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Alinghi and Desafio to line up in V5 boats at the CNEV's 'Annual regatta' in November

The second running of the Trofeo Desafío Español, the annual regatta organised by Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV), is to include yachts and teams from the 32nd America’s Cup. On board two of the ACC V5 used the past edition held in Valencia, Alinghi - the sailing team of the Defender, Société Nautique de Geneve- and Desafío Español - the syndicate of the Challenger of Record, Club Náutico Español de Vela - will race over 8-9 November in a series of races. In this competition, the America’s Cup Class yachts will go back to where they belong, the race course, in Valencia.

“Our desire is for the America’s Cup to start as soon as possible back in Valencia”, said the President of the CNEV, Manuel Chirivella. “We want Trofeo Desafío Español to be beginning of testing, training and racing, not only for Desafío Español and Alinghi, but also for other America’s Cup teams that are willing to take part in the races, which are open to all”.

Apart from these two teams from the 32nd America’s Cup and all the others who may announce their participation, the second edition of CNEV’s annual regatta will be open to yachts with an RN certificate. In the first edition, held last year, a total of 88 boats from 17 yacht clubs raced in the regatta.

All boats willing to race in the RN regatta can send their application using the document attached to the Notice of Race that can be downloaded through the Club Náutico Español de Vela website: www.clubnauticoev.com. The document must be sent by fax (+34 96 044 00 64), mail (Base nº 3 Port America’s Cup, 46024 Valencia, Spain) or email ( info@clubnauticoev.com) to the CNEV, located in Valencia, in Desafío Español base.

Alinghi has accepted the CNEV invitation to race in the proposed America’s Cup Class series.

Team skipper, Brad Butterworth, comments: “It will be great to get back on the water on the Cup boats. SUI100 has been under wraps for over a year now - since we won the 32nd America’s Cup in fact - and we are very fortunate to be set up in Valencia and to be able to take the boat racing in this event; the team is looking forward to getting back to some Cup sailing, even for just two days! This initiative from the Challenger of Record is very welcome and we hope that other teams can come and join the event.”