New Alinghi craft sailing from Lausanne to Geneva, July 2009 (photo: D Roberts)

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Sponsors are lining up again to provide financial backing to Alinghi, after a dry spell that left multimillionaire owner Ernesto Bertarelli on his own paying the bills for the Geneva-based Alinghi team.

The boat-building business is now mostly behind Alinghi, the defending  champion of the America’s Cup sailing trophy, and testing of its new catamaran on the open seas is going smoothly. Blue skies and clear weather seem to be on the horizon as the team prepares for the next America’s Cup race in 2010.

Swiss bank UBS, which may have had other matters on its mind, withdrew as a sponsor in the spring of 2009. The wind shifted last week when Hublot, makers of expensive watches based in Nyon, became a sponsor 25 August, and this week the Geneva Manotel hotel chain has joined the group as a sponsor, according to AP.

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