Setting the Scene

The America's Cup has only ever really been about the man at the top. And the man at the top of the America's Cup Defender has little doubt about the direction in which the next event should be steered...

Seahorse: When you committed to building Alinghi 5, did you expect then - at the drawing board stage - quite the machine that you have now?

Ernesto Bertarelli: When we decided to build Alinghi 5 it was as a result of not being able to move forward with our vision of a multi-challenger America's Cup event with a new exciting class of 90ft monohulls. As you will remember we were forced into a Deed of Gift Match in multihulls by Oracle and have had to adapt to that. Having said that, the multihull challenge has given us the opportunity to draw from our experience on Lake Geneva. In my wildest dreams I never expected we would build such a boat and when we sailed Alinghi 5 on the lake for the first time there was a sense of incredible accomplishment.

SH: Given your experience with multihulls, how much input were you able to provide to the design team?

EB: I have been sailing multihulls on Lake Geneva for almost 20 years and every year we try something new to make our boats go faster. The fascinating thing with multihulls is that there is still a lot of room for development that monohulls don't necessarily allow for. That is what makes these boats so exciting. And Alinghi's technical and development tools, accumulated over three America's Cup campaigns, now give us tangible answers compared to what we only guessed at on a smaller scale on the lake. This project, from a research and development point of view, has been intensely interesting!

SH: And how much have Alinghi been able to draw upon Swiss technology in this boat...

EB: Alinghi 5 is 'Swiss Made'. For example, the central spine - the Y-shaped structure - is a concept that was first developed on the lake. We have drawn extensively from our past Cup experience, but the original concept of Alinghi 5 is Swiss. Our team have been able to bring together elements of many other projects to create an amazing machine built from head to toe in Villeneuve, Switzerland.

SH: Has it been a case of scaling up to sail Alinghi 5 as opposed to a D35 or the 41-footer Le Black, or are you learning how to sail again?

EB: Surprisingly, Alinghi 5 is not that different from any other multihull I have raced in the past. It is a very responsive boat and you have to deal with speed and power very quickly. Because of the size of these boats, things can take on more dramatic proportions, but we have plenty of experience onboard as a team to make sure that the sailing is fun and safe! Recently opinions have been expressed about these giant America's Cup multihulls, but unless you sail onboard it is difficult to understand both the excitement and the respect one should have for these machines. Only those who ultimately sail these boats in the Cup should comment...

SH: You are often spotted helming - what is it like?

EB: The biggest difference between Alinghi 5 and other multihulls I have sailed is that we have a wheel instead of a tiller and that has been a bit of an adjustment. It is also a bit heavier than a smaller boat. But the excitement and the feel for speed and flight are so much greater; I have never had so much fun on a boat before!

SH: How is the race crew being selected?

EB: We will go through the same process as in 2003 and 2007 when we won the Cup. It is mainly Brad Butterworth, as team skipper, who decides. We certainly have more crew than we need to race this boat because we initially thought we would be racing monohulls, but ended up with a 90ft multihull with an engine onboard. You cannot operate these boats without an engine if you want to match race. Over the course of our campaign we also introduced some new talent to the team, particularly from the French ocean racing multihulls, to see how they do it and learn from their experience.

I have known Loïck Peyron for a long time and Alain Gautier more recently racing on the D35s. I have raced against both of them regularly on the lake and I respect them tremendously for what they have achieved. From personal experience I know it's not easy to face them on the startline. Ed Baird won the America's Cup for Alinghi last time and has also had a lot of success racing multihulls in the past couple of years, so we have a host of talent that we can draw from to be the best that we can for the Match.

SH: How sophisticated is the boat in terms of real-time information and the data that you take ashore later for analysis?

EB: It is actually quite nice to feel something onboard and to be able to discover from the data ashore what it was that we felt and what really happened. The data never lies, so while you have the comfort of knowing that what you felt onboard is right or wrong and how it happened, it also puts a lot of pressure on the crew to be right all the time.

SH: How do you prioritise the results of all this analysis and make the decisions to move forward?

EB: The decision process at Alinghi has always been one that involves everyone. We meet, we decide upon a plan, the plan is divided up, individual team members take responsibility for a task, they go about fulfilling their role and return with further improvements, data and knowledge. We then meet again and move it forward to the next step. It is a continuous process that involves everybody, nothing is hidden; the information is always available to everyone. The decisions are, therefore, very straightforward to make because in most of the cases everyone agrees.

SH: As in business, you work in a competitive sporting and design arena. Do you take notice of the competitor, evaluate what they are doing?

EB: We have paid a lot of attention to all the competitors! When we won in 2007 we cared for all the challengers and by December 2007 we had 12 teams ready to compete, with a protocol agreed, signed and ready to go, with plenty of sponsors for all the teams. By December 2008 we were 19 teams from 12 countries, all in agreement except one team! We couldn't implement the AC33 option because BMW Oracle would not withdraw their legal motion and join the other challengers. Instead, through litigation, they forced their way in to become Challenger of Record and we are now subject to a Deed of Gift Match, so no mutual consent and a tremendous amount of further litigation. We have had to deal with eight motions against us so far. This is an unfortunate situation but, having said that, you always try to look ahead; putting your crew and boat first, and protecting those who have your trust.

SH: Describe the feeling on the morning of the first race. Do you ever think or imagine this?

EB: The first race mornings have been different both times we won the America's Cup and I guess it will be different again this time. There are very strong emotions going through you and a tremendous sense of pride. It is truly rewarding to be together, as a team, in anticipation of the race. Racing for the America's Cup is a unique and fortunate position to be in, and I believe to be a rightful challenger you need to go through the selection series and earn your right to the Match by beating the other teams as we did in 2003. To have a say on how the Cup should be run you then have to win the Match.

SH: Looking ahead to the 34th America's Cup if Alinghi win again, how interested are you in a multihull America's Cup?

EB: If Alinghi win again and if we are unfettered by pending BMW Oracle lawsuits, then we would like to see a multinational, multi-challenger America's Cup in boats that are at the very cutting edge of technology...

SH: What other sailing do you personally want to do in the future aside from the Cup?

EB: I love any grand prix sailing. The Mediterranean season is fun, but I particularly enjoy the multihull racing on Lake Geneva. Right now, though, I am 100 per cent focused on defending the Cup and I'm enjoying every minute of the sailing and development we are doing. We are taking multihulls to another level in our sport and that can only be good in the bigger picture.

SH: Would you have done anything differently?

EB: While we have ended up with the most amazing sailing boats ever built, I would like to remind people that, despite what the BOR propaganda says, this Deed of Gift Match is the result of their pursuit of the Cup through the US legal system. We gave them plenty of opportunity to join the other teams. From 2003 to 2007 we organised one of the most successful America's Cup events of all time; right across Europe. We even helped our eventual challenger, Team New Zealand, financially to have more competition on the water in Valencia. It was my desire for the 33rd Cup to achieve something similar, but even better: multi-national, multi-challenger, open and even more accessible to the wider public, sponsors and media. It was not to be this time.

We have now learnt not to rush things... And if we win, then we will work on creating a 34th America's Cup every bit as great as the 32nd.