Alinghi Red Bull Racing aims for third victory at the 37th America’s Cup

Switzerland’s Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailing team is aiming for a third victory in the upcoming 37th America’s Cup this year, joined by Prysmian as a sponsor confirming the leading cable producer’s commitment to the values of the sport.

Racing under the flag of the Société Nautique de Genève, Alinghi will be among the official challengers seeking to wrestle the trophy from defenders Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in the event in Barcelona from August to October.

Alinghi was established as a competitive racing team in 1994 by Swiss entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli, who has been sailing competitively since his twenties. The team won its first attempt at the America’s Cup in 2003 when it successfully challenged Team New Zealand in Auckland, making it the first and only victorious European team in the competition.

It also defended the trophy at the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia against the same team but then lost to BMW Oracle Racing representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club in the 2010 event.

Bertarelli’s business acumen landed him on the Forbes billionaire’s list, but it is his sailing prowess won him the honor of leading the only team that ever won the America’s Cup on its first try. He has been recognized with two awards, the 'Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur' from French President Jacques Chirac in 2003 and the Italian Republic’s 'Cavaliere di Gran Croce.'

"Unfortunately, I'm addicted to the team and the sport and the cup, which inspires. You just get addicted to it”, Bertarelli told the New York Times in 2008.

After about a decade of hiatus, in December 2021 Bertarelli unveiled the new Alinghi Red Bull Racing team. The fifteen crew members have an average age of 30, which is 11 years younger than the last crew that took Alinghi to victory. While some are new to the sport, they are backed by several of sailing’s biggest names.

Eight of the crew members will race the team’s AC75 BoatOne, organized in two groups: the driving group and the power group. The driving group was selected through interviews and physical and sailing tests in the summer of 2021, while recruitment for the power group focused on members of the Swiss cycling and rowing federations.

The America’s Cup is the oldest competition in sport and the most prestigious sailing race. It dates back to August 1851, when a fleet race was held around the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England between several yachts of Britain’s Royal Yacht Squadron and a schooner named America, owned by members of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC). The America won, and the competition later took on its name.

The NYYC managed to defend the trophy 24 times in a row before its defeat in 1983 against the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Despite it being a long-running event, only the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland (with Alinghi) have ever won the Cup over the years.

Prysmian shares values with the sailing competition such as innovation, high performance, sustainability and teamwork. The company is helping to supply energy and information across the globe through its high performing products, services and technologies.

It has chosen to be a co-partner of Alinghi Red Bull Racing in this event to help boost awareness of its brand and its drive towards the energy transition.

“We remain strongly committed to sailing because this sport also represents the wind and renewable energies that are a core element of both our business and future,” stated Massimo Battaini, CEO of Prysmian.

The series of events that make up this year’s edition of the America’s Cup will begin with the Preliminary Regatta warm-up races ahead of the Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selection Series), which decides who moves on to face defenders Emirates Team New Zealand to compete for sailing’s top honor.

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Alinghi Red Bull Racing aims for third victory at the 37th America’s Cup

Alinghi Red Bull Racing aims for third victory at the 37th America’s Cup