, teams were allocated a build slot based on their order of entry to the 37th America’s Cup.

In terms of boat launches, teams have taken a number of different approaches. With a wait for AC40 delivery and time of the essence (as ever in the AC), some teams chose to build their own training boats.

Boat terminology has become a little confusing, but test platforms are generally referred to as LEQ12s (short for ‘Less or Equal to 12m’ the parameters for a test platform as defined by the America’s Cup rules, to limit teams building platforms too similar in size to an AC75).

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli training in their LEQ12 in Cagliari

The two teams which have chosen this route are Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. To add a little more confusion to the nomenclature, Luna Rossa refer to their boat as simply LEQ12 while the Brits have named their ‘LEQ12’ T6. Both of these were launched in late 2022.

For both of these teams, their LEQ12 has been the primary test platform, with both also adding AC40s to their roster of boats following the launch of their LEQ12 test platforms.

To further confuse the issue, if teams take an AC40 out of one-design configuration that too becomes (officially) an LEQ12. This is because there are limits on the number of parts any team can design and own. So an LEQ12 can have a certain number of test foil shapes (for example) and this same rule applies to foils on a non-one-design AC40.

Emirates Team New Zealand training on one AC40 and one modified AC40 (officially a LEQ12). Photo: Ugo Fonollá / America’s Cup

In addition to AC40s and LEQ12 test boats, teams are also able to sail their AC75s from the 36th America’s Cup, though with limitations on when they can be sailed. These limitations vary somewhat with teams that took part in the last America’s Cup, who already have AC75s, more restricted than new entries, who were able to purchase an AC75 and sail it earlier in the cycle.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing are a new entrant in this Cup cycle and they purchased Emirates Team New Zealand’s first AC75 from the 2021 Cup cycle and relaunched it in August 2022 immediately getting some time on the foiling monohull under their belts. They have since relaunched once again after adding some further developments.

They have split their time between AC75 sailing and AC40 sailing, once their own one-design was delivered, and have recently been two-boat tuning with the delivery of their second AC40.

Sailing ‘legacy’ AC75s will be a key part of the build up to the next America’s Cup, with teams only allowed to build one new AC75 this time around (two were permitted for the 2021 Cup).

“The rule that you can only build one AC75 this campaign is to save cost, but it’s a big change from the America’s Cup that I grew up with, in the old IACC class monohulls,” explained Jeff Causey, INEOS Britannia’s boat operations manager. “Back then, it was all about two-boat testing. Every team that could afford to designed and built two boats, and then lined them up against each other for countless hours of side-by-side tuning out on the water. We don’t have that available to us this time.” 

American Magic out two-boat testing. Photo: Paul Todd/America’s Cup

The USA flagged team, American Magic has taken a similar approach to Alinghi Red Bull Racing, getting plenty of time out on the water onboard their AC75 from their base in Pensacola and sailing their first AC40 there too, before moving out to Barcelona earlier this year where they got their hands on their second AC40 allowing them to get some two boat testing and training under their belts.

It should be noted that the AC75 rules have been slightly tweaked for this edition with ‘cyclors‘ once again allowed and some changes to the foil arms and sail control systems – among other tweaks. And we have seen teams making changes to their legacy AC75s to reflect this, with many teams opting for cyclors at this early stage.

Emirates Team New Zealand training on an AC75 with cyclors now returned to Cup sailing . Photo: Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

Testing, data collection and simulators

Two boat testing provides a clearly defined development path for those who choose to do it and can be used to either validate technical data (e.g. how well different foils perform) or team performance using identical kit to race each other.

This type of A/B testing has been key to producing a fast boat and a well oiled sailing team since time immemorial. However, the America’s Cup is at the very forefront of technology and gone are the days of relying purely on such simple tools.

It’s widely accepted that one of Emirates Team New Zealand’s key advantages back in 2017 when they wrested the America’s Cup from the hands of then Defender, Oracle Team USA was the Kiwis’ reliance on simulation tools. And an accurate simulator has remained the holy grail of the AC world ever since.

INOES Britannia’s LEQ12 is bristling with sensors. You can make out one camera here, above and aft of the foil arm buried in the hull, surrounded by carbon there are hundreds more load, speed etc. sensors. Note also the two differing foil shapes. Photo: C.GREGORY / INEOS BRITANNIA

It is here where we are likely to see the key benefits for those teams who have got together with F1 teams – Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Red Bull) and INEOS Britannia (Mercedes).

The key thing here is that teams will want to capture as much data as possible from their test platforms in order to validate their simulator findings. Put simply the closer to real-world sailing you can make your simulations the better and this relies on adjusting the simulation output based on how well it corresponds to real world scenarios.

As such we have seen boats bristling with sensors and cameras all sending high quality data back to huge data banks largely in order to calibrate simulators.

Foil mounted aft with a bulb protruding forward as we saw in the last Cup.

Foils and sail controls

The upshot of a good simulator is that it significantly reduces the need for real world testing of ideas. In short, why design and build a foil to put through two-boat testing when you can build thousands of simulated permutations of different foil types?

But we have seen teams testing different foil shapes in the real world too, with some teams electing to A/B test foils on a single boat by running different foil configurations on port and starboard – something we saw a lot of in the last Cup cycle.

From what can be observed from the testing to date, there seems to be a consensus around the foil wings themselves sitting as far aft as possible on the foil arms, usually with some kind of bulb projecting forward. This is the style of foil Emirates Team New Zealand used in their successful defence of the AC last time out.

Sail controls will once again be a significant development area.

Once again, though foil shapes are a key area of development with flat elliptical foils a popular option, Y foils on display as well as curved foils (somewhere between a flat and Y-shaped foil) and the recent return of a W foil by the Brits (trialled and eventually dropped by them before the last Cup).

While foils were a key visual difference between the boats last time around, sail control setups were also a marked area of differentiation. Some teams had boomless setups, some had a boom, Luna Rossa had a sort-of-boom hidden underneath the deck and INEOS used (and then abandoned) an articulating boom.

There was a lot more experimentation beyond the booms and a significant amount of development was hidden within the boat and between the sails.

