Alinghi flies home

SUI91 reaches Valencia by Antonov

SUI91 arrived in Valencia yesterday afternoon on an Antonov plane from Dubai. SUI64 is due to follow by ship.

This is the first time during this campaign that the Swiss Defender has flown a racing yacht, the last being in 2001, when the team flew SUI64 from Geneva to Auckland where they successfully won the America’s Cup in 2003.

The plane for the occasion was the Antonov AN-124, one of 56 built and introduced in 1986. It can carry up to 150 tonnes and 88 passengers, although they rarely take more than a few due to limited pressurisation in the fuselage. Six crew members fly the 68.96m plane – which stands 20.78m high and has a wing-span of 73.3m – at a maximum speed of 865km/h and a cruising speed of 800km/h.

The Antonov landed in Valencia on Sunday, late afternoon and SUI91 will be transported to the Alinghi base during the course of Monday. Sailing is on schedule for mid-March.

More photos on page 2....