News

Alinghi takes off in 2015

24 March, 2015

The Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour Alinghi, created by Ernesto Bertarelli, won the America’s Cup in 2003 in Auckland under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève. In doing so, it set a double precedent in the history of the world’s oldest sports’ trophy: A first victory at a first attempt; and the first “European” team to bring the "Auld Mug" back to the continent since the first competition in 1851. On behalf of the Société Nautique de Genève, Alinghi then organised the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia, fondly remembered as the best ever and at which Alinghi successfully defended its title in an epic battle on the water against Emirates Team New Zealand. However, despite Alinghi’s many successes in mono hull racing (Multi One Design, Farr 40, 12mJI, Corel 45, ACC), Ernesto Bertarelli has also been more than present on the multihull stage since 1993. It should come as no surprise then, that, with the creation of a new “flying” one-design catamaran class, Alinghi jumps at the opportunity to join this “foiling adventure”. The GC32 is a 10m, one-design catamaran, able to ‘fly’ with eight knots of True Wind Speed. This carbon dragonfly has already convinced the top-class sailors from across the sport of its pace, power and ability to ratchet up the excitement levels. Ernesto Bertarelli comments: “I have been enormously privileged to sail with some of my crew for more than 20 years. During the course of our adventures, our passion for the sport and for cutting-edge technology has been undimmed. It is therefore only natural that we would be eager to be involved with this evolution of our sport. Sailing in three dimensions will of course be a new challenge for all of us, but it is an exciting one and the opportunity to learn and then master a new type of boat is one that we couldn’t miss. The GC32, as with the D35 and the X40, is a strict one-design class. That’s very important to me, because it means that the racing is not about the equipment we use, but about how the crew works together on the water. It is true competition.” The Alinghi 2015 GC32 crew will be: Ernesto Bertarelli (Helm), sharing the duties with Morgan Larson, who led Alinghi to the victory of the Extreme Sailing Series in 2014, Nicolas Charbonnier (Tactician), Pierre-Yves Jorand (Mainsail), Nils Frei (Trim) & Yves Detrey (Bow). The same crew will compete on the Decision 35 circuit, albeit with the addition of Coraline Jonet (Trim) who will bring her many talents to the team of six that sail the D35. New Partnerships Announced Just before the team takes off for this new competition, Alinghi is delighted to announce an Official Air Carrier partnership with SWISS airlines. After all, what better source of inspiration for the team that is learning how to fly on the water in all four corners of Europe? Lorenzo Stoll, Head of Western Switzerland for SWISS comments: “This partnership was an obvious one for us and we are delighted to team-up with Alinghi. So many parallels can be drawn between sailing – particularly foil sailing – and aviation. Dedication to giving our best performance, the precision we demand of ourselves and a competitive a passion to be the best are all values that unite Alinghi and SWISS”. While the team will be flying through the air, its brand new GC32 will hit the road in the expert hands of PLANZER, who Alinghi is thrilled to announce as Official Logistic Transport Supplier for 2015. Nils Planzer, CEO of PLANZER, said: “It is our great opportunity and honour for PLANZER to put our expertise at the disposal of such an emblematic team as Alinghi. Having already partnered with the team during the America’s Cup campaigns, it is with a very real sense of pride that we announce this new partnership that will see us work together across Europe this season”. The GC32s are pushing the boundaries in sailing and so it is with great pleasure that Alinghi can also announce a new sponsor in HYT Watches, a Swiss company that is breaking new ground with its innovative, stylish and beautiful creations. According to Patrick Berdoz, HYT’s Chairman, “First and foremost, this partnership is a fantastic union of two high-tech universes and two leading teams. Alinghi challenges the elements and flies over the water, while HYT challenges the traditional watch making industry and masters the measurement of time through the use of fluid. We are very proud to associate ourselves with the next chapter of Alighni’s journey and to be aligned with this epic team”. Alinghi can also count on another important partner in MarinePool, who have created an Alinghi 2015 collection, available soon. Robert Stark, CEO of MarinePool, commented: “Alinghi and Marinepool have been working together for a number of years. When we heard about this exciting new project we were eager to work with the team and to associate ourselves with one of the most prestigious brands in the history of sailing. We are all very excited for the coming season”. Last, but in no means least, Alinghi is extremely proud to be able to continue to count on the support of its loyal partner, the Manotel Hotel Group, preferred sanctuary of the Alinghi team when in Geneva – and this since 2001. As Paul Muller, General Manager of the Manotel Group, said: “On a boat, as with the hotel industry, teamwork is of the outmost importance. Alinghi, as well as Manotel, perfectly represents the perpetual quest for quality that makes our teams what they are – leaders in their respective fields. It is therefore a great pleasure for us that we can continue to welcome the Alinghi crew to our six Geneva hotels and to associate ourselves with the team in the city and on the waters around the world.”