All of these differences were in order to get the twin-skin mainsail to be as powerful as possible to provide drive for the AC75 to get up on it’s foils and then allow rapid depowering and aero efficiency once foiling and contenting with apparent wind speeds of around 50 knots.

It looks as though sail controls are once again going to be a significant area of development. More so than the foils, sail controls and systems are very well hidden but we have already seen a mixture of boom and boomless setups on test boats and there are rumours that this is a rich seam of development once again this time around.

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Having taken delivery of their first AC75 several weeks ago and officially launching the boat recently, the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Team, has suffered a capsize on their first training day in Barcelona.

The team is set to take part in the 37th America’s Cup in 2024 and, as a new entrant in this cycle (though Alinghi has previously won the AC, they have not been involved with the event for several America’s Cup cycles) the team are allowed to sail their secondhand AC75 for a number of days this year where other teams are not allowed on the water in their America’s Cup class boats.

Photo: Alinghi RBR media

However, their first training day on the water came to a disastrous close as a squall knocked their boat over on the return to shore. On a post across their social media channels, the Alinghi Red Bull Racing team explained:

A tough day at the office.

After a successful day of sailing, Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s BoatZero was hit by the violent rain squall, which developed over the city of Barcelona on Wednesday afternoon. While towing back with sails down, the boat bounced into the wind and was pushed on to her side.

Some of the crew members were knocked overboard but were promptly recovered by the support team. Everyone returned safe and sound to the team base.

“Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s BoatZero suffered minor damage to the port foil arm and to the hull. We will be back on the water soon, carrying on with our preparation for the 37th America´s Cup.” says Silvio Arrivabene, Co-General Manager of Alinghi Red Bull Racing.

The cliche in America’s Cup racing is that the one thing you can’t buy is time, so these training days are seen as a particular key in terms of catching up with the development and information teams in the last America’s Cup were able to secure racing and training in their AC75s.

This damage will mean a break from training while the team makes repairs. However, it seems the damage should not be too significant and nothing like the significant damage American Magic saw in the 2021 America’s Cup when they spectacularly capsized their Patriot AC75 forcing them to rush a repair, but ultimately seeing them exit the competition despite a valiant effort to get back racing.

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Alinghi Red Bull Racing launched their AC75 in Barcelona yesterday, Monday 8th August 2022. This is the first America’s Cup boat to hit the water since the conclusion of the 36th America’s Cup in New Zealand in early 2021, as teams begin the long build up to the next America’s Cup set to take place in Barcelona 2024.

Although this is the first AC75 we have seen on the water during this Cup cycle, it should be noted this is not a new launch. Alinghi Red Bull Racing team purchased the first boat launched by Emirates Team New Zealand in the last Cup cycle – an option for teams which did not take part in the last America’s Cup.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s AC75 pre-launch sporting her new livery. Photo: America’s Cup

As a new entry to the America’s Cup, Alinghi Red Bull Racing will be able to get out on the water sailing in this training boat, while teams that took part in the last Cup cycle will have to wait until next year before they are able to get out on the water in their AC75s.

Alceo Bertarelli, son of syndicate founder Ernesto Bertarelli, smashed the customary bottle of champagne on the wing as Red Bull sponsored Hazal Nahir, the trail-blazing Turkish parkour athlete performed tricks on the foil arms during the christening ceremony.

“Today symbolises the adventure that begins in Barcelona,” commented Alinghi Red Bull Racing Head Coach Nils Frei at the launch, “This first-generation boat will allow us to gain valuable training hours before we have our race boat. We are a new team sailing a boat that we are only just discovering, but to be able to train already this year is highly beneficial.

“If there is one thing that all Cup campaigns have in common, it is that you can never make up for lost time. And you never have enough of it! The preparations for this launch have given us the opportunity to learn to work together, and it is so important to be united towards a common goal in an America’s Cup campaign.”

Having purchased the boat early in the cycle from Emirates Team New Zealand, the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Team have been working flat-out to prepare the AC75 for its first sail, scheduled for later this week, subject to tow-testing and final safety preparations.

The Alinghi Red Bull Racing team onboard their AC75. Photo: America’s Cup

Adding vital AC75 experience to the Swiss team are two legends of the America’s Cup in the form of Dean Barker from New Zealand, a veteran campaigner, part of the winning New Zealand team in 2000 and more recently helmsman of American Magic in 2021, plus Pietro Sibello, a finalist with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the 2021 America’s Cup Match.

Skipper of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Arnaud Psarofaghis, will be helming the boat throughout the permissible training period and crew will be rotated in and out as the schedule progresses. Analysis of performance in all areas will be key and the eyes of the Cup world will be watching intently to see how this new team develops.

“BoatZero will allow us to gain the necessary experience on the AC75. Despite the satisfaction of today’s festivities, we are aware that there is still a lot of work to do to catch up with the level of the teams that raced the 36th America’s Cup. But today has given us the energy to focus on the next step: sailing,” commented Silvio Arrivabene, co-General Manager and Head of Technical Operations.

Although this boat does represent an important step for the team in terms of getting up to speed in a new (to them) class of boat, it is notable that, so far, there appear to be few signs that this AC75 has been developed in any significant way to bring it into line with the updated AC75 class rule.

From the early images the foil arms do not appear to be longer, as allowed by the new rules, and similarly there doesn’t appear to have been a change from the traditional grinding stations to a ‘cyclor’ grinding set-up, which most anticipate will be seen in the coming America’s Cup after they were effectively banned in the last cycle but have been reinstated as an option this time around.

In fact, even the now defunct bow sprit (the Code 0 sails they were to be used for have been dropped) remains in the launch images.

Of course for any new team merely getting to sail an AC75 will bring plenty of information and there do appear to be different foils on either foil arm, indicating the platform will be used as a test bed for foil design. Last cycle we saw all teams running similar asymmetric set ups early on in an attempt to validate future design choices and directions.

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Two of the most eye-catching announcements that were made while we were awaiting the 37th America’s Cup protocol (finally released in late 2021) were plans to relaunch the Youth America’s Cup and the creation of a Women’s America’s Cup for the first time.

