By JULIE ASH
Alinghi will make changes to their boat SUI64 to try to get a competitive edge over Team New Zealand.
With a little over three weeks until the America's Cup match, Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts said yesterday that his team's attention had now turned to the black boats.
"We can now focus on racing Team NZ and looking at the characteristics of their boat," he said.
"It is no secret that everyone believes their boat is formidable, and now we have to look at how we can place Alinghi against Team NZ to try to give us the best chance of being competitive on the water."
Asked if his team were still investigating underwater appendages similar to those on NZL81 and NZL82, Coutts replied: "We are still considering things."
Coutts said Alinghi were satisfied Team NZ's appendage was within the rules.
"The measurers have measured the boat and have come up with a policy of testing it. I have faith in the measurers. It is just another part of the boat which must comply with the rules."
Alinghi beat Oracle BMW Racing 5-1 in the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup and will now line up against Team New Zealand in a best-of-nine series starting on February 15.
It will not only be interesting to see how Team NZ's boat compares with SUI64, which has won 23 out of 28 races, but how the young Team NZ crew fare against the older and more experienced Swiss team.
Yesterday, Coutts was full of praise for his protege in the last America's Cup, Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker.
"He was certainly going to be my choice as helmsman. We all know he is an excellent sailor and I can't say enough about him. From what I have heard he is doing a great job.
"I think people are starting to see that this is going to be a fantastic race. There are two very good teams up against each other."
For Coutts it is the second time he has won the Louis Vuitton Cup, after success with Team New Zealand in 1995.
When he lines up against his former team-mates next month it will be his third consecutive America's Cup match.
"The good thing for me this time is I was put in a new environment with a new group of people," Coutts said.
"I still have some excellent memories from the teams I have been involved with in the past, but when you spend that much time together, working out together, sailing together after 15 to 20 years, a change might not be such a bad thing.
"I have found working with this new team of people incredibly stimulating, getting different ideas, the whole technology aspect and pushing new limits."
Asked how he felt about the Swiss connection, Coutts replied: "I am a New Zealander, this is where I was born, this is my country, but I am a member of Alinghi."
Set up by pharmaceutical billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi executive director Michel Bonnefous and Coutts, the $120 million Swiss syndicate said winning the challenger series was just the first step in their journey.
"We have won the Louis Vuitton Cup, we are very happy, but our goal always has been to try to win the America's Cup," said Bonnefous.
"We will make a few changes on the boat. We will have a rest at the end of next week for two or three days, and then we will be back training on the water.
"This is a historical moment for our team and for our country.
"Also for the America's Cup, as I imagine that it is the first time a land-locked country like Switzerland will take part in the cup match."
While Alinghi continue their march, Larry Ellison's Oracle BMW Racing team are reflecting on what went wrong in their $180 million challenge.
The team have had the past two days off, but will meet tomorrow to discuss the syndicate's immediate future.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
Swiss to change tack for Team NZ
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.