Alinghi At Port America's Cup (Photo by Gareth Evans)
Alinghi 5, the 33rd America’s Cup defending yacht, left the Alinghi base this morning for Race 1 of the 33rd America’s Cup amid a cacophony of Swiss bells and cheers from Alinghi fans, friends and families. This moment has been long awaited. Too bad that enthuasism was cut short by a postponment of today’s racing due to lack of wind.
“We have been looking forward to this moment for a long time,” said Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi team president and principal helmsman. “It is good to be going racing at last. The designers have done an amazing job in creating this boat for us and the shore team have done a phenomenal job in building it. It’s time to go racing.”
Race 1 of the America’s Cup is a 40 nautical mile windward/leeward course (20nm upwind and 20nm down) and is due to start at 10:06 this morning, weather permitting.
Defender vs. Challenger
Alinghi 5, Société Nautique de Genève (SUI) vs. BMW Oracle Racing, Golden Gate Yacht Club (USA)
Alinghi, the Defender of the America’s Cup, has the blue flag, which means port entry in to the starting area.
Crew List BMW Oracle Day 1:
BMW Oracle Racing (Photo by Gareth Evans)
Below is the crew list for BMW ORACLE Racing for Race One of the 33rd
America’s Cup Match.Name Position on Board
Brad Webb (NZL) Bowman
Simone de Mari (ITA) Pitman
Ross Halcrow (NZL) Jib Trimmer
Dirk de Ridder (NED) Wing Sail Trimmer
Joey Newton (AUS) Wing Sail Caddy
John Kostecki (USA) Tactician
James Spithill (AUS) Skipper/Helmsman
Matteo Plazzi (ITA) Navigator
Thierry Fouchier (FRA) Aft Pit
Matthew Mason (NZL) Mast
Team Alinghi (Photo by Gareth Evans)
Crew list Alinghi Day 1:Bowman: Piet van Nieuwenhuijzen (NED)
Midbow: Curtis Blewett (CAN)
Pitman: Rodney Ardern (NZL)
Trimmer upwind: Simon Daubney (NZL)
Trimmer downwind: Nils Frei (SUI)
Mainsail trimmer: Warwick Fleury (NZL)
Traveller: Pierre-Yves Jorand (SUI)
Helmsman: Ernesto Bertarelli (SUI)
Tactician: Brad Butterworth (NZL)
Runner: Murray Jones (NZL)
Navigator: Juan Vila (ESP)
Floater: Jan Dekker (RSA/FRA)
Floater: Loïck Peyron (FRA)
Pre-start: Peter Evans (NZL)
Quotes from the race boat
Nils Frei (SUI), downwind trimmer
What’s the feeling among the team this morning?
“It’s good, very good. We are looking forward to racing. I think we have had some good training the last couple of weeks and we’re confident with the forecast. We’re looking forward to it.”
How important is this line-up with BMW Oracle? What will the team learn?
“We’ll learn a lot today. We’ll see how the boats are going. So far we’ve observed them and they’ve observed us, but we’re not 100 percent sure how it’ll go on the water. I think about 20minutes after the start we’ll probably know a lot more. It’s going to be interesting.”
What’s been the most fascinating aspect of this campaign?
“These boats are so huge. They are fast. It’s something new to everyone. We’ve been able to develop the boat, and every day we make it faster. It’s high tech and very, very interesting.”
Murray Jones (NZL), runner
Race 1 for the America’s Cup; what’s the weather forecast and how will it affect the sailing?
“There’s about 5-12 knots forecast. We’ll see when we get out there. It’s always changing here in Valencia and it depends exactly where we are out there. We’ll line-up and see how we go.”
Did you know?
The last – and only – time a catamaran competed in the America’s Cup Match was in 1988 when the 60ft cat Stars & Stripes defeated the 90ft load waterline length monohull KZ-1.
On a typical practice day in the week leading up to the 33rd America’s Cup Match Alinghi 5 sailed approximately 100nm per day.
Alinghi was the first European team to win the America’s Cup in 2003 and in 2007 it became the first team to successfully defend the Cup in Europe.
Alinghi has a 10-2 record in races for the America’s Cup.
Alinghi 5 is 90ft/28m long. It has a beam equivalent to the width of two tennis courts and a mast 17 storeys tall. The total sail area is the equivalent of nine tennis courts.
On this day in America’s Cup history
1990 – The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the First Division’s judgment and confirmed Dennis Conner’s controversial Stars & Stripes victory for the San Diego Yacht Club in the 27th America’s Cup Match. Popularly known as the “mismatch”, it featured a match between challenger New Zealand, a 90ft load waterline monohull sloop, and the defender’s 60ft catamaran Stars & Stripes. The decision brought to an end almost three years of legal turmoil in the America’s Cup.
2009 – Alinghi defeats BMW Oracle Racing in Round Robin 2 of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series held on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour. It would be the first of three match race victories against BMW Oracle Racing in the regatta, securing Alinghi´s record of not having lost a match race against BMW Oracle since 4 October 2005 in Trapani, Sicily.
