Former two-time America’s Cup winner Alinghi from Switzerland returns after an eleven year absence and works with Formula 1 powerhouse Red Bull Racing to fight for the oldest trophy in international sport.
It’s the latest venture between a sailing team and a top motorsport team in a sport that has pushed the boundaries of technology in boats that reach highway speeds as they glide over the waves on hydrofoil boats.
Alinghi won the America’s Cup in 2003, defended it successfully four years later, and lost it in 2010 at the height of a bitter dispute between billionaires. Red Bull won the Formula 1 drivers’ championship with Max Verstappen in a controversial finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
The pharmaceutical billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli and the two-time Olympic champion Hans Peter Steinacher announced the start of the new Alinghi Red Bull Racing at the sponsoring yacht club Société Nautique de Genève on Tuesday. Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner took part in the announcement via satellite.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing is the first team alongside the Challenger of Record INEOS Team UK to announce a challenge for the 2024 America’s Cup.
Bertarelli, who helped usher in the current era of America’s Cup billionaires, said Alinghi and Red Bull are equal partners.
“They will bring their expertise, energy and strength to create high-performing teams, and we will bring our experience sailing and winning the America’s Cup,” said Bertarelli. “Alinghi Red Bull Racing will shed a new light on the event.”
Red Bull Racing is the latest motorsport team to join forces with an America’s Cup team. Mercedes is starting its second campaign with INEOS Team UK, led by Sir Ben Ainslie.
During the America’s Cup 2021, American racing titan Roger Penske was one of three main characters who supported American Magic. It is unclear whether Penske will continue to support American Magic, which is currently looking for a new yacht club to represent it after being deposed by the New York Yacht Club.
Pirelli, the sole tire supplier for Formula 1 since 2011, supported the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team for the second time.
However, none of these racing powerhouses has found the winning formula. Emirates Team New Zealand defeated Luna Rossa 7-3 in the America’s Cup game in Auckland. The Kiwis’ chief design officer, Dan Bernasconi, worked for McLaren F1 early in his career before moving to the America’s Cup.
Bertarelli, who was born in Rome and earned an MBA from Harvard, stepped into the America’s Cup battle when he poached several top sailors from the reigning America’s Cup champions Team New Zealand and the 2003 Auld Mug for his landlocked country won. He brought the competition to Europe for the first time and Alinghi defended successfully in 2007 in Valencia, Spain, beating Team New Zealand again.
Shortly after that regatta, Bertarelli’s former friend, American tech billionaire Larry Ellison, sued the Swiss tycoon for interpreting the rules. After a bitter three-year legal battle, Ellison’s BMW Oracle Racing defeated Alinghi in a one-off America’s Cup, which was sailed in giant multihulls off Valencia. Alinghi suspended the last three multi-challenger regattas.
Bertarelli said he was encouraged by speaking to Red Bull Energy Drink co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
“We keep the spirit of victory that has always inspired Alinghi, but we want to do something completely different, completely new, completely fresh for this challenge,” said Bertarelli. “When we and Dietrich Mateschitz imagined Red Bull’s involvement in the America’s Cup, he said: ‘Our path is not to get into the sport as a sponsor, but to integrate into the team, to enter into a real partnership, to promote young athletes. ” and make them the best in their field. ‘”
Red Bull brings the expertise of the Red Bull Advanced Technologies Unit, which Red Bull Racing supported.
“We will share our experiences, our technology, etc., and Alinghi Red Bull Racing will also contribute to us and help us understand new worlds in the application of technology,” said Horner.
It seems unlikely that the America’s Cup will return to Auckland. For financial reasons, Emirates Team New Zealand is considering offers from Cork, Ireland; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Valencia to host the regatta in 2024.
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Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson
