First time winner?

John Greenland looks at the ins and outs of Ernesto Bertarelli's Swiss America's Cup team...

Above: Alinghi's Russell Coutts and Ernesto Bertarelli

The Alinghi America's Cup syndicate is a new entry to this prestigeous event yet many consider it to be well placed to win the Louis Vuitton Cup and possibly even the America's Cup itself. So why would people think so highly of a team that didn't exist at the time of the last America's Cup?

The reason comes from the potent combination of formidable match racer and ex-Team New Zealand helm Russell Coutts and Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli. who is financing the project. And they are just two of the many top names involved with this syndicate, which many feel will fly come the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup this October.

When Coutts joined the newly forming syndicate a number of the main characters from Team New Zealand followed. Having the know-how from two winning projects will certainly have been an advantage when getting the fledgling Alinghi team off the ground. "I would say that it is a little presumptuous to say that we are a formidable challenge. But, i'm certainly excited, and positive with the team's progress so far," said Coutts.

Bertarelli is the Chief Exective and Deputy Chairman of the company Serono, one of the world's top three biotechonology companies with revenues of US$1.38 billion in 2001, and also an keen yachtsman. After graduating from Boston College he moved to Harbard Business School to study for his MBA. 37 year old Bertarelli now lives in Geneva.

As a yachtsman Bertarelli won the Sardinia Cup in 1998 and has also scored a third place in the Fastnet. On Lake Geneva he has won the Bol d'Or three times and is known for having the hottest boat in town. Alinghi IV, is a super light weight catamaran, almost certainly the fastest boat for her size in the world: at 12.5 metres long she carries an incredible 376 square metres of sail. More recently Bertarelli won the Farr 40 Worlds with Coutts as tactician. All in all he is an accomplished businessman and sailor. It was for this reason Bertarelli decided to put together an America's Cup syndicate.

The main player and skipper in the Alinghi team is Russell Coutts, chief defector from Team New Zealand two years ago. Coutts is considered by many in the sailing world to be one of the most talented sailors around. He is an Olympic Gold Medallist in the Finn Class, double America's Cup winner, and has spent a total of 35 months at the top of the World Match Racing Rankings - 22 of these months were consecutive. In sailing they don't make them with much higher credentials.

Coutts was originally contacted by Michael Fay, then in charge of organising Team New Zealand, who asked him to be the helmsman of Black Magic. In San Diego it is acknowledged that Coutts was the pivotal member of the team who led Black Magic to 37 victories with only one defeat thereby taking the Cup back to New Zealand.

His move from Team New Zealand came as a surprise to most, frustrating the more die hard Kiwi fans. "I'm not one to dwell on the past - it's an old story," said Coutts when questioned about the tension surrounding his return to Auckland. "It's been a good move for me. I needed a change and it has definitely been a refreshing one."

The move to a European syndicate also gives the Kiwi an opportunity to again play a part in moving the America's Cup to a different continent. This change and the number of Challengers for this Cup has certainly fired Coutts up. "Without a doubt it's going to be best regatta yet," commented Coutts. "There's lots of talent spread across all of the teams. As most teams also got early funding I don't think there will be anyone really off the pace."

On top of this Coutts, who aside from his duties on board knows a thing or two about designing and tuning Cup winning boats, also believes that developments, technology, and professionalism is at an all time high on Syndicate Row. "You just can't really tell what the outcome is going to be."

If there's any question as to whether the team mean business, you only have to look across at the syndicate bases to see they have the most impressive compound of them all. "Basically it's a totally different function design," explains Alinghi's Marketing Director Michael Hodwa. "It's a simple structure, which you can easily add square metres to if necessary. In total the current structure is 4,000 metres cubed across three floors." With a car park/boat hard the size of a small supermarket car park it's certainly an impressive building. The team also decided to open up a section of the base to the public - a move not yet done in the elusive world of the America's Cup.

See page two to find out about the boats and crew...

Alinghi's impressive base on Syndicate Row dwarfs next door neighbours Team New Zealand