Fireworks Light Up Port America's Cup As The Festivities Heat Up (Photo by Gareth Evans)
“At the coin toss, SNG/Alinghi were asked to call heads or tails. They thought they had won and asked for the starboard entry into the start box. GGYC/BMW Oracle subsequently won the toss, and spoilt Alinghi’s plans by asking for starboard!” Gareth Reported.
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- Fireworks Light Up Port America’s Cup As The Festivities Heat Up (Photo by Gareth Evans)
Tens of thousands of visitors swarmed the signature Veles e Ventes building and the surrounding area of the America’s Cup Park to enjoy the festivities on an otherwise tranquil Sunday afternoon of mild temperatures.
Race director Harold Bennett (NZL) set the coin spinning in the air, watched by Pierre-Yves Firmench (SUI), commodore of the Société Nautique de Genève, the yacht club of the Defender of the 33rd America’s Cup and Marcus Young (USA), commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club of San Francisco.
The American team will therefore take what is commonly held to be the initial advantage, entering with right of way, on starboard tack.
Alinghi At Port America's Cup (Photo by Gareth Evans)
On the water there was scarcely enough wind to create ripples, but in the distance the lack of breeze was scarcely a worry for one of the giant multihulls, which with its towering rig still paced the horizon, making best use of the final hours of practice and tuning before racing is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning around 1000hrs
The opening festival was brought to a noisy crescendo with a barrage of mascleta, firecrackers which increased in size and noise.
Valencia's Mayor Rita Barbera Enjoys The Run Up To The America's Cup At Port America's Cup In Valencia (Photo by Gareth Evans)
Sunday 7th February sees the official opening ceremony of the 33rd America’s Cup, starting at 1300hrs in the heart of Port America’s Cup, by the Veles et Vents building.
The opening ceremony will include the draw for which side the competing yachts have to enter the start area for Race 1, with the time gun scheduled for 1000hrs Monday.
A huge crescendo is promised with a mascletá, a local celebration of firecrackers with the largest reckoned to be 750kilos of gunpowder.
The Cup Arrives In Valencia (Photo by Gareth Evans)
And from 1400hrs the America’s Cup will have the UN GRAIN for Hairt – the cooking of a giant paella with the proceeds all going to relieve suffering in Haiti.
Alinghi and BMW Oracle are set to sail their best-of-three match series from Monday, and the state-of-the-art boats are expected to run three times faster than the wind speed.
The Teams:
BMW ORACLE racing was brought together by the CEO and founder of ORACLE Corporation Larry Ellison in the Spring of 2000. Ellison has a long and distinguished sailing career inshore and offshore and has been a regular member of the sailing crew over the years of America’s Cup racing.
BMW Oracle In Training In Valencia (Photo Courtesy of BMW Oracle Racing)
At the 2003 America’s Cup challenger series in Auckland the team, which were then known as ORACLE BMW racing, reached the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup but were beaten by Alinghi, who went on to win the America’s Cup.
After being one of the dominant teams through the preceding America’s Cup seasons from 2004-2006, in 2007 in Valencia BMW ORACLE lost out in the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
On the 13th of July 2007, the team presented a formal challenge for the 33rd America’s Cup to the Société Nautique Genève. Just under two weeks later, three times America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts (NZL) was announced as the team’s CEO and skipper.
The team has a strong international flavour and mix of backgrounds from America’s Cup, match racing ocean racing and multihull racing including round the world race winning skipper John Kostecki as tactician, match racer James Spithill as helmsman.
BMW ORACLE sail under the flag of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, San Francisco
Alinghi 5 Docked At Port America's Cup (Photos by Gareth Evans)
Alinghi is the Defender of the 33rd America’s Cup. The team is the culmination of Ernesto Bertarelli’s passion for sailing. The Swiss entrepreneur, former owner of biotech giant Serono and an integral part of the sailing crew, created the team in 2000 to participate in the America’s Cup.
In 2003, Alinghi defeated Oracle BMW Racing to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, and then won the 31st America’s Cup at its first attempt, sweeping Team New Zealand 5-0. With this victory, Alinghi became the first European winning team and brought the America’s Cup to Europe for the first time in 152 years.
The selection of Valencia as the venue for the 32nd America’s Cup and a new competition format, with preliminary Acts across Europe, opened a new era for sailing’s premier competition. The Swiss Defender –through AC Management– implemented its renewed vision for the America’s Cup positioning it at the level of the world’s most popular sports. The outstanding four-year event saw 12 teams from five continents competing for the trophy before 6.4 million spectators, contributed to the transformation of the host city and claimed the attention of over 4 billion television viewers worldwide.
Alinghi succeeded in defending the America’s Cup in Spain in 2007, in what was the closest America’s Cup Match of all time beating Emirates Team New Zealand in the 7th race by just one second. The Swiss team won the Match 5-2.
On the build up to the 33rd America’s Cup Match, the giant catamaran Alinghi 5 was launched on Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, on July 8th 2009. Six months later, the innovative Swiss multihull arrived to Valencia and on January 15th 2010, Alinghi 5 sailed in Valencia for the first time, with Bertarelli at the helm.
Alinghi flies the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, Switzerland. With over 100 team members from 20 nationalities, it stands for an innovative, professional, multi-cultural and passionate team.
