iFix Blog: America´s Cup

America´s Cup


		33rd Defense of the America’s Cup Dates: February 8, 10, and 12, 2010 unless mutually agreed otherwise, and potentially affected by the outcome of a court hearing scheduled for January 28th. Location: Valencia, Spain.

Defender: Société Nautique de Genève / Alinghi	Challenger: GGYC / BMW Oracle Racing
Team Site	TeamSite \|Blog


Format: Unless otherwise agreed, the Match will consist of two or three races as necessary. In mid-December 2009 there was discussion that the Challenger and Defender may agree to extend the match to a best-of-5 or best-of-7 series. Such agreement looks increasingly unlikely as of late January, and a best-of-3 match is expected. Per the America’s Cup 1887 Deed of Gift: All races shall be on ocean courses, free from headlands, as follows: the first race, twenty nautical miles to windward and return; the second race an equilateral triangular race of thirty-nine nautical miles, the first side of which shall be a beat to windward; the third race (if necessary) twenty nautical miles to windward and return. As with the number of races, the Challenger and Defender can potentially agree to modify the courses as they see fit, but such agreement looks unlikely.

Defender:	Challenger:
Alinghi launched their 90′ catamaran on July 8, a scaled-up and refined version of a 41′ design previously raced.	BMW Oracle began testing this 90′ trimaran on the US west coast in fall 2008, re-launching a modified boat in July 2009.
Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) Geneva, Switzerland Represented by: Alinghi Defending Yacht: Name: AL-5 (or Alinghi 5) Length: 90 feet (waterline) Beam: estimated 90 feet Mast Height: estimated 180 feet Alinghi launch a 90-foot waterline catamaran on July 8, 2009. Reports indicate a bowsprit that extends the length of the boat to 120 feet overall, and a mast 180 feet tall. During initial testing carried a conventional mast and sails, though some observers thought for a long time that the final configuration would involve a wing mast. Under the Deed of Gift, the defender does not need to name their defending yacht until the start of the first race. Once named, they must defend in all races with that same yacht. Alinghi is not believed to be preparing a second yacht.	acht Club: Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) San Francisco, CA USARepresented by: BMW Oracle Racing Challenging Yacht: Name: USA Length: 90 feet (waterline) Beam: 90 feet Mast Height: multiple masts 158 feet to 180 feet, including 190-ft tall wing sail BMW Oracle Racing first launched in September 2008. See photos from the first sail and the first flight. They did not officially state until August 10, 2009, that this yacht will be their challenging vessel. In 2009 the boat underwent significant modifications including new amas (outer hulls). Rumors that a potential second new yacht was underway, possibly intended to be the actual challenger, were only that, but whispers about an exotic wing sail rig turned out to be true. The 190-ft. tall hard wing was mounted and tested in fall 2009.
Previous Team Experience:Alinghi: 2007 America’s Cup Defender Defeated Emirates Team New Zealand 4-2 2003 America’s Cup Challenger Defeated Team New Zealand 4-0 Alinghi was formed following the 2000 America’s Cup based on hiring several key members of then-Defender Team New Zealand, including Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth.	Previous Team Experience:BMW Oracle Racing: 2007 America’s Cup: Challenger Candidate (eliminated in Semi-finals) 2003 America’s Cup: Challenger Candidate (as Oracle BMW) (eliminated in Louis Vuitton Cup Final) In 2000 Oracle Racing acquired the crew, yachts, and other assets of AmericaOne, who was a 2000 LVC finalist, losing to Italy’s Prada 5-4.

Team CEO: Ernesto Bertarelli Ernesto Bertarelli is ranked as the 53rd richest man in the world by Forbes magazine, with a net worth of $8.2 billion US, including family holdings. Born in 1965, Bertarelli is a graduate of Babson College (1989) and Harvard Business School (1992). He managed his family pharmaceutical business, Serono SA, serving as Chief Executive Officer from 1996 to 2007 when the company was sold to Merck SA.	Team CEO: Lawrence J.Ellison Larry Ellison is ranked by Forbes magazine as the world’s 4th richest man at $22.5 billion US. Born in 1944, Ellison attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before founding Oracle Software Corporation in 1977, where he is currently Chief Executive Officer.
Skippers: Brad Butterworth America’s Cup victories 2007 (Skipper, Alinghi) 2003 (Tactician, Alinghi) 2000 (Tactician, Team New Zealand) 1995 (Tactician, Team New Zealand) Other America’s Cup Experience: 1992 New Zealand Challenge, Tactician 1987 New Zealand, Tactician	Russell Coutts America’s Cup victories: 2003 (Skipper, Alinghi) 2000 (Skipper, Team New Zealand) 1995 (Skipper, Team New Zealand) Other America’s Cup Experience: 1992 Team New Zealand, Skipper Other Achievements: 1984 Olympic Gold Medal, Finn Class
The Skippers are the official team sailing leaders, but given the specialized skills these giant boats demand it is expected that in the upcoming America’s Cup match the yachts will be helmed by multi-hull experts, and in fact the team skippers themselves might not even be on board.