News

15.10.2005

ALINGHI HOUSE WARMING
[Saturday 15 October] Alinghi opened the doors to its new home this evening, holding a house warming for 700 guests. The party was attended by Syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli and his family, Brad Butterworth, vice-president and tactician, Grant Simmer, co-general manager and head of design, Patrick Magyar, co-general manager and the Alinghi team with their families.

Alinghi Syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli
(Photo credit: Ivo Rovira/Alinghi)

Also attending the evening, which kicked off with a lights and acrobatic show, were Swiss Federal President Samuel Schmid, Conseiller d'Etat of Geneva Carlo Lamprecht and President of the region of Valencia, Francisco Camps and Mayoress of Valencia, Rita Barberá. They were welcomed by Bertarelli and shown, among other areas, the interactive zone, the shop and the full-size Alinghi Simulator before being led up to the roof terrace for the party. The Defender’s 6,891m² base has taken 10 months to build and has been purposely designed to merge the team’s everyday life with the technology required to win the 32nd America’s Cup.

(Photo credit: Ivo Rovira/Alinghi)

Quote from Ernesto Bertarelli, head of syndicate and runner/strategist:
“It is a pleasure for me to open this base today, it has been quite a long time that we have been waiting to recover a place where we can share the emotions we had in 2003. It has been a long road since our victory in Auckland and tonight more than anything I would like to thank every member of Alinghi and every family member of the members of Alinghi that have followed the dream from Auckland to Valencia. Alinghi is a very special team and many, many times, people ask me ‘what is the secret of Alinghi?’ and when I tell them, they don’t want to listen; there is no secret. The strength of Alinghi is in its members, the strength of Alinghi is in every single person that works and supports Alinghi. Like the pyramids they seem like they were never built, they seem like a dream and of another time. Alinghi has shown in 2005 that it is like a pyramid. A pyramid is made of many stones and it is what it is thanks to every one of the stones. The stones of Alinghi are the team members. And me personally, I am just one of the stones.”

From left to right: Swiss Federal President Samuel Schmid, Mayoress Rita Barbera, Alinghi Syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli, Francisco Camps President of the Region of Valencia.
(Photo credit: Ivo Rovira/Alinghi)

Quote from Swiss Federal President Samuel Schmid:
“A little over 2 ½ years ago, Switzerland became a nation of sailing fanatics. Over night the public were caught up in Alinghi and on the 2 march 2003, Alinghi took home the most prestigious yachting trophy in the world, the America’s Cup. The Swiss team entered the history books on three counts; coming from a small land locked country, being the only team to win the Cup on a first attempt and lastly, it is the first team to bring the Cup back to Europe since the first regatta. In sporting terms, that is what is known as a master stroke. I won’t hide the fact that the rest of us Swiss are extremely proud of this achievement.”

Swiss Federal President Samuel Schmid
(Photo credit: Ivo Rovira/Alinghi)

Quote from Grant Simmer, co-general manager and head of design:
“Our new base continues the development we started in Auckland, which is to build a dedicated building so we can provide all the functions of an America’s Cup under one roof. This base will be an extension of our homes for the next two years where we will spend a tremendous amount of our time and we can welcome our family, friends and supporters.”

Quote from Patrick Magyar, co-general manager:
“Working in an America's Cup team is very intense. The long hours, the time pressure and the permanent need for interaction have to be taken into consideration when planning the appropriate working environment. The Alinghi base has been designed around these requirements. But while providing excellent working conditions, the base was also planned to serve as an interface with the public. Whether it is Alinghi's guests, Carbon Friends or the general public, everybody will be able to learn more about the team and to feel some of the Alinghi spirit. Following our credo of "Technology - Together" we have used the most modern technology to bring our own staff, but also our fans closer together.”