America's cup : yes or no?

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America's cup : yes or no? - Alinghi & HYT
2 minutes read
In June, Alinghi commemorated the tenth anniversary of its victory in the Valencia America’s Cup with a low-key video. There’s no excessive nostalgia here; the team is more focused on the future than on its glorious past.

Alinghi, the legendary Swiss sailing team, which HYT has partnered for years, could be on the verge of another America’s Cup campaign, but for now they are keeping everyone in suspense. Committing to this competition is not a spur-of-the-moment decision – the human and financial investments required are colossal. An America’s Cup budget could be anything from 30 to 130 million dollars, depending on the team. It certainly merits some reflection. 

Deed of Gift

Several parameters must be taken into account before committing: the rules, the boat and the location of the contest. The America’s Cup is not like other competitions. The winner of the previous edition has the privilege of setting out the rules for the next, as well as hosting it. This is what is known as the Deed of Gift. The title-holder, in this instance the Emirates Team New Zealand, is currently in negotiations with Luna Rossa, the Italian team that stepped forward as the Challenger of Record at the end of the previous Cup, which took place in Bermuda last June. The two teams will have to agree on a protocol for the next competition, but at the end of the day the Kiwis will have the final say – that’s the Deed of Gift. 

If the negotiations proceed smoothly, the regulations will be published in September, and many unknowns will resolved: class of boat, location, race format, rules, etc. – all vital information that the Swiss team will need to consider carefully, before it can decide whether or not to throw its hat into the ring. Mono-hull or multi-hull; size and complexity of boat; nationality rules for teams and builders – these will determine the level of resources required to be competitive, and will act as a preliminary filter for potential challengers. For the time being, there are far too many unknowns to be able to say for sure whether Alinghi will take up the America’s Cup challenge, or not. But what are they doing in the meantime?

Cup ou pas Cap ?

Hibernation 

Thankfully, as for football, when there’s no World Cup, there’s always the Champions’ League! In order to keep their hand in and remain competitive, Alinghi is focusing on two priorities: the D35 Trophy in Switzerland, and the Extreme Sailing Series internationally, for foiling catamarans (all stages are streamed live on www.extremesailingseries.com). It’s not the America’s Cup, but in order to go the distance (never mind winning), the team needs to be highly professional, as Pierre-Yves Jorand, team manager and a longtime friend of Ernesto Bertarelli, tells us: “Alinghi’s programme comprises over 160 sailing days per year, including 40 preparation days. Participation in these circuits requires a major logistical effort, particularly the Extreme Sailing Series, which takes place in the four corners of the globe, and where the overall standard is extremely high.” But for this team, which had 140 staff in 2010 (for the last challenge in Valencia, when they were runners-up to Oracle Team USA), compared with just 9 today, the scope and the stakes are not quite the same. Seven years ago, the black and red team went into a kind of hibernation, pending a signal from their leader, Ernesto Bertarelli, who would wake them if a new adventure proved to be a possibility. In any case, the public has made its views known, and is becoming increasingly impatient. It may be a matter of weeks, months, perhaps as long as year, but we’ll have the answer sooner or later!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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