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Alinghi, 33rd America's Cup Defender, has started its 2009-2010 multihull campaign in Switzerland launching the two Décision 35 catamarans that will be used as training platforms towards a multihull America's Cup in May 2010. The sailing team will be dedicated to multihull training, racing the Challenge Julius Baer on Lake Geneva for the rest of the season and withdrawing from other monohull commitments.

 

In addition to Ernesto Bertarelli’s original SUI1, the team has chartered a second Décision 35 (SUI6) for the season and the two grand prix multihulls will race the eight events that span the summer, starting on 8 May with the Grand Prix Corum.

 

Ed Baird will helm Alinghi SUI6 with Brad Butterworth as tactician while Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi president, will helm Alinghi SUI1. “Ernesto and his team have been strong in this class for years, we look forward to learning from and with them throughout the season,” said Baird. “We realise we have a lot to learn, and there will be a number of great crews to race against, so we're excited to have the opportunity to get back on the water in a competitive environment.”

 

The Alinghi multihulls will face a strong 10-boat fleet that includes some of the best offshore multihull sailors in the world, and  while an Alinghi team has won the last two championships on the Lake, the team is candid in its expectations: “We are here to try to win, just as we did last year, but this season is going to be tough: the circuit has two new boats (Veltigroup and Banque Populaire) manned by highly professional multihull sailors with lots of experience, so the starts of the races will be more challenging. We will definitely be trying to keep the trophy in our hands though!” said Yves Detrey, Alinghi bow/mastman.

 

The first event, the Grand Prix Corum is from 8-10 May at the Société Nautique de Genève, so the Alinghi teams will start training from next Monday, “the D-35's represent a more sophisticated racing multihull than we have experienced before, and we need all the training opportunities we can get as we prepare for an America's Cup in multihulls,” Baird concluded.

 

 

Club: Société Nautique de Genève

Ernesto Bertarelli, helmsman

Pierre-Yves Jorand, mainsail trimmer, performance

Nils Frei, trimmer

Yves Detrey, bow/mastman, boat captain

JC Monnin, trimmer, performance

Luc Dubois, helmsman, performance

Tanguy Cariou, tactician

Coraline Jonet, trimmer

Andrew Graham, spare

Claudy Dewarrat, coach

Christian Wahl, tactician

 

Club: Société Nautique de Genève

Ed Baird, helmsman

Brad Butterworth, tactician

Warwick Fleury, mainsail trimmer

Lorenzo Mazza, trimmer

Piet van Nieuwenhuijzen, bow/mastman

Curtis Blewett, bow/mastman

Murray Jones, tactician

 

 

Challenge Julius Baer 2009

 

 

Dates	Events	Organiser
8-10 May 2009	Grand Prix Corum	SNG
23-24 May 2009	Grand Prix Romandie.com - Act I	SNR
6 June 2009	Genève-Rolle-Genève	YCG
13 June 2009	Bol d’Or Mirabaud	SNG
27-28 June 2009	Grand Prix Romandie.com - Act II	CNV
22-23 August 2009	Open de Nyon	SNR
5-6 September 2009	HP Cup La Réserve	YLSNG
18-20 September 2009	Grand Prix Beau-Rivage Palace	CVV

 

SUI1             Alinghi SUI1

SUI2             Okalys-Corum

SUI3             Julius Baer

SUI4             Zen Too

SUI5             Foncia

SUI6         Alinghi SUI6

SUI7             Zebra 7

SUI8             Romandie.com

SUI9             Smart Home

SUI10           Ladycat

SUI11           Veltigroup

SUI12           Banque Populaire

 

 

 

 The D35 catamaran is a strict one design concept constructed with materials produced by cutting edge technology – its improved aerodynamics result in a lighter and faster craft. With the distinctive feature of three hulls – the outer two acting as floats and the central hull acting as a strengthening structure – this catamaran is well suited to racing.

The D35 Class was founded in 2004 by Swiss sailors for friendly competition on Swiss lakes.