Extreme 40- Alinghi launch new boat in Oman, start two boat program

by Extreme 40 and Alinghi Media, edited by Sail-World on 12 Feb 2011 The new Alinghi Extreme 40 has been christened by the crew during their pre-season training camp this week in Oman. The team are training for the first Act of the Extreme Sailing Series at The Wave, Muscat in just over a week, where they have been blessed with perfect sailing conditions.

The Alinghi Extreme 40 was built at Marstrom and is the tenth new boat to the Alinghi fleet, it is also the 20th addition to the Alinghi fleet in over 20 years.

Before the launch of the new Alinghi Extreme 40 the team of Tanguy Cariou,Yves Detrey, Nils Frei and Yann Guichard were training on an existing catamaran from last year's Extreme Sailing Series circuit. Now they will continue with a two-boat training program. They have the additional support of Extreme 40 specialists Mark Bulkeley, part of the Oman Sail winning Extreme 40 team in 2009, and Fred Lemaistre.

The Extreme Sailing Series, with be the first event this year for the two time America's Cup winner, with a busy calendar of nine regattas in nine different countries around the world and a very competitive field. This will include a rematch against the 2007 America's Cup Challenger and 2003 America's cup Defender, Emirates Team NZ, who are joining the Extreme 40 circuit this year.

Alinghi is returning to this championship, sailing with the X40 catamarans, after their victory in 2008. The Swiss team will be facing respected international teams such as Artemis Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, Luna Rossa, Oman Air Masirah, Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team, Team Extreme, Team GAC Pindar, Team Niceforyou and The Wave.

The other important competition in Alinghi’s schedule for this year will be the D35 series, which will travel abroad for the first time since its inception in 2004. The lightweight and innovatively designed catamarans will sail two regattas in open seas off the Mediterranean coast of France. A three-time winner of the D35 championship, Alinghi will try to regain the crown in 2011 against its traditional Swiss and French rivals which include many of the best multihull specialists in the world.

In total, Alinghi’s calendar for 2011 includes 15 events in 10 countries throughout 11 months.

Boat set-up and crew preparation for Alinghi began at the start of the year and the team will be ready for their first meeting, the debut round of the Extreme Sailing Series in Oman, on February 20-24.

The Alinghi crew for the 2011 season is made of a blend of Swiss and French sailors, with many of them playing a part inthe team’s adventures since its creation more than ten years ago. This year will see the addition of French X40 expert , Yann Guichard who will be teaming up with Ernesto Bertarelli, Tanguy Cariou, Yves Detrey, Nils Frei, Coraline Jonet and Pierre-Yves Jorand.

Extreme Sailing Series
20-24 Feb Muscat, Oman
13-17 April Qingdao, China
25-29 May Istanbul, Turkey
30 June-4 Jul Boston, USA
6-12 Aug Cowes,UK
14-18 Sept Trapani, Italy
28 Sept.-2 Oct Nice, France
12-16 Oct Almeria, Spain
7-11 Dec Singapore

D35

5-8 May GP Corum presented by the Beau-Rivage Palace
21-22 May Realstone Cup
11 June Genève-Rolle-Genève
12-13 June Sogeti Cup - Pro-Am Versoix
18 June Bol d’Or Mirabaud
1-4 Sept Beaulieu sur mer
22-25 Sept Antibes

Alinghi crew

Ernesto Bertarelli
Tanguy Cariou
Yves Detrey
Nils Frei
Yann Guichard
Coraline Jonet
Pierre-Yves Jorand