U-turn at Alinghi Red Bull: Suddenly Saudi Arabia is the ultimate training tool

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Will Saudi Arabia become a decisive factor in the hunt for America’s Cup victory? This is at least conceivable for Alinghi Red Bull Racing. Not to mention the second pre-regatta of the America’s Cup, which was held in the Red Sea near Jeddah at the end of November and was mandatory for all six teams.

There is talk of a training camp in Jeddah that the Swiss sailing team is currently conducting. Alinghi Red Bull has returned to Saudi Arabia for a training camp. Instead of the headquarters in Barcelona, ​​where the America’s Cup will take place in October, the Swiss now work in the desert.

The team wants to gain missing experience

The preliminary regatta in Jeddah was already quite controversial; the American team American Magic even considered a boycott due to the delicate political situation. They did participate, but like all other teams they have long since left the Red Sea and are training again for Barcelona, ​​​​Cagliari or in New Zealand.

But Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the new America’s Cup team, abandoned its two AC40 class baby boats after the preliminary regatta in the Middle East – the Cup will then be held with the larger AC75 sailing monsters.

The idea: In January, weather conditions in the Red Sea are significantly better than in the Mediterranean. And the people of Geneva desperately need as much training on the water as possible. As returners from the America’s Cup, compared to their competitors, the sailors of Alinghi Red Bull lack the racing experience on the fast boats with the foils (wings), which lift the boat out of the water with sufficient speed.

An Alinghi boat capsized during training

Now the gap in experience should be somewhat reduced thanks to the winter camp in Saudi Arabia. Alinghi Red Bull has been training enthusiastically for a few days and will continue to train all week, according to the official Cup website. The upcoming ‘match races’, or the one-on-one duels, will be practiced with both boats in the water. An incident also shows how incredibly difficult the AC40 boats are to control: one of the boats capsized, but without major consequences for the sailors and the technology on board.

Are the Genevans laying the groundwork for an America’s Cup coup in Saudi Arabia? Alinghi also trained in the Middle East during the winter for the 2007 victory. Then it was Dubai.

Source : Blick