Alinghi is an international team of over 120 people, based in Switzerland, and carrying the colours of its yacht club, the Société Nautique de Genève. Alinghi counts 21 nationalities on its team.
Alinghi's vision is to "win the 32nd America's Cup, earn respect and recognition as a world class sports team, while sharing its passion for sailing."
Ernesto Bertarelli is the principal behind Alinghi, as well as an integral part of the sailing team, serving as navigator.
Renowned America's Cup veteran Grant Simmer is Team General Manager and also oversees the Design Team. The sailing team is led by skipper Brad Butterworth. As Sports Director of Alinghi, Jochen Schuemann can count on many top sailors including Peter Holmberg, and Ed Baird, to name just a few.
The Defenders of the America's Cup finished in third place on the ACC Season Champion table in 2004, but recovered their form in 2005 winning five of the six Louis Vuitton Acts en route to the 2005 ACC Season Championship. The team lost just two match races in 33 starts in 2005.
2006 was another strong year for the Defender. Alinghi finished in second place on the season points table, but importantly, was the only one among the top four teams to use an old boat. In other words, the top challengers, sailing their new boats, could barely compete Alinghi sailing its old boat from the last Cup.
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