Both of these events, it was announced, would also be contested on a brand new AC40 training foiler class. Now, finally, details of those two major pathway regattas have been released.

Both the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup regattas will be contested between 12 teams, split into two pools of six for an initial fleet racing series. The first pool will be comprised of the teams entered and competing in the America’s Cup.

As all teams will be required to purchase an AC40 in order to compete in two preliminary events ahead of the America’s Cup itself, it is a no-brainer for all teams to commit to entering a team for both regattas, but it is encouraging that all teams entered into the 37th America’s Cup have supported the plans so far.

The second pool will be formed by any independent yacht club entries that qualify to enter under the 37th America’s Cup Protocol. Significantly, these teams will be required to fulfil the nationality requirements of America’s Cup teams themselves, meaning 100% of the crew sailing each yacht in each race must be nationals of the country of the yacht club that the team represents.

America’s Cup teams will also be required to supply the AC40s for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup racing for both their in-house teams and the independent yacht club teams, so purchase of an AC40 will not be a requirement for entry to the Youth or Women’s America’s Cup.

A shared shore and technical support team will be provided by the organisers to facilitate cost savings and to ensure consistency across the fleet.

However, as is the case in SailGP, there will be special dispensation for ’emerging nations’. The event format announcement states that: ‘a team may be considered to be from an ‘Emerging Nation’ or be eligible to receive a dispensation from the crew nationality requirements to allow a specific number of approved non-nationals to compete as crew onboard the AC40.’

No word yet, though, on the criteria under which an ’emerging nation’ is defined, nor the number of non-nationals any team may be able to have onboard.

The Land Rover BAR team were crowned 2017 Red Bull Youth America’s Cup Champions last time the event took place. Photo: Land Rover BAR

Both pools will race a series of 6-9 fleet races with the top three teams from each pool progressing to the final series. A final series of 3-4 fleet races will decide the top two teams, who then go on to compete in a single match-race final to determine the overall winners of each event.

The racing is due to take place in the 37th America’s Cup venue in Barcelona, Spain and racing is scheduled to take place around the America’s Cup racing, with much of the competition running alongside the Challenger Selection Series and some of the final events overlapping the America’s Cup itself.

The Women’s America’s Cup is likely to take the prime spot, with the Women’s America’s Cup Final Match Race being held on a race day of the America’s Cup Match itself.

This could go some way to addressing concerns that the women’s series in a ‘scaled down’ version of the America’s Cup class, is being given the same billing as a youth event.

Organisers have the stated aim to provide maximum exposure for the sailors competing in both events and provide fans on the ground with more on-the-water action to watch.

The French team, Groupama Team Frace took part in the 2017 America’s Cup and are rumoured to return for 2024. Photo: ACEA

French America’s Cup entry all but confirmed?

For months now there have been rumours of a French entry to the 37th America’s Cup, which is expected to be officially announced imminently. And it seems this Youth and Women’s America’s Cup announcement all but confirms the rumour.

To date there are five official entries in the 37th America’s Cup: Emirates Team New Zealand (Defender), INEOS Britannia (Challenger of Record), Alinghi Red Bull Racing, American Magic, and Luna Rossa.

However, in this latest press release detailing the plans of the Youth and Women’s AC regattas it states that: ‘Racing will be in a fleet of six one design AC40s supplied by the America’s Cup teams.‘ It also states within the details about the number of Youth and Women’s entrants in pools ‘a’ and ‘b’ that: ‘if more Cup teams are confirmed not only will Cup participants [pool a] increase but so will pool b participants’

It would seem, then, that there are currently six entrants known or confirmed to the organisers for the 37th America’s Cup, even if only five have publicly announced their entry.

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America’s Cup team Alinghi Red Bull Racing has named the key members of their sailing team as the Swiss-flagged squad prepares their challenge for the 37th America’s Cup, which will take place in Barcelona, Spain in 2024.

The Ernesto Bertarelli-backed Alinghi racing team officially announced that they would be entering the 37th America’s Cup in December 2021, after months of speculation. Their entry marks a return of the two-time America’s Cup-winning Alinghi team after over a decade out of the competition.

At the same time Alinghi also announced that they would be teaming up with F1 team, Red Bull Racing, forming the America’s Cup team Alinghi Red Bull Racing. This partnership follows Challenger of Record for the 37th America’s Cup, INEOS Britannia pairing up with the Mercedes F1 team – a clear signal of how hyper-technologically advanced this new period of America’s Cup sailing is in the complex foiling monohull, AC75 class.

Ahead of their official entry announcement, there had been speculation as to which club Alinghi would represent, as the America’s Cup 100 % nationality rule confirmed in the Protocol for the 37th America’s Cup requires all sailors to be passport holders of the nation they represent, thus limiting the ability to buy overseas talent into the land-locked country.

However, in that initial statement of entry, it was confirmed that they will once again represent the Société Nautique de Genève, requiring all the team to be Swiss, and the team’s AC75 to be built in Switzerland.

The last time Alinghi were in an America’s Cup competition was the 2010 Deed of Gift match when their huge catamaran was defeated by Oracle Team USA’s wing-sailed trimaran. Photo: Jose Delgado / Alinghi

Now, after many months of waiting, the team has revealed their key lineup of sailors who will be tasked with getting to grips with the AC75 foiling monohull in their bid to win the most sought after trophy in sailing.

The team includes a number of sailors who are, whilst not exactly household names, familiar to those with an interest in high performance racing. However, many of the crew will also be unfamiliar to Cup fans.

This Alinghi team is one based on building home grown, emerging talent – a very different proposition to the 2003 campaign when Alinghi famously poached many of Team New Zealand’s talented sailors.

Heading up the group – and likely to be responsible for helming the team’s AC75 in one way or another (teams may follow the route taken by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the 36th America’s Cup and have dual port tack and starboard tack helmsmen) is Arnaud Psarofaghis. Psarofaghis is a very experienced foiling sailor who has competed in everything from foiling Moths to SailGP and the foiling GC32 circuit – and has previously been involved with French America’s Cup project, Groupama Team France.