Vital victory for Alinghi in thriller in Nice

6 October, 2014

It came down, as it so often has this season, to the final race. Tense, exciting and, above all, important, this was perhaps the most satisfying of wins for Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi. Conditions on the Med had varied over the course of the four days of racing, with light winds at the start proving testing for all of the teams. However, from a relatively slow start, Alinghi rallied in incredible fashion, stringing together performance after performance to put themselves in contention as the competition neared to a close. Heading into the final race – a double-pointer, of course – it was the team’s fellow countrymen, Realteam, who led the Act. To snatch victory, Alinghi had to finish a clear two places above their rivals. This they did, taking the spoils in front of the thousands of spectators. Given that this is the penultimate Act of the 2014 season, it was a vital win. With it, Alinghi have now extended their lead at the top of the Series leaderboard to eight points over The Wave, Muscat. However, with 20 points up for the taking in the final Act in Sydney, it is certainly not all over. Indeed, their are five teams capable of a podium position. A jubilant Morgan Larson, Alinghi’s helmsman, summed it up after the prize giving: “We were confident at the start of the year that we had a little bit of an edge, but now the rest of the field are showing some real force. I think now you are seeing the future. More than half the fleet have the ability to win an event, and that’s exactly what we’re going to see going into Sydney. That event is going to be worth double points, and if we go out with a bad performance and The Wave, Muscat or Emirates Team New Zealand come in with a strong one – we’re going to lose. So we’ve got to go out and try and get back on the podium.” The very fact that competition is fierce and that it is getting harder and harder to win races is certainly cause for caution when it comes to Sydney. But it also means that this performance in France is all the more important. And all the more impressive… Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 7 Nice standings after Day 4, 29 races (5.10.14): Position / Team / Points Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Anna Tunnicliffe, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 183 points Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bruno Barbarin, Bryan Mettraux, Thierry Wasem 171 points J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Campbell-James, Bleddyn Mon, Matt Cornwell 161 points Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Thomas Cjakgak, Stewart Dodson 160 points Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Peter Burling, Glenn Ashby, Blair Tuke, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 156 points GAC Pindar (AUS) Nathan Wilmot, Seve Jarvin, Hugh Styles, Tyson Lamond, James Wierzbowski 146 points SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Christian Kamp, Brad Farrand 145 points 8th The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 143 points 9th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Tanguy Cariou, Valentin Bellet, Arnaud Jarlegan, Devan Le Bihan 143 points Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Ted Hackney, Kyle Langford, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 138 points Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 133 points Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 overall standings: Position / Team / Points Alinghi (SUI) 65 points The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 57 points Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 49 points Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 45 points J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 37 points Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 30 points SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 28 points Oman Air (OMA) 24 points Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 24 points Groupama sailing team (FRA) 22 points GAC Pindar (AUS) 11 points

