Mike Schreiber on Valencia Sailing

During our tour of the Alinghi base we also talked to Mike Screiber, principal sail designer of the 32nd America's Cup Defender. Genoas are main area of sail development for Alinghi.

Valencia Sailing: Are there going to be significant differences between the current sails and the ones you will have next year?
Mike Schreiber: The basic dimensions of the sails will remain the same but over time you are constantly trying to evolve and develop the design and when you get a boat with slightly different caracteristics the sails change slightly, but to the untrained eye the will look similar and the dimensions will remain very similar.

Valencia Sailing: What will be the main difference in sails and what area are you going to focus on?
Mike Schreiber: The most noticeable difference in the new rule is that it allows you to have bigger genoas, with larger area, and we are really working hard the develop that and optimize the shape of those sails, because it’s quite different from last time. It’s an area where even so far this year we have made huge steps and it’s certainly one where there is still a lot to be done.