Alinghi - Ugly but effective – Sailjuice

by Andy Rice on 24 Jun 2007
Andy Rice is a sailing journalist, who has previously reported on Olympic events, America's Cup Acts and offshore classics like the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race and the Volvo Ocean Race. He is currently in Valencia and is posting on www.SailJuice.com

Ugly but Effective

If the America’s Cup was won on artistic merit, then Alinghi would have lost badly today. SUI 100 looked so ungainly bashing through the nasty slop and chop, giving the foredeck crew a good dousing every time they ventured up to the bow.

Normally when a boat looks bad, it sails bad, but the dreadnought-bowed Defender defied convention, hobby-horsing upwind every bit as quickly as the much steadier, smoother running NZL 92.

Downwind the boat looked very pacy, with the Alinghi crew extending their lead on both offwind legs. From the outside the signs look very ominous, SUI 100 appearing to live up to the pre-race hype about being a rocket.

The sailors read it quite differently, though. ETNZ pitman Barry McKay sounded a little relieved after the race to have discovered that SUI 100 was good, but not invincible. 'It’s not a rocket,' he said. 'There’s been a lot of mystique around it. It’s a good boat, but it’s not out of this world. It’s game on.'

Brad Butterworth offered a similar view from the Alinghi perspective. 'I think the boats are much the same speed – we caught some nice waves downwind but they are pretty much the same. I think that getting the left-hand side of the course was key. We got that, managed to get the other boat to tack away, and that was it.'

That was very much the ETNZ analysis of the race too, with McKay putting today’s loss not down to any boatspeed differences but simply down to Alinghi getting bow forward into the first windshift. So, the boats are even for pace then…

I’m not entirely convinced.

Grant Dalton was one of the few to betray any sense of a speed deficit. 'We learned that there was not much in it as far as boat speed is concerned. NZL 92 was able to hold SUI 100 upwind and they seemed to have an edge downwind. However, it’s difficult to be definitive about boat speed after today’s race. The shifts we experienced were way bigger than just boat speed. We have got to concentrate on just getting each shift as best as we can and if we can do that we’ll win.'

So, it looks like the dire predictions of a 5-0 whitewash by Alinghi could be unfounded after today. Both teams are talking about a good even fight. The Defender still has the edge however. SUI 100 is not a steamroller, but it is a very fast hobby-horse. Alinghi confirmed their status as pre-series favourites today.

Read the full story on www.SailJuice.com - for news and opinion from the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia

Andy Rice's other website is www.SailingTalk.com - which presents technique tips from the world's greatest sailors