ALINGHI 3rd in Istanbul: Report and Highlights

15 September, 2014

Act VI of the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series delivered everything – frenetic racing in some of the best conditions that the fleet have seen this year, incident and, at the end, a display of tactics and strategy of the sort that makes this competition so enthralling. It was – as the cliché goes – an Act of two halves for Alinghi. Having had a challenging start, things got even more problematic for the team on day one when, having being pushing hard, they lost their mast in the seventh and final race of the day (see Mark Lloyd’s spectacular pictures, below). As helmsman Morgan Larson explained: “In that last race we were leading at the mark, we unfurled the gennaker, got the bear away and then the rig broke in two spots. We pushed a little too hard in that puff, and then it just went. It’s the first time I’ve broken the rig in these boats so it’s probably a lesson I’ve learnt there. There is a limit and we found it.” That meant repairs by night, with the technical team performing miracles. João Cabeçadas, an integral part of Alinghi’s shore team, said: “We’re a team so we were all hands on deck last night. First we looked at what we could recover from the broken mast, and then how we could adapt the new mast that we were provided. We didn’t get to bed until around 3am – David and I stayed for longer, and when we didn’t need as many hands helping with the heavier parts, we sent the sailing crew home. They were all keen to stay and help but we forced them to go and take some rest because they will be busy today. We have some races to win, and we don’t need to win all races to win the event”. Their efforts were not in vain. The boat was back on the water and the team were reaping the benefits of the night’s hard work, putting together a string of performances that shot them right back into contention. So much so that, when it came to the final race, Alinghi had a chance to take the Act. However, there is a bigger prize and Morgan Larson’s eyes were on it. With Emirates Team New Zealand needing to put a gap of two boats between them and The Wave, Muscat – Alinghi’s rival for the overall title – the Swiss went into full-on tactical mode, with the aim of keeping the Omani team from securing top spot and, thus, closing the gap in the championship. This they did, working hard to force their rivals ‘into the pack’, meaning that ETNZ did indeed take the Act, with The Wave taking second spot and Alinghi third. ESS have put together a fantastic highlights package, which tells all of the story!     As Morgan Larson explained afterwards: “We had an outside chance to win that last race and we did one lap of the race still trying to win, not knowing what could still happen. Then we got to the final lap and it was clear that if we continued to win the race with Emirates Team New Zealand second, then The Wave, Muscat may have won this Act. So we were thinking of the overall Series, we just had to let the Kiwis go, and then go back and hold The Wave, Muscat back a little bit because they were coming out strong. They’re such a good team, picking off boats one by one and so we just had to try and block them back and make it so we got second.” Riveting viewing and it has made for what promises to be an epic conclusion to the 2014 Series. And now to Nice! Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6 Istanbul standings after Day 4, 31 races (14.09.14): Position / Team / Points Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 210 points The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 204 points Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 188 points Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Ted Hackney, Kyle Langford, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 169 points SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Christian Kamp, Brad Farrand 154 points Groupama sailing team (FRA) Tanguy Cariou, François Morvan, Romain Motteau, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 148 points J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Bleddyn Mon, Matt Cornwell 143 points Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Nick Blackman, Mark Bulkeley, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson 142 points Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bruno Barbarin, Cédric Schmidt, Thierry Wassem 135 points GAC Pindar (AUS) Nathan Wilmot, Jack Macartney, Ed Smyth, Seve Jarvin, Tyson Lamond 130 points Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Matt Adams, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 126 points TeamTurx (TUR) Mitch Booth, Can Bayülken, Selim Kakış, Deniz Çinar, Anıl Berk Baki 85 points Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 overall standings: Position / Team / Points Alinghi (SUI) 55 points The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 54 points Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 43 points Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 36 points J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 29 points SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 24 points Oman Air (OMA) 23 points Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 23 points Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 23 points Groupama sailing team (FRA) 20 points GAC Pindar (AUS) 6 points All photos by Mark Lloyd and copyright Lloyd Images 2014

Grand Prix Grange & Cie – Day 2 and Victory VULCAIN TROPHY 2014

7 September, 2014

For the second year running, Alinghi’s victory in the Grand Prix Grange & Cie also secured the Vulcain Trophy for Ernesto Bertarelli’s team. And what a victory it was, the crew dominating proceedings with a near-flawless display of racing in challenging conditions. Having won Saturday’s two races, the team lined up for Race 3 on Sunday full of confidence. Light win conditions had meant that the start had been postponed, but when the fleet did get underway Alinghi quickly established a lead. The wind – already light at 7 knots – then proceeded to drop to 3, making for difficult sailing. Nonetheless, Alinghi worked together to extend their lead on each run, taking the race from Racing Django and Team Tilt. In Race 4, Alinghi got the best start of the five teams who had lined up to port. They led at the first top rounding, getting up to speed for the run and extending the gap between their rivals at the lee gate. Having gone right for the second beat, the team began to feel some pressure from Velitgroup, but, having just rolled them at the top rounding, saw boat speed on the last run do the rest. Victory – again! This win meant that Alinghi had the Grand Prix wrapped-up and so the team took on the role of spectators for the day’s final race – the results of which confirmed that Alinghi had successfully defended its Vulcain Trophy title. Well done team! Speaking after the podium presentations, Ernesto Bertarelli said: “We’re really very happy, both with this win and to have defended the Championship. To win all of our four races…I can’t remember it happening before. We sailed together and that is the secret to our win. This team has been together a long time and we understand one another and the boat. We’re delighted with the way the weekend has gone.”