The team is nominally divided into two categories, the ‘driving group’ and ‘power group’. This split reflects the dual needs of a sailing team in the modern Cup era, as the possibility of cyclors (as developed by Emirates Team New Zealand for their 2017 America’s Cup win) may return for this Cup competition.

The ‘driving group’ will be responsible for roles like helm, tactics, flight control, sail trim etc. while the ‘power group’ will be generating the power needed to trim foils and sails either on cyclor-style or traditional pedestal winch grinding stations.

The Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailing team. Photo: Alinghi Red Bull Racing

The Alinghi Red Bull Racing team are:

Driving group:

Maxime Bachelin
Matias Bühler
Nicolas Charbonnier
Lucien Cujean
Yves Detrey
Augustin Maillefer
Bryan Mettraux
Arnaud Psarofaghis

Power group:

Arthur Cevey
Barnabé Delarze
Nicolas Rolaz
Théry Schir
Nils Theuninck
Florian Trüb

These are crew members who Psarofaghis – who’s been at the heart of the project and heavily involved in recruitment – knows well. “Going on this adventure with friends I’ve known since childhood and people I’ve been working with for over 20 years is very exciting,” the 33-year-old said. “Even if I haven’t necessarily sailed with them, this bond is a great advantage.

“We understand each other, which will make communication so much easier. And that’s vital, because on board, good communication is key. And off the boat too: we know when one of us is going through a rough patch, how to talk with them, and when… The only thing that counts is performance, and it’s with this in mind that the teams will be put together.”

“It wasn’t an easy choice, we’re lucky to have excellent potential in Switzerland,” head coach Nils Frei explained. He’s the one who conducted the recruitment jointly with Pierre-Yves Jorand, co-general manager in charge of sports operations. The first sailors who were chosen contributed to the decision-making. “Character, attitude and development potential are as important as skill,” Jorand adds.

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The team does acknowledge the limited Cup experience of the group in their announcement, stating that:

However talented they are, these sailors have had no experience in the America’s Cup yet. A high-level training schedule has therefore been put in place on the water with renowned coaches and internationally recognised designers.

Reflecting the physical needs of a sailing team in the modern America’s Cup it is a very youthful team, with the youngest member being 22 year old Nicolas Rolaz – who won the junior class Optimist World Championship as recently as 2014.

Since coming out of the Cup competition, following their defeat to Oracle USA in the 2010 Deed of Gift match, the Alinghi team has since been competing at Swiss lake events, including the T35 circuit.

Bertarelli points out the team has been sailing in fast and foiling boats, with a young Swiss team so does not consider their relative lack of Cup experience to be an issue. “We expected the [100% nationality] rule, and we’re ready,” he says as the team gears up to challenge for another America’s Cup cycle.

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The post Alinghi Red Bull Racing names America’s Cup sailing team appeared first on Yachting World.

Swiss sailing team Alinghi has confirmed that it is entering the 37th America’s Cup, in a new team partnership as Alinghi Red Bull Racing.

Team founder Ernesto Bertarelli introduced the announcement saying, “Eleven years after winning the America’s Cup, we’re back. We never quite left.”

Bertarelli’s team was the first to win on its Cup debut in 2003, as well as being the first European team ever to win the famous trophy. They then hosted the hugely successful Valencia America’s Cup in 2007, which attracted 11 challengers.

“Winning the Cup changes you,” commented Bertarelli. “But when we stopped racing in the Cup we didn’t stop competing. We always had in mind that we would come back.”

Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s F1 connection

Alinghi is the second team to confirm an alliance with a Formula 1 team. (There are also rumours circulating that an Italian Luna Rossa challenge is in the wings and will feature the Ferrari motorsport team).

Unlike the recently announced pairing of Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1, which is a partnership between two existing teams, this one is being touted as the formation of one new team. “It’s completely different from what I have seen elsewhere,” says Bertarelli.

Red Bull Racing last weekend saw driver Max Verstappen controversially crowned the 2021 F1 World Champion in a showdown against Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton. Christian Horner, Team Principal, said: “We’re going to take Formula 1 DNA and use it within the boat. We’re going up against Mercedes and INEOS on the water, and maybe Ferrari as well, it’s tremendously exciting.”

Adrian Newey is Red Bull Racing’s chief technical officer, and was previously involved in Ben Ainslie’s Land Rover BAR campaign for the 2017 America’s Cup. “He obviously will be showing interest but we want to keep him a little bit focussed on the car,” said Horner. “But his design team will be fully involved in this, using all the same tools and approach.”

Bertarelli confirmed that the team had already visited the Red Bull Racing motorsport base in Milton Keynes, England.

Before the announcement there had been speculation as to which club Alinghi would represent, as the 100 % nationality rule confirmed in the new America’s Cup Protocol requires all sailors to be passport holders of the nation they represent.

This announcement confirmed that they will represent the Société Nautique de Genève, requiring all the team to be Swiss, and the team’s AC75 to be built in Switzerland.

Since coming out of the Cup competition, following their defeat to Oracle USA in the 2010 Deed of Gift match, the Alinghi team has since been competing at Swiss lake events, including the T35 circuit.

Bertarelli points out the team has been sailing in fast and foiling boats, with a young Swiss team. “We expected the [100% nationality] rule, and we’re ready.”

Some of the Swiss crew were introduced on stage and, while they may not (yet) be widely familiar names the include highly skilled foiling sailors like Arnaud Psarofaghis, twice Moth European Champion.

Alinghi skipper returns

Much more familiar was former Alinghi Cup skipper Brad Butterworth. The veteran Kiwi Cup sailor’s role in the team wasn’t confirmed, but it’s clear he will be closely involved, bringing – as he put it – “a bit of the old school into the new world.”

Butterworth is, however, open to one of the most radical changes to the Cup rules since his day: the introduction of ‘cyclors’ (leg powered grinding), which are again permitted for the AC75s in the next Cup.

“I think that’s good for Switzerland,” he commented. “I think there are many very good cyclists who could end up powering this boat.”

When asked where he would like to see the 37th America’s Cup held, given the current uncertainty regarding the America’s Cup venue, Bertarelli said: “We enjoyed sailing in New Zealand. Obviously having Brad with us as a member of the team means to sail in New Zealand would be great, but we’re ready to sail anywhere the Defender decides: the sooner the better.”

