33rd AC

05.10.2009 (14:31 CET) - Ras Al Khaimah, UAE - Alinghi

Alinghi 5 arrives at Al Hamra America's Cup Village in Ras Al Khaimah, the 33rd America's Cup Venue

Will McCarthy, Alinghi Base Project Manager , talks with Tarek Hamadeh, Prime Builders Senior Project Manager.

(Photo credit: Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/Alinghi)

Alinghi 5 has arrived at the Swiss Defender's base on the America's Cup island of Al Hamra, Ras Al Khaimah - venue for the 33rd edition of sport's oldest trophy.

Alinghi's giant catamaran arrived under tow this morning from Saqr Port and was lifted out and put in the team's boat shed where the shore crew will carry out the work necessary to prepare the boat to sail.

Grant Simmer, design team coordinator, comments: "The boat came down from Saqr Port and we lifted it out of the water, washed it down and put it in the boat shed. It's the first time that Alinghi has been to the Al Hamra harbour so it's quite a moment! It's very exciting for us because we've done a lot of work to get things ready here and to have the yacht in the base is great. We have some work to do on the boat which we've been planning since we were in Genoa, so the boys will start now and we should be sailing mid-month. The weather has been great. One of the reasons why we came here is because of the weather. It's beautiful: steady light to moderate winds and good weather, so we are looking forward to sailing here."