Alinghi 5 flies away, Photo ©Carlo Borlenghi's/Alinghi
Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The giant catamaran Alinghi 5 took to the skies and bid farewell to Lake Geneva. A Russian military helicopter Mi26 took the catamaran towards Genoa, Italy where it will continue its training towards the America’s Cup.
Alinghi “flew” along the Rhone River before gaining altitude at the Great Saint Bernard Pass in the border with Italy. The helicopter and sailboat landed safely in Genoa at 14:30.
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
A GenevaLunch feature on the new sailing marvel, Alinghi 5: the boat, the technology, the view for Lake Geneva area viewers
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Alinghi 5, 90-foot catamaran - photo, E Wallace
Alinghi 5 sailing first time, 20 July 2009 - photo, © Carlo Borlenghi/Alinghi
Le Bouveret, Valais, and Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - There are sailboats, and then there is Alinghi 5: at 90 feet (27 metres) far larger than anything else on Lake Geneva, technologically astonishing and a delight to the eyes, but also exciting in terms of the sailing challenges it presents. The catamaran, built at great expense and specially for the next America’s Cup race in 2010, was presented to a mostly-charmed group of international journalists Thursday 23 July, but the weather was not cooperative. “We took it out into the harbour Wednesday and hit 31-knot winds,” said Alinghi’s president, Ernesto Bertarelli. It was forced back to shore, where the Alinghi team then kept busy with shoreline duties for the next two days. “Lake Geneva is a challenging place to sail. Yesterday was a real test for us,” he said of the failed outing.
Alinghi 5, a giant among sailboats at Le Bouveret, Lake Geneva - photo, E Wallace
A heavy mix of high winds, hail, thunder and lightning made it impossible to hoist sails, but the weekend weather was decent Saturday and is predicted to be beautiful Sunday 26 July: sunshine and good breezes on Lake Geneva. (Ed. note: Twitterati can follow Alinghi on the water via Twitter at alinghiteam)
Lake Geneva area: Alinghi 5 now on the lake
For the next two weeks people who live along Lake Geneva or who are visiting the area will see the new America’s Cup Swiss boat as it runs tests and the team gets used to handling it, working first from the base in Le Bouveret, at the Valais/Vaud end of the lake, then from Geneva.
The Alinghi team will sail the length of the lake, from Lausanne near Le Bouveret to Geneva and its home port at the Société de Nautique de Genève for the first of August Swiss national holiday.
Bertarelli and his team are inviting all interested sailors in the region to accompany them in a public flotilla of pleasure boats, which should create a spectacular sight (cameras ready!).