The pharmaceuticals billionaire would not be drawn on the budget behind the new Alinghi Red Bull Racing team, only saying: “We’ll be well resourced. The most important resource is the human resource in this sort of venture.”

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Entries opened for the 37th America’s Cup today, December 1 2021. Despite the oldest trophy in sport having neither a confirmed date, nor an agreed venue, the Cup holders reported that multiple challenges were received on the first day.

Kevin Shoebridge, COO of Emirates Team New Zealand commented: “The Defender, RNZYS & Emirates Team New Zealand, have had very positive initial interest since the release of the Protocol of the 37th America’s Cup, feedback and interest from prospective teams, both existing and new has been very encouraging.”

The official release goes on to say: “Soon after the entry period opening several challengers were received by the RNZYS and Emirates Team New Zealand.”

Rumour, naturally, is rife as to who those challengers might be. Who is throwing their hat into the ring to take on Defenders Emirates New Zealand, and the Challenger of Record, Ben Ainslie and Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Britannia?

Bertarelli and Coutts celebrate winning the 32nd America’s Cup Match by Louis Vuitton
Photo: ACM/Carlo Borlenghi

Alinghi’s name has been back in circulation for a few months in connection with a comeback for the 37th Cup, and the New Zealand Herald today reported that they were among the first two teams to pay the initial $1.47 million entry fee.

The Herald also reported that the Swiss team is trying to secure the purchase of a previous generation AC75 as a practice boat – although that would be true of any team, apart from those which already have them, namely American Magic and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

Alinghi is neither confirming nor denying the report. A team spokesperson told Yachting World that they had an official statement on the matter. Amusingly, it simply says:

“The America’s Cup remains as exciting as ever when it comes to secrets and speculations. The Alinghi Sailing Team is following closely all developments with the 37th America’s Cup. We will be in touch soon with further news.”

It’s clear that the Swiss syndicate, owned by Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, is enjoying the rumours and machinations of this current America’s Cup cycle just as much as anyone else.

The Alinghi team made a huge impact when it launched into the Cup world to win in 2003, the first European team to do so, and the first team ever to win on their first attempt.

Luna Rossa Prada Challenge (ITA) race Alinghi (SUI) in the 2007 America’s Cup. Photo: ACM/Carlo Borlenghi

The manner in which they won was certainly controversial, with stars of the winning New Zealand team, including skipper Russell Coutts and tactician Brad Butterworth, switching allegiances to the Swiss team shortly after the All Blacks won in 2000 in Auckland. Alinghi went on to defeat New Zealand by an ignominious 5-0 in 2003.

The Swiss team successfully defended the Cup in 2007 in Valencia – widely regarded as one of the most successful America’s Cup events in modern history. They were finally defeated in 2010, when Alinghi’s giant catamaran lost to the Oracle USA 17 trimaran in a Deed of Gift match.

America’s Cup rules difficulties for Alinghi?

Were Alinghi to make a comeback, a repeat crew recruitment drive is unlikely to be open to them this time around. Emirates Team New Zealand may have only announced one major signing – Nathan Outteridge – leaving key players such as Pete Burling and Blair Tuke not yet confirmed as part of the sailing squad, but the strict nationality rules of the new Protocol will rule out a similar strategy.

New rules specify that crew must also be passport-holders for the country they represent, or have spent “548 days between (but excluding) 17 March 2018 and 18 March 2021” in that country. So if Alinghi were to enter the Cup, which nationality would they represent?

Bertarelli racing his D35 at the Mirabaud Bol d’Or. Photo: Loris von Siebenthal

Since the 2010 Cup the team has been competing in the Extreme Sailing Series and T35 series with a largely Swiss crew, so has plenty of existing talent. Were they to seek sailors with previous AC75 experience, that pool is largely limited to Italy and the USA.

There has also been widespread speculation that an Alinghi Cup entry will be closely aligned with Red Bull Formula 1. They are based in Milton Keynes, which probably makes that avenue of discussion something of a dead-end, given Bertarelli lives on the rather more glamorous shores of Lake Geneva! Needless to say, there is certainly sufficient depth of talent in British sailing to put together a second Cup squad. We continue to watch with interest.

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The post Is Alinghi making an America’s Cup comeback? appeared first on Yachting World.

When Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi (SUI64) crossed the finish line for the final time in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2003, the Swiss 5-0 victory was more than just a decisive new entry in the America’s Cup history books. As the pharmaceuticals billionaire and his teammates hoisted the trophy above their heads, the America’s Cup was on course to change.

Ernesto Bertarelli was already famous in the sailing world for his team’s slick performances – and infamous in New Zealand for having poached the country’s top sailing talent. Four years later, in Valencia, his team defended the 32nd America’s Cup. But this time their win led to change of a different type.

Frustration, acrimony and protracted legal disputes followed in the build up to the 33rd America’s Cup. And when the racing finally got underway in February 2010 in giant multihulls, Alinghi was defeated.

Photo: Manuel Queimadelos Alonso / Getty Images

Since that loss Bertarelli has been out of the Cup and away from the spotlight. Instead, he returned to his own sailing aboard the fast, lightweight multihulls that have been his preferred style of racing for many years.

The Alinghi name continued in the Extreme Sailing Series, then GC32 Tour, and aboard the D35 cat which Bertarelli races on his home patch of Lake Geneva.

Bertarelli is different from many of the super-wealthy owners in the sport. A hands-on, talented and accomplished sailor, he is one of the few who can genuinely hold his own against the pros at a busy, high speed leeward mark rounding.

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Yet despite his ability, enthusiasm and passion for racing at the top level, he has remained largely silent since 2010, as the America’s Cup has gone through another series of major transitions.

When wingmasted cats became the new weapons of choice for the 34th America’s Cup, many speculated that Bertarelli would come back into the Cup. That speculation was reignited when he made a trip to Bermuda in 2017 where he was rumoured to have dined with several of his former friends and foes.

Might the foiling monohull and the very open new design rules tempt him to return?

