Alinghi go skiing

Swiss America's Cup team take to the slopes on home turf for 24 hour charity race

The Alinghi ski team was racing at the weekend at the Swiss resort Villars in the GP24 Heures, a 24 hour speed-skiing race. The competition was in aid of Formula Charity, a non-profit charity driven by F1 personalities Craig Pollock, Jacques Villeneuve and Paul Stewart who donate the funds to children’s charities.

The Alinghi skiing team was made up of trimmer Nils Frei, pitman Yves Detrey, sailing team coach and ex-speed skiing champion Pierre-Yves Jorand, designer Luc Dubois, team mate Phil Schneuwly and event coordinator for Serono, Claudy Dewarrat. The six raced for 24 hours, rotating every 1 ½ hours to achieve their best result in three years of competing: 8th out of 106 teams.

Pierre Yves Jorand, the team leader, was understandably excited about the result: “Eighth overall is the best result for us here since we began racing three years ago. We even managed to put several semi-professional teams behind us. Out of 106 teams, that’s not bad for a weekend’s skiing!” (This from a man who has skied for 40 years, has hit a highest speed of 225km/h, the sixth fastest in the world, has been 3rd in world championships, European champion and been to the Olympics in Albertville.)