Yachting: SUI75 gets Spanish chance

Murray Jones

It is nowhere near as famous as its sister yacht, America's Cup winner SUI64, but Alinghi's SUI75 may be given a chance to race in acts starting in Valencia on Thursday.

SUI64 sailed virtually unchallenged through the last Louis Vuitton Cup before leaving Team New Zealand's black boat in its wake on its march to America's Cup glory.

While it was always in the background, SUI75 never made it on to the race cours. But with both Swiss boats now modified to comply with the new design specifications (version five of the cup class rule), it may get its chance this week.

Alinghi strategist and rig designer New Zealander Murray Jones said his team was likely to use SUI75 in this year's acts but they were not yet 100 per cent sure. "We are trialing different stuff on the two boats," he said from Valencia.

"We haven't put all the pieces together yet, the new bulbs and that."

He said they had raced SUI75 against a couple of the other teams recently "but before that no one had raced against her".

SUI64 was used through the last cup regatta because it was the better of the two and a good all-round boat.

Gearing up for the start of 2005 acts, Alinghi have been based in Valencia since mid-March. Jones relocated a month earlier.

"The language is difficult and the city isn't pretty or as clean as New Zealand, so it has taken a bit of adjusting," he said.

As for life without Russell Coutts, who was controversally sacked last July, Jones admits in a nice way that "it is pretty good, actually".

"We have a few new people but we have a pretty good team atmosphere.

"Jochen Schuemann, the sailing director, has taken on a stronger role. He shared some of the responsibility with Russell last time."

Jones said training had been going well, but did concede the conditions were on the light side at 7-13 knots for the last couple of months.

"Lately it has been getting up to 17-18 knots later in the day. That is what it is going to be like in the cup, so get used to it."

Heading into the coming acts, Jones said the aim was to learn about the boats in the version five configuration and "get a gauge of ourselves against other teams". He will work alongside fellow New Zealanders Brad Butterworth, Simon Daubney, Warwick Fleury and Dean Phipps as integral members of Alinghi.

Jones said they would mix their crew and alternate the helming position between Peter Holmberg, Ed Baird and Jochen Schuemann.

Jones said Alinghi would look at how the opposition had approached the changes to the design rule which has seen the introduction of new rigs, bigger sails and carbon fibre battens.

Alinghi led the way in rig and sail development in the last cup, introducing the twisting rig concept and square top mainsail.

Jones expects that will again be an area to make gains.

"There is not as much [room for development] as there was last time. In some ways, for us as designers and sailors, it is a little disappointing because that is the interesting part."

Gearing up for his fourth cup, it often appears 46-year-old Jones wouldn't mind trading his strategist job, which sees him flapping around up the mast, for something more low-key.

"Hopefully they'll keep me down on the deck, but it does look like I'll be up there again," he said.