News

1 race - 1 win

1 July, 2017

On this third day of the racing in Madeira, the wind played with the nerves of the competitors, but also with those of the race committee. The wind? There was certainly some...Maybe a little too much sometimes, with Red Bull even capsizing. Maybe not enough at other times. But above all, the direction from which the wind blew did not stop shifting throughout the slot allocated for the regatta. Not 10 or 15 degrees, but regularly 180 degrees. As sailors say, the wind was doing 360°. As such, it was dIfficult, if not impossible in these conditions to launch a fair round. Nevertheless, just before the deadline for the day's racing, the committee managed to launch one. The result? A victory for Alinghi. Arnaud Psarofaghis, co-skipper and helm said: "I think today we did everything we could. Only one race sailed, which we won, so that was really good. We gained only one point back on SAP and two on Oman Air, but tomorrow everything is on the table and we're looking forward to some racing." Click here to view Arnaud's interview in its entirety. Alinghi is still in 3rd place on the podium tonight and now only two points behind Oman air and nine on SAP. See you tomorrow at 2pm (local time, i.e -1h in relation to the time in Switzerland) for the last day of this competition, which you can follow directly from our Facebook page at the start of the races. For overall standings www.extremesailingseries.com/results Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo  //  #Extremesailing   If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit Lloyd Images

Status quo among the leaders

1 July, 2017

In eight races on the second day in Madeira, the leading trio scored almost exactly the same number of points! SAP Extreme Sailing Team: 84 points. Oman Air: 85 points. Alinghi: 85 points. The battle rages around the marks and no crew intends to give an inch. At the halfway point of Act 3, there is no major change at the top of the table, except for the small point gained by the Omanis and the Swiss on the Danes leading the fleet, six points ahead of Oman Air and ten on Alinghi. Tim Lapauw, foil regulator and trimmer said: "Great day, though a bit tiring with eight races in just three hours, but so it goes! The venue is superb, it is a bit complicated to read the wind shifts, but it’s nice, it is hot and there were good sailing conditions with a wind blowing between 8 and 12 knots. “We can see the public coming to follow the regattas and on each finish line we hear the applause and encouragement, which is great for us.   “The key to success tomorrow will be making good starts. We know that if we are ahead at the first mark, we have all the strengths to remain so until the end." Click here to view Tim's interview in its entirety. He discusses in detail this second day of racing and returns to his recent experience at the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, with Team France Jeune (A good exercise to practice your French ;) Check back tomorrow at 2pm (local time, -1 hour from Swiss) for the continuation of this competition, which you can also follow live (video & 3D graphics) by clicking here from 2pm. For overall standings www.extremesailingseries.com/results   Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo  //  #Extremesailing   If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need by following this link. Photos credit Lloyd Images

Useful information - Extreme Sailing Series

28 June, 2017

EXTREME SAILING SERIES - A RECAP' What: The Extreme Sailing Series™ circuit comprises eight events, in eight host cities on three continents. Who: Seven to nine international teams, each mainly composed of five sailors (a mixed or women crew could race with six) Where: Act 1: Muscat (Oman), Act 2: Qingdao (China), Act 3: Madeira islands (Portugal), Act 4: Barcelona (Spain), Act 5: Hamburg (Germany), Act 6: Cardiff (England), Act 7: San Diego (USA), Act 8: Los Cabos (Mexico) When: Between February and December (click here to access to the calendar) How: Teams compete over short and fast courses in front of the public aboard a 32ft flying, foiling catamaran: the GC32 Follow the action Follow the Alinghi Team during each of the eight events (4 days of racing per event, up to 10 races each afternoon – but be aware of time difference depending where it happens): Online, via www.alinghi.com and www.extremesailingseries.com > Races modeled in 3D from 1st to 4th day of racing > Live racing from 3rd to 4th day of racing, generally from 2pm local time until the end of racing > Replays available at the end of racing On Twitter @alinghiteam > Updates after each race On Facebook @teamalinghi and on Instagram @alinghi > Interviews, videos, photos throughout the regatta Alinghi's GC32 Team* Bowman: Yves Detrey (SUI) Headsail Trimmer: Nils Frei (SUI) Foil regulator: Timothé Lapauw (FRA) Tactician and mainsail trimmer: Nicolas Charbonnier (FRA) Helm, co-skipper: Arnaud Psarofaghis (SUI) Technical Team João Cabeçadas (POR) David Nikles (SUI) Trainer and Team Director Pierre-Yves Jorand (SUI) To find out more www.extremesailingseries.com Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo #Extremesailing Credit for photo © Lloyd Images *Temporary changes to the crew For the second event of the championship (Act 2 in Qingdao), Nils Frei (foot injury) was replaced by Bryan Mettraux (SUI) as frontsail trimmer

Genève-Rolle-Genève: 2nd by 1 second!

