TUDOR TEAM ALINGHI ANNOUNCE WORLD CLASS SAILING TEAM

Michel Hodara, Team Director Business Affairs, welcomed the media in Barcelona and introduced the new skipper for Tudor Team Alinghi in Paul Goodison, the British national Olympic gold medallist and three-time International Moth World Champion. Speaking about his motivation to join the Swiss team, Paul commented: “The long-term vision was a big factor after chatting with David Endean, and obviously Ernesto Bertarelli, and although it's going to be really challenging in this short period when you look at the teams that are more established, that have been kept going, they're going to be pretty hard to catch. But the vision here is long-term, and the chance to build almost from scratch. It's a new team and to be involved in the foundations and paving your way, that was one of the big appeals for me.”

Joining Paul is a team full of talent, not least in the likes of Olympic Nacra 17, ILCA sailor and skipper of the Swiss Women’s America’s Cup team in 2024, Nathalie Brugger. Already in training out in Barcelona in the team’s two AC40s, Nathalie has been pushing the boys hard and with women now in the America’s Cup for the current cycle, it’s a role she cherishes saying: “It feels a massive step forward for the women sailors. When you think about it, there was no women on these boats in the last 50 years, and suddenly we have the opportunity to catch up. I think the guys don't realise how much we have to catch up because the last few days they were completely open talking about their project, and sometimes I was like, "Guys, I have never seen this and this and this" and I realize how much they went through, and now it's on me to go through the data and the technical parts to catch up.”

Two-time Olympian Pietro Sibello, who was a coach for the Swiss team in the last America’s Cup, joins as a trimmer and brings vast experience having first raced with the Italian Luna Rossa team in 2021. Phil Robertson meanwhile joins as an alternate helmsman to skipper Goodison and is a former World Match Racing Tour Champion as well as being a training partner and match-racing coach for Tudor Team Alinghi in 2024.

Jason Waterhouse, the Olympic Silver medallist in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and widely regarded as one of the finest wing trimmers of his generation is also onboard and the line-up is completed by Nicolas Rolaz, the former Optimist World Champion and U21 ILCA7 World Champion. Known throughout the team as the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ because he can do every role both on the boat and shoreside, Nicolas was one of the rising stars of the Swiss team in the Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup in Barcelona.

Tudor Team Alinghi has opted for serious sailing firepower, world class sailors with impressive pedigrees in the sport. In the background, the team is trialling Women & Youth sailors, some from the last campaign, others new and that process of evaluation will be ongoing.

The team’s AC75 is currently in Genoa, Italy, undergoing upgrade work to the new specification outline for the Louis Vuitton 38^th America’s Cup and Tudor Team Alinghi have brought in David Endean as Team Director for Sailing and Technical. The Swiss team have begun a collaboration with the Challenger of Record, GB1, as permitted in the Protocol with Endean saying: “Yes, we are collaborating with them. It's in early stages of the relationship. The Protocol changes now allow you to exchange information...and with the budget caps and the idea of where we are starting from, we sort of felt like we needed to find some partners, and the GB1 relationship seemed like an obvious one, where we collaborate with them, and they can use some of our guys and some of our design tools from last campaign, and we're able to benefit from some of their design elements.”

Endean continued: “I think there are opportunities to do this more, if teams are willing. It's certainly a different feeling to be able to sit down with a Cup team and exchange things like that. I know Emirates Team New Zealand do it with the French team and probably with the Australians as well now. But it takes a lot to encourage people to open their books and share information. So, it's not easy, but I think the buy-in from both sides is important. There's plenty of potential there, particularly in terms of cost saving.”

Tudor Team Alinghi expect their AC75 to be operational towards the end of the year ahead of intense training in Naples starting early in 2027 in preparation for the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup starting in earnest.