Multihull specialist

In a rare and exclusive interview, I spoke to Bertarelli at his home on the edge of Lake Geneva on the eve of the biggest lake race in the world, the Mirabaud Bol d’Or, a race that he has won seven times.

I asked him whether he missed the America’s Cup? “It was hard to get away because I still really love the Cup. It is the pinnacle of our sport and it’s this particular event, which needs to drive our sport forward.

“So it was tough to leave it at a time when I thought we had done some great things. I thought Valencia 2007 had brought sailing to a very good place. It was also difficult to see it then go to a multihull, which is obviously a part of the sport which I also really love. It was tough to see that happen and not participate.

Photo: Lloyd Images

“Having said that, I had won the Cup twice and by the end of the third campaign I was a little tired of the politics, the work that needed to be done in order to participate and, frankly, some of the characters. I had had enough. And so in that sense it was great to go back to sailing for fun, pure fun.

“I really don’t have any regrets and I think that Alinghi is in a good place. The transition also allowed me to look after some of the younger sailors here in Switzerland, build a team around them and now we have a very strong team. So we are pleased with where we have got to with Alinghi and the story is not over.”

Given his success in the foiling GC32s, where Alinghi’s successes include winning the 2019 world championships and taking the Extreme Sailing Series twice, was he interested in the SailGP circuit?

“SailGP is interesting. The problem I see is that it’s not really a competitive series. With one owner owning all the boats it doesn’t quite do it for me. It’s a great opportunity for some sailors to sail these types of boats, but I don’t know where it is going to go really.

“I’m a lot more interested in what’s going to happen with the Cup and the new foiling boats that are being designed and built. I really hope that in New Zealand we’re going to have a competitive event.”

Temptation beckons

So how interested was he in getting back into the America’s Cup? “I was tempted,” he admits. “There were quite a few people that wanted to see Alinghi back in the Cup, and that includes sponsors.

“We are a competitive team, we know the game, the multihull and the AC50 class had started to get more settled. I felt that that would be an opportunity to get back into the Cup without reinventing the wheel, yet still with an opportunity to win based on skill rather than on funds and on engineering an innovative breakthrough.

“I think the danger every time you introduce a new class – and this has been a problem since Valencia – is that innovative breakthroughs become a lot more important than sailing skills and teamwork.

An accomplished sailor, Bertarelli loves the thrill of competition and has always been a hands-on owner. Photo: Christophe Margot

“Research and development requires money, so this becomes the game. You still need people, but you need more engineers than sailors and this tilts the balance a bit too much towards design than on the water performance.

“Even though it’s fascinating to see these boats being created, and hearing and seeing some of the mock-ups and understanding what’s going on, you realise that most of the work is happening indoors. This was not exactly what I was looking for. I really enjoy going sailing.”

This might come as a surprise to some who would argue that the Alinghi team, with its deep pockets and reputation for having a sharp focus on success, was happy with the high spending arms race until it went against them.

Yet, a look back at the style of the campaigns, and the balance between design and sailing prowess, suggests that Bertarelli chose to spend his money on people rather than technology. The 33rd America’s Cup Deed of Gift Match is a good example of this.

Bertarelli racing his D35 at the Mirabaud Bol d’Or. Photo: Loris von Siebenthal

“The DoG match was a very interesting experience and I have no regrets there, I learned a lot. And one thing I learned was that it’s very hard to compete if the rules are changed. In any Cup cycle you want to understand how the rules are going to be set, but the rules are never set upfront.

“It’s a little bit like walking into a casino. If the odds are too skewed on the side of the house, you’re not going to go back. The DoG match was more about how can we twist the rules to favour us versus the other guy.

“Ultimately our boat was a great boat and the basic structural platform was used in the next Cup. But when the wingsail came in I just said: ‘This is getting out of control. I’m going to have to spend another €30 million for a wingsail and it might not stop there because the rules might change yet again.’

“So we stayed with the conventional sail knowing that the wing was going to be a big element.“

Back to monohulls

Has he ruled out a move to the new AC75 monohulls some day? “I need to see what’s going to happen in New Zealand. Once one boat crosses the line we will know more. We will know who is in charge and who they choose as a Challenger. Every cycle is different.

“But, I like stability because I think ultimately the magic in the America’s Cup is the match. And for a match you need to try to find a ways to bring the teams together.

“In Valencia the magic of the event was that all the boats had their moments because they had a chance to be matched up to a bigger team. Today with the current class, unless you have a massive budget you have no chance.”

Alinghi winning the America’s Cup as defender in 2007. Photo: Jose Jordan / Getty Images

As an owner who enjoys being an integral part of the team, does he think there is still a place for an owner aboard? “There is space for owners and I’d argue that you need an owner who is involved and understands the platform, understands what’s happening in the team and on the water, and then ultimately makes the right call for the Cup,” Bertarelli comments.

“I don’t think foilers are any different to any other boats. They’ll become safer. People are learning to sail them much better. The first time I sailed a foiler was around the Isle of Wight in 2015 against the British America’s Cup team. We were both on GC32s and we were both struggling. We were wiping out on the waves. It was physically painful.

“Now I sail the GC32 and the teams are very skilled and boats don’t wipe out anymore, at least only once in a while. We foil gybe and foil tack, and what is great is that sailing is more exciting.”

After an intense period in the spotlight of the America’s Cup with all the political arguments and public scrutiny, is he a different person now? “I hope I’ve changed. I think as you mature you learn more about yourself. You are able to take a bit more distance. Maybe I’m more aware of the sort of unnecessary friction that happens. I think I’ve grown to be less affected by it now.

“If I was in the Cup I’d want to make sure that there was not too much of that and accept it as a part of every relationship. So I think I learned to deal with things better.”

Having won sailing’s most prestigious trophy, twice, what drives him to carry on sailing? “It’s not so much the trophies which bring me back to sailing, but because sailing is both a mechanical and a team sport, when things happen at the highest level, I find it fascinating. I think it’s magic.

“Those moments where time stops and you’re in a different place. You’re in complete harmony with your team, your boat and the wind. You make the call and by magic the shift is there. We had that last weekend. We didn’t win, but for about half an hour we sailed perfectly. It’s a fantastic sport for that.”