10 June, 2017

The race committee had to resort to photo-finish to determine the winner of the 2017 Genève-Rolle-Genève, today on the Lake. Alinghi, who led the race virtually from start to finish, finished second in the final, just 20cm behind Swisscom. The nerves of the sailors were put to the test this afternoon, at this, the 53rd edition of the first of the two Lake Geneva season classics. Alinghi sailed a great race, staying ahead of their opponents, on the most part. Swisscom, nevertheless, pipped them to the line, thanks to some bold manoeuvres in the last few metres. "Overall, we are happy," said Nils Frei, shortly after crossing the finish line. "It was a real lake race, with turnarounds, little pressures here and there that we had to try to manage. We had a little concern about our timing at the start, we were not quite on it, but after that we were in the game, and we managed to cope very well with the changing wind." Tactician Nicolas Charbonnier believes he has aged ten years, so intense was the stress: "It was a beautiful Lake Geneva regatta with a few things, many of them tricky, for us to deal with. But we sailed well and I didn’t have to go up the rig to look for the wind pressure. Indeed, when sometimes we had no more wind, there was none anywhere! We just had to be patient.” Arnaud Psarofaghis also noted the stress of the race: "We did not have easy choices, and we did not always agree, but in the end we came together, correctly, and, up until the end, it was a very good fight with Swisscom." Yves Detrey, who is not known for being a big fan of long races, observed: "It's really tiring, not physically, but mentally. Decisions do not necessarily pay off right away; you have to wait and see how they will play out, which is really tough on the nerves. In addition, we had to be careful of the depth as we were often looking for local wind effects very close to shore. With a draft of 2.6m, we obviously don't want to run aground. Pierre-Yves Jorand commented: "We finished second just by one second, which was determined by the last little shift at the entrance mark. Swisscom had a good race, they put us under constant pressure all the way back to Geneva, and they managed to slip their bow just before the line. The race committee did a good job, watching and watching again the videos to finally declare them the winner by a few inches. The approach to these long races has changed over the last five or six years. Now, it is a race in which contact is permanent. Sailors do not take unnecessary risks and so the finishes are even tighter." Click here to watch the live rounding in Rolle with João's commentaries. To watch the finish and the comments of the crew straight after crossing the line, click here. Pour revoir l'arrivée serrée et les commentaires à bord et à chaud, juste après avoir coupé la ligne, click here. And for Pierre-Yves' analysis, click here. After two long days of competition (six races on Friday for the first day of the 3rd Grand Prix of the season and the "Genève-Rolle" this day), the team will rest for a night so that they might aim for a victory on the final day of the Realstone Grand Prix of Versoix tomorrow. Top 5 - Genève-Rolle-Genève : 1st - D35 Swisscom (5h41'13'') 2nd - D35 Alinghi (5h41'14'') 3rd - D35 Mobimo (5h46'26'') 4th - Ventilo M1 Safram (5h53'52'') 5th - D35 Ladycat Powered by Spindrift (6h01'06'') To find out more www.ycg.ch/geneve-rolle-geneve-2017 If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need in this news story. Credit for photos © EP Medias & Alinghi

A complicated day, but still in contention

9 June, 2017

Alinghi finished the first day of the Realstone Grand Prix in third place, five points behind the leader Ylliam - Comptoir Immobilier. The race committee were successful in launching six races between 15:30 and 19:00, taking advantage of the western flow of 9 to 13 knots of wind. The team’s famous black, white and red multihull did not shine in quite the way that it had in the season’s previous races, with a premature start and tricky conditions being just two of the factors that the crew, who described the day as difficult, had to deal with. "Things were not easy," said Yves Detrey. "We had a bit of trouble finding the right trajectories, taking the right shifts (reading the wind), so it's not a memorable day in terms of performance. There is not much difference in points between us and the race leader, and we are third in the provisional standings tonight. We will have Sunday's races to fix things and to get back on track.” The schedule for Saturday is one that is absolutely synonymous with classic Lake Geneva racing, with a start time for 13:00 no matter which wind conditions. Asked about his view about the racing tomorrow - the Genève-Rolle-Genève, the first of the two major D35 Trophy races taking place - Alinghi's bowman pointed out that a capricious weather could be expected: "It's going to be a long race of light wind, but we're used to it." Follow this link to watch Yves's interview. General standings after 6 races (the worst score being discarded): 1st - Ylliam-Comptoir Immobilier : 2-2-2-6-2-1 = 9 points 2nd - Swisscom : 4-3-4-2-1-2 = 12 points  3rd - Alinghi : 1-5-3-4-3-3 = 14 points 4th - Realteam : 7-6-1-3-4-9 = 21 points 5th - Racing Django : 5-4-5-1-8-8 = 23 points Find all the results at: http://d35trophy.com   Hashtags for the event #GoAlinghiGo  //  #D35Trophy If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi’s team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need in this news story. Credit for photos © Loris Von Siebenthal

An almost faultless display

20 May, 2017

Having won the opening round of the 2017 D35 Trophy, Alinghi headed into the Open de Versoix full of confidence. On Day 1, the wind had nearly refused to play ball, with the result that only one race could be run. In that race, however, the team managed to dominate. Having started on the port side and found the breeze before the rest of the fleet, Alinghi crossed all of their competitors and secured the win having been in front throughout. That form continued today on Day 2, with a display from which the team can take great pride and pleasure. The day’s first race, saw the team’s tactics pay off, securing a second win in a row. That was something – narrowly - not to be repeated in the next race, but a commendable second-place finish was followed by another first in the third race of the day. The only slight blot on the copybook was the last race of the day, in which the team made some mistakes. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic day for Alinghi, who lead the fleet conveniently heading into tomorrow’s final day of this Grand Prix and who will approach it looking to make it two victories from two. Allez Alinghi! Results after day 2 Alinghi: 5 points Mobimo: 11 points Zen Too: 15 points Ylliam Comptoir Immobilier : 16 points Okalys: 16 points Swisscom: 17 points Racing Django: 18 points Realteam: 24 points To find out more d35trophy.com If you want to know more about how to follow the racing, about Alinghi's team, or just about this regatta in general, you will find all that you need in this news story. #GoAlinghiGo