Coming into Nyon, surrounded by small craft (Photo: © Dinah Roberts)
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Nyon, Vaud, and Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The crowds lined up along the shores of Lake Geneva to see the giant catamaran that represents the America’s Cup holder, Alinghi 5, Saturday 1 August.
The small boats that were invited to accompany it as it sailed from Lausanne to Geneva before it moves on to the open seas, struggled to keep up whenever it put on speed.
Its destination: Geneva, where Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey had just stepped off the plane from a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington, DC.
Alinghi tears away from Nyon, heading for Geneva (photo: ©2009 Dinah Roberts)
The Swiss cabinet member welcomed the new boat to its home base, the Société Nautique de Genève.
Di Roberts, who lives near Nyon, said watching the boat was “fantastic” but the crowd in Nyon groaned as one of the large steamboats came into port just as as Alinghi sailed past their ready cameras. And as it sailed out, picking up speed and leaving smaller craft behind, the lake police had to come to the rescue of people on small paddleboats who were unprepared for the enormous wash Alinghi 5 leaves in its wake.
Background: “Alinghi 5, ahhh, what a beauty of a boat!”, 26 July, GenevaLunch feature
Alinghi 5 in Geneva, jet d'eau fountain, image ©2009 Guido Trombetta/Alinghi
Alinghi 5, Ernesto Bertarelli, president of Alinghi, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss foreign minister and Fred Mayer, vice-commodore of the SNG in Geneva, image ©2009 Guido Trombetta/Alinghi
Alinghi 5, image ©2009 Guido Trombetta/Alinghi
