The focus of Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s sailing operations shifted to Saudi Arabia for the coming month as the team prepares for the next Preliminary Regatta with two-boat training on the AC40s over the next few weeks. 

Jeddah, 8 November 2023 – The sailors of Alinghi Red Bull Racing arrived this past weekend into Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, host city for the second America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta scheduled for November 29-December 2. With the shore team having already landed a week earlier to set up the temporary team base and ready the AC40 boats, a major portion of Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s sailing program are now based in Jeddah.

“It’s great to be back in the AC40s,” said skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis. “We are restarting our test program on the two boats from both a sporting and technical perspective. We’ll be trying a few different configurations following the debrief from the first Preliminary Regatta with the goal to progress further and raise our performance level all around.”

Initial conditions were picture-perfect for the team with the first sessions out on the water taking place in 8-14 knots of wind and clear skies providing an ideal opportunity to train and test out of Jeddah’s scenic Corniche, perhaps most famous for being the venue of Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Midweek weather featured more shifty winds and some sea state. Alinghi Red Bull Racing were the first of the six America’s Cup entries to arrive in Jeddah with three weeks still to go until the opening ceremony for the Preliminary Regatta.

“It wasn’t a full move here, we have individuals from the shore crew, performance analysis, sail makers, logistics and support team here with the sailing crew”, said Pietro Sibello, performance coach. “Being a smaller set-up here in Jeddah offers a possibility to work in a more flexible way, which can be very interesting and useful for the team."

"The main challenge has been to create a set-up to stay in touch with Barcelona. The operations and shore team did a great job as we’re not missing anything we have in Barcelona so far.” For the team, the learnings from the first preliminary races in Vilanova i la Geltrú were clear – any boat has a chance to win the regatta.

With a different body of water, a temporary base and a new atmosphere to grow accustomed to, the month away from Barcelona provides yet another training opportunity for Alinghi Red Bull Racing in the development of the campaign.

Arnaud Psarofaghis, skipper: “You have to be consistent over all three days of racing prior to the match race final and do your best to pick-up points where you can. For us it will be about boat handling, both tactically and technically. There is no margin for error to have a bad round! The technical and logistics team did a great job setting up a base and our training camp before the pre-regatta. Everything was ready to go.”

www.alinghi.com

About Alinghi Red Bull Racing

After over a decade away from the Cup, Alinghi, one of the most dynamic names in the history of the America’s Cup, is returning to battle for sailing’s highest honour. The consecutive-winning syndicate joins forces with Red Bull, the driving force in global sport, to create a new team: Alinghi Red Bull Racing.

The team sails under the flag of the Société Nautique de Genève and is accompanied by its main partner Swiss watch brand TUDOR and co-partner Prysmian Group. The official Swiss challenger will compete in the Selection Series for the 37th America’s Cup, in 2024 in Barcelona. The countdown has begun!