How Team Alinghi changed the America’s Cup

Alinghi’s win in Auckland in 2003 signalled the end of Team New Zealand’s dominant reign. The Swiss victory in the 31st America’s Cup was the first and only time a challenger has won on its first attempt.

The 32nd Cup, as envisioned by Bertarelli and the brains trust at Alinghi, was very different. First, having won on behalf of a club in a country that had no ‘arm of the sea’, Bertarelli put the hosting of the event out to tender. More controversy followed.

Confirming the adage that ‘if you win the Cup, you make the rules,’ the show took root in Valencia, Spain. A new, public-friendly model was rolled out across the entire Valencian venue and the circus grew like never before.

Celebrating Alinghi’s historic Cup win in 2003. Photo: Dean Purcell / Getty Images

While high fences and security cameras surrounded many bases, Alinghi opened their doors to anyone who fancied a look inside. A free to enter spectator area, a visitor centre with educational exhibits and simulators and a shop reinforced Bertarelli’s plan to turn the America’s Cup inside out.

On the water Bertarelli’s team won again, in the last event for the IACC monohulls in 2007. But negotiations for the next generation of boat for AC33 were derailed as a fierce argument over the validity of the Spanish Challenger of Record.

The Americans took Alinghi’s Société Nautique de Genève to court and won. The 33rd Cup bottomed out, leaving the match to operate under the most basic terms of the Deed of Gift, or DoG match as it is often referred to.

Russell Coutts and Ernesto Bertarelli celebrate winning the 2003 America’s Cup. Photo: Nick Wilson / Getty Images

With only a few rules the arms race between defender Alinghi and challenger Oracle Racing ramped up as their designs went to the very edge of what was possible. A giant cat and a monster tri emerged.

But despite the mass of speculation these two America’s Cup leviathans triggered, when it came to it the racing in 2010 was an anti-climax. Only two races were required.

Larry Ellison’s Oracle Racing won, with Bertarelli’s former right-hand man Russell Coutts in charge. It was a bitter pill for the Swiss boss to swallow, especially as the event marked the first step for the Cup into a world of high performance catamarans, Bertarelli’s speciality.

Who is Ernesto Bertarelli?

Born in Rome in 1965, Ernesto Bertarelli graduated from Babson College and Harvard Business School, USA, before inheriting Serono from his father in 1995. The Geneva-based pharmaceuticals company was then worth around $100m.

As CEO and deputy chairman he turned the company into a multibillion-dollar biotech company specialising in reproductive health, multiple sclerosis, and metabolism. The company was sold to Germany’s Merck KGaA in 2006 for $13.3bn.

Bertarelli’s parents were both keen sailors and he was introduced to sailing early on. His sister Dona is also a keen racing sailor and owns the 140ft trimaran Spindrift as well as racing a D35 cat on Lake Geneva.

He lives in Gstaad and Geneva with his wife, Kirsty, a former Miss UK and a singer-songwriter, and their three children.

First published in the December 2019 edition of Yachting World.

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 Alinghi syndicate head, Ernesto Bertarelli, team skipper, Brad Butterworth and design team coordinator, Grant Simmer, faced the media this morning to announce the race crew for the 32nd America’s Cup. The race yacht SUI100 had been announced earlier in the week to race in the Match.

Team skipper Brad Butterworth who listed the 17 crew members commented: “We have great depth in our team and are spoilt for choice in every area, for this reason it has been hard to find a final 17 crew to race the Match. We are very fortunate to have such a high level of ability as it means we can operate as a squad and rotate crew if we have to.” He went on to insist that the whole crew is on stand-by to rotate in during the Match.

Alinghi crew to race the America’s Cup which starts at 1500 on Saturday 23 June

Bowman – Pieter van Nieuwenhuyzen

Midbowman – Curtis Blewett

Mastman – Francesco Rapetti

Pitman – Josh Belsky

Grinder – Mark McTeigue

Grinder – Matt Welling

Trimmer – Simon Daubney

Trimmer – Lorenzo Mazza

Grinder – Will McCarthy

Mainsail trimmer – Warwick Fleury

Strategist / traveller – Murray Jones

Runner / pitman – Dean Phipps

Runner / grinder – Rodney Ardern

Navigator – Juan Vila

Afterguard – Runner – Ernesto Bertarelli

Tactician – Brad Butterworth

Helmsman – Ed Baird

The post Alinghi crew announced appeared first on Yachting World.

 In another clear-cut demonstration of just how fast they are, Alinghi scored a second and a first in today’s racing to take Act 13 with ease. Emirates Team New Zealand’s performance was less emphatic but still good enough to make them the top challenger once again, displacing their nearest competition, BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa who are now ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively.
But aside from the unbelievable pace that SUI-91 has and the rumour that their second boat is even quicker, the talk of the town this evening is of how much Mascalzone Latino have improved having finished Act 13 in 2nd position, beating their fellow countrymen aboard Luna Rossa. The latin rascals’ performance has pulled them up to 5th in the overall rankings and could make them a contender for a semi final slot in May.
Perhaps it’s risky to draw too many conclusions from the individual scores on the board for this fleet racing Act, after all getting buried at the start or boxed out at the weather mark is as painful for the pros at this level as it is for the rest of us in club land. But what we have seen is a glimpse of the progress that teams have, or have not made since last season, along with a clue as to who’s got what in the boat department.
Watch out for our analysis on the story so far.
In the meantime, butter up the boss, get ahead in your work and get ready for the start of Louis Vuitton Round Robin 1 on Monday 16 April.

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 At the Alinghi camp the count-down to the start of Louis Vuitton Act 10 has begun, and the sailing team has stepped it up a gear on the water, moving away from testing and into race practice mode.

Ed Baird will take the helm for the first event of the 2006 season and, continuing with the squad operation, the crew will rotate daily. He will announce the afterguard at the ACM press conference on 10 May at 1100.

Last year all three Alinghi helmsmen, including Peter Holmberg and Jochen Schuemann, took their turn at the wheel, keeping the results high and in all winning 31 match races out of 33, taking the 2005 ACC Championship. Since then, Alinghi has moved in to the new base in Valencia, built a new boat, SUI91, taken on two new crew members, tactician, Peter Evans (NZ) and grinder, Brian Sharp (USA) and launched a new-look boat design.

Brad Butterworth, skipper and tactician gives his take on the readiness of the team before the start of Act 10: “We are about 80 per cent prepared compared to where we’ll be at for the America’s Cup. We have been testing a lot, most of the time really, and have done very little race practice. But I think the guys are good enough to sail the boats well and be a threat in this regatta. We have put as much into this regatta as we have put into the ones in 2005.

“I expect to do well that is for sure, I mean we would like to carry on in our winning form. There are a lot of changes that have happened, but our expectation is, that we would like to win the regattas.”

Ed Baird, helmsman comments on the competition: “It is going to be an interesting event because we have two brand-new race boats from two very strong teams going out on the race track and we want to see how we’re doing against those guys. They are coming forward with their new equipment and they’re trying to find out where they stand. We are going out with equipment that we know very well and we need to know how far they have got. We have to go and find out what they have to make sure that when our new boat comes out soon, we have a measure, a judgment, of how well we’ve done in developing our new equipment against those guys.”

Act 10, the match racing plays out from 11-16 May and Act 11 from 19-21 May. There will be two matches a day with the first start at 1400 and the second at 1600.

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Alinghi’s new boat, SUI91, is under construction at Décision Boatyard in Vevey, Switzerland, under the critical eyes of yard director Bertrand Cardis, chief designer Rolf Vrolijk, chief engineer Dirk Kramers, boatbuilding manager Michel Marie and head of design Grant Simmer.

The relationship is a strong one, this being the yard that built both SUI64, the 2003 America’s Cup winning boat, and SUI75, the ACC 2005 Championship winner. Bertrand Cardis comments on the alliance: “Historically, we have been involved with Alinghi since the first day of the creation of the team in June 2000. We have had a very successful collaboration since then!”

Twenty five boatbuilders are involved in the new boat, from both the Décision and the Alinghi camps and the aim is to have the boat finished by May.

The crew will then complete structural checks and start training on the boat. Grant Simmer comments on progress: “The construction of our first new boat for the defence of the America’s Cup is progressing on schedule. Luckily we enjoy a very productive relationship with Bertrand Cardis’ team at Décision and we benefit from the collaboration and experience both within Alinghi and at Décision. Michel Marie is in Vevey regularly while our head boatbuilder Gary Hutchinson and several other Alinghi boatbuilders are working full time to complete the boat.”

Meanwhile, at the base in Valencia, the sailing team is reassembling in the gym and on the water match racing the Beneteau 7.5s. Helmsman Ed Baird comments: “For many of the team it has been a while since they have been racing, so this is a good opportunity to get two of the little boats out and to put different people in different jobs on board. It is good practice and good for the energy of the team to get on the water and racing again. When the big boats are ready we’ll spend a lot of time testing and although testing is important it’s not thrilling for the guys. They like racing, so that’s what we are doing.”

Next stop will be Lenzerheide in Switzerland from 4-11 March for the winter physical training camp, a week’s intensive training before getting back to base to start two-boat testing at the end of March.

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 At the Alinghi base opening on Saturday Ernesto Bertarelli, head of the Alinghi syndicate, nominated his vice-president and tactician, Brad Butterworth, to be the skipper of Alinghi.

Brad was modest in his acceptance, commenting: “It is a great honour to be put in a position where he [Ernesto Bertarelli] gives me this sort of trust.”

The New Zealander is on his sixth America’s Cup campaign and has won three, the last with Alinghi. He races as tactician and forms the core of the Swiss America’s Cup Defence.

For Alinghi, ‘skipper’ is a title rather than an active role, as Brad explains: “It won’t make any difference to the way we sail the boat, everyone has their area and their responsibilities, but I guess it will be a little bit different for me as it makes me responsible for the boat as a whole. I will be thinking about doing my job well onboard and continuing on as we have in the past.

“Off the boat, it doesn’t really change much either. As you get older, you wind up with the most experience and so I guess that is where I am at. Really, once Russell [Coutts] left I took over some leadership of the team and I am happy in that position and comfortable to carry it on, especially with the strong group we have.”

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 Team Alinghi’s SUI-64, the boat that won the last America’s Cup, has arrived in Marseille, France, for the start of Act 1 of the 32nd America’s Cup. SUI-64, along with Le Defi’s FRA-69, and Team Shosholoza’s RSA-48, pulled into port late on Wednesday night on the Dockwise transport ship, Explorer, a special delivery from Valencia, Spain.

On Thursday morning, the delicate job of unloading this precious cargo began, and Le Defi and Team Shosholoza were delicately placed on the J4 pier alongside the Vieux Port in Marseille. Strong winds building throughout the morning made it impossible to continue however, and SUI-64 remains on board the Explorer. It will be lifted with a crane, and unloaded onto the J4 on this morning, if weather conditions allow.

These three America’s Cup Class boats will be joined by three others, making for a fleet of six that will contest the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act. The K-Challenge, which has acquired FRA-57 from Team New Zealand, and Emirates Team New Zealand’s NZL-82 are currently in La Ciotat, a French port up the coast from Marseille, where they arrived from New Zealand earlier this month. They will make their way to the J4 later this week. Finally, BMW Oracle will be towing USA-76 from its training base in Valencia, Spain, to complete the fleet.

The Dockwise Explorer cargo also includes over 20 RIBs for Umpires, Race Officials and photographers, along with containers and spare masts for each team. Unloading the rest of this material will take place as soon as weather conditions permit.

The Marseille Louis Vuitton Act is the opening Act of the 32nd America’s Cup. It begins with a fleet parade on the 4 September, ahead of the first scheduled race day, 5 September. The regatta opens with three days of fleet racing, ahead of a round robin series of match races. Both disciplines are scored equally, so the winner will be the most consistent performer across all of the races.

At the conclusion of the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act, the Dockwise Explorer will carry all six boats back to Valencia, in advance of Acts 2 and 3, to be held in the Host City of the 32nd America’s Cup.

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