America's Cup: "May the best team win on the water," says Ernesto Bertarelli

Valencia, 05/02/10 Alinghi 5 33rd America's Cup Alinghi Team. Image copyright Guido Trombetta/Alinghi.

by Daphne Morgan Barnicoat

The 33rd America's Cup has been a long time coming, but after two years of litigation from the American challenger the Match between two of the world's most extreme multihulls is just days away.

Ernesto Bertarelli, team president, speaking at the press conference on Friday evening praised his team: “The nice thing is that for the last 10 years I've been sailing with the same people and that has been very important to the whole experience. Three campaigns with almost the same group make each day more interesting and more rewarding. The fact that the heart of the team has been the same since the very, very beginning makes this America's Cup campaign rewarding and I wouldn't be here today without all the members of the Alinghi team. I'll be helming but I'll be sharing the helm with Loïck Peyron. Neither of us would be able to do our job without the other guys onboard and the team ashore.”

Alinghi has designed and built Alinghi 5, a 90ft catamaran on load waterline that spans 110ft overall, with a mast that towers more than 17-storeys above the sailors and settles on a foundation the size of a tennis ball. The boat has taken approximately 100,000-man-hours to build and is deeply rooted in the multihull heritage that Switzerland is so well-known for.

“Designing and building Alinghi 5 has been a huge ask in such a short timeframe, and the guys on the design and shore team have done an extraordinary job in giving us this boat. Our opponent is formidable, BMW Oracle has a very good sailor in James Spithill and their boat is a credit to their design team. I speak for all of us on the sailing team when I say we are looking forward to racing and getting the sport back on the water where it belongs,” said team skipper and four-time America's Cup winner, Brad Butterworth.

Racing is scheduled to start on Monday, with a first race warning signal at 10:00 – weather permitting – and the team will be watching, as Grant Simmer, design team coordinator describes: “From the design team's point of view, we are looking forward to Monday. It has been almost two years since we started work on Alinghi 5 and it will be fantastic to finally see her on the starting line. Thanks go to each and every team member.”

Alinghi