The Swiss sailing team Alinghi has confirmed its participation in the 37th America’s Cup in a new team partnership as Alinghi Red Bull Racing.
Team founder Ernesto Bertarelli introduced the announcement: “Eleven years after winning the America’s Cup, we’re back. We never went away completely. “
Bertarelli’s team was the first to win on its Cup debut in 2003 and the first ever European team to win the famous trophy. In 2007 they then hosted the hugely successful Valencia America’s Cup, in which eleven challengers took part.
“Winning the cup changes you,” commented Bertarelli. “But when we stopped driving in the Cup, we didn’t stop driving. We always had in the back of our minds that we would be back. “
Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s F1 connection
Alinghi is the second team to confirm an alliance with a Formula 1 team. (There are also rumors that an Italian Luna Rossa challenge is about to begin and the Ferrari motorsport team will compete).
In contrast to the recently announced pairing of the Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1, which is a partnership between two existing teams, this is touted as the formation of a new team. “It’s very different from what I’ve seen elsewhere,” says Bertarelli.
Last weekend, Red Bull Racing controversially named driver Max Verstappen the 2021 F1 World Champion in a showdown against Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton. Christian Horner, Team Principal, said: “We take Formula 1 DNA and use it in the boat. We’re going to play against Mercedes and INEOS on the water, and maybe also against Ferrari, it’s incredibly exciting. “
Adrian Newey is the Chief Technical Officer of Red Bull Racing and was previously involved in Ben Ainslie’s Land Rover BAR campaign for the 2017 America’s Cup. “He will of course show interest, but we want to concentrate a bit on the car,” said Horner. “But his design team will be fully involved and use the same tools and approaches.”
Bertarelli confirmed that the team had already visited Red Bull Racing’s motorsport base in Milton Keynes, England.
Prior to the announcement, there was speculation about which club Alinghi would represent, as the 100% citizenship rule confirmed in the new America’s Cup protocol requires all sailors to be passport holders of the nation they represent.
That announcement confirmed that they were the Société Nautique de Genève, which requires the entire team to be Swiss and the team’s AC75 to be built in Switzerland.
Since leaving the cup competition after losing to Oracle USA in the 2010 Deed of Gift game, the Alinghi team has been participating in Swiss lake events, including the T35 race track.
Bertarelli points out that the team sailed with a young Swiss team in fast and foiling boats. “We expected the [100% nationality] Rule, and we’re ready. “
Some of the Swiss crew have been featured on stage and although they are not (yet) widely known, highly skilled foiling sailors like Arnaud Psarofaghis, two-time European moth champion.
Alinghi Skipper returns
Much better known was the former Alinghi Cup skipper Brad Butterworth. The role of the seasoned Kiwi Cup sailor on the team has not been confirmed, but it is clear that he will be closely involved and, as he put it, “bring a bit of the old school to the new world”.
Butterworth, however, is open to one of the most radical changes to the cup rules since his time: the introduction of “Cyclors” (leg powered grinding), which will be allowed again for the AC75 in the next cup.
“I think that’s good for Switzerland,” he commented. “I think there are a lot of very good cyclists who could end up propelling this boat.”
When asked where he would like to see the 37th America’s Cup given the current uncertainty about the America’s Cup venue, Bertarelli said, “We enjoyed sailing in New Zealand. Having Brad on the team means sailing in New Zealand would of course be great, but we’re ready to sail wherever the Defender decides: the sooner the better. “
The pharmaceutical billionaire would not use the budget of the new Alinghi Red Bull Racing Team, he would just say: “We will be well equipped. The most important resource are the human resources in such undertakings. “
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