From Thursday, things get serious for Alinghi Red Bull Racing off Barcelona: the Swiss team must first secure its position at the back of the Louis Vuitton Cup and prevent an out before the semi-finals.
Alinghi has won the America's Cup twice. In 2003 in Auckland as the challenger and in 2007 in Valencia as the defending champion, the Geneva-based syndicate thrilled Switzerland with victories over the New Zealanders. Now the crew of financial backer Ernesto Bertarelli is making another attempt.
A possible third coup in the battle for the most prestigious trophy in sailing seems to be out of reach at the moment. Last week's pre-regattas on the AC75 foils showed Alinghi Red Bull Racing the limits. The favorites among the challengers are the Italians and the Americans. The Louis Vuitton Cup now begins on Thursday, with the winner sailing against defending champions Team New Zealand Emirates in the 37th America's Cup starting on October 12.
In addition to Alinghi Red Bull Racing and the New Zealanders, four other syndicates are putting up over 100 million euros (according to experts) to lift the world's oldest sporting trophy. These are American Magic, Ineos Britannia, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Orient Express Racing Team. The country names USA, Great Britain, Italy, France, New Zealand and Switzerland can be used with a clear conscience because, unlike in the past, the nationality clause applies. This means that only Swiss people sail on "BoatOne".
Red Bull on board
Two decades after the victory off Auckland, Alinghi Red Bull Racing is no longer the Alinghi of 2003. Red Bull is now also on board, covering half of the costs. As the high-tech yachts are more at home in the air than on the water, aerodynamics are of great importance. Red Bull, with its Formula 1 involvement, can certainly provide important input on this point. Thanks to the foils that lift them out of the water, the boats in the AC75 class are more than four times as fast as they were when Alinghi was born. Around 100 km/h is achieved in ideal conditions with flat water and just over 15 knots.
Alinghi's two Cup victories were mainly achieved by New Zealanders. The Kiwis, who as defending champions of the Cup are allowed to set the conditions, have put a stop to mercenary sailing. They wanted to prevent their sailors from being poached again.
So Alinghi Red Bull built up a young sailing crew around skipper and helmsman Arnaud Psarofaghis. Although the word "sailors" does not apply to all of them. Half of the eight-strong crew consists of a power crew who generate the energy required for the boat's hydraulic systems on bicycles. The Swiss have recruited rowers, cyclists and track and field athletes for this part of the team.
The Alinghi sailors completed many training sessions on several types of boat before Barcelona. Since May, they have been sailing on the "BoatOne" built in Ecublens. It is not yet possible to say for certain whether this was a brilliant or just a good throw. After all, the yachts have hardly been tuned to the limit in the pre-regattas.
Will the duels against the French decide?
Last week at the test event, Alinghi Red Bull only defeated the French. They were rated as the weakest team in the run-up to the event. The Orient Express Racing Team is therefore even more threatened than Alinghi Red Bull Racing with 5th place in the Louis Vuitton Cup and thus missing out on the semi-finals. And the two teams will meet on Thursday afternoon at the opening of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
In the two round robins, everyone sails twice against everyone else. The New Zealanders are also taking part, but are ranked out of competition. The fifth-placed team is eliminated, while the winner gets to choose their opponent for the semi-finals. These will begin on September 14, and Alinghi Red Bull intends to hoist the sails then too.
