Home sweet home

Alinghi open their new base in Valencia

Alinghi opened the doors to its new base in Valencia on Saturday evening, holding a house warming for 700 guests. The party was attended by syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli and his family, Brad Butterworth, vice-president and tactician, Grant Simmer, co-general manager and head of design, Patrick Magyar, co-general manager and the Alinghi team with their families.

Also attending the evening, which kicked off with a lights and acrobatic show, were Swiss Federal President Samuel Schmid and President of the region of Valencia, Francisco Camps and Mayoress of Valencia, Rita Barberá.

10 months of design and labour and 7 million Euros have gone into the development of Alinghi’s new home in the Dársena Interior of Valencia. The place has been designed with the concept of merging the team with the technology required to win the 32nd America’s Cup, while also sharing the passion and drive for excellence that motivates Alinghi, with the public.

Grant Simmer, co-general manager and head of design gives his insight into the operational side of the base: “Our new base continues the development we started in Auckland, which is to build a dedicated building so we can provide all the functions of an America’s Cup under one roof. This base will be an extension of our homes for the next two years where we will spend a tremendous amount of our time and we can welcome our family, friends and supporters.”

Alinghi base facts and figures:

Architects: Áreas Ingeniería y Arquitectura, S.L.
Principal architect: José María Tomás Llavador.
Number of floors: three floors and a terrace.
Total usable surface of base: 6,891m² (interior & exterior) and 2,484 m² of forecourt
300,000 watts of electricity power, with an energy saving program, enough to light up two medium size football stadiums.
Total time frame of the construction: 10 months, with the participation of the UTE Bases y Puertos in the first phase and Nüssli in the final phase.
Gym surface: 259m².
Sail loft surface: 606m².
Boat shed dimensions (x2) 12.15 m height; 284 m² (10.15 m width x 27.98 m length) and 365 m² (10.15 m width x 36.5 m length).
Number of travel lifts: 2.
Measurements of the Alinghi base in Auckland: 4,160m².
For the team’s guests:
Hospitality area: 564m², including Alinghi Club lounge, restaurant and terrace.
Terraces and balconies: top floor terrace: 761m².

For the public:
Alinghi Interactive: 172m² (on the ground floor) The ground floor of the Alinghi base is permanently open to the public. There is an Alinghi 'Research Lab' where the mysteries of yacht design and research are revealed, four Alinghi TV columns will unveil how Alinghi won the 31st America’s Cup in Auckland plus insider documentaries. An audio visual display will allow you to experience what it is like to race on board an America’s Cup Class Yacht.
Alinghi Shop: 152m² (on the ground floor)
Alinghi Simulator, a replica of SUI64, is a true America’s Cup Class racing experience. You can be a tactician, a mainsail trimmer, a genoa trimmer, a grinder or a helmsman. The simulator is 26m LOA and has a beam of 3.9m, it heels to 30°, tacks within 45° and can carry up to 11 crew. A screen gives you the target boat speed, true wind direction and wind speed to get a real feeling of what the Alinghi sailing team does on board.

“It is a pleasure for me to open this base today, it has been quite a long time that we have been waiting to recover a place where we can share the emotions we had in 2003," commented Ernesto Bertarelli. "It has been a long road since our victory in Auckland and tonight more than anything I would like to thank every member of Alinghi and every family member of the members of Alinghi that have followed the dream from Auckland to Valencia. Alinghi is a very special team and many, many times, people ask me ‘what is the secret of Alinghi?’ and when I tell them, they don’t want to listen; there is no secret. The strength of Alinghi is in its members, the strength of Alinghi is in every single person that works and supports Alinghi. Like the pyramids they seem like they were never built, they seem like a dream and of another time. Alinghi has shown in 2005 that it is like a pyramid. A pyramid is made of many stones and it is what it is thanks to every one of the stones. The stones of Alinghi are the team members. And me personally, I am just one of the stones.”

Swiss Federal President Samuel Schmid gave his view on the new base: “A little over 2.5 years ago, Switzerland became a nation of sailing fanatics. Over night the public were caught up in Alinghi and on the 2 March 2003, Alinghi took home the most prestigious yachting trophy in the world, the America’s Cup. The Swiss team entered the history books on three counts; coming from a small land locked country, being the only team to win the Cup on a first attempt and lastly, it is the first team to bring the Cup back to Europe since the first regatta. In sporting terms, that is what is known as a master stroke. I won’t hide the fact that the rest of us Swiss are extremely proud of this achievement.”

Alinghi is to host an open day today for the public from 1200-1900. Otherwise the opening times are planned as:

- Interactive/Shop: 1300-2000 7 days a week
- Simulator: 13-until dark 7 days a week
- Carbon Friends Club: 1200-2000 Monday-Friday