Thursday, November 19, 2009

Grant Simmer talks about Alinghi 5

[Source: Alinghi] The America’s Cup Defender Alinghi is completing its current phase of the Alinghi 5 development programme today in Ras Al Khaimah and over the next few days will wheel the giant catamaran into the boat shed for some modifications. The next phase will keep the team busy up until it ships out to Valencia to continue developing towards the February 8 2010 America’s Cup Match.

The team has been testing and training in Ras Al Khaimah for the past six weeks, what have been the main areas of focus and the goals?
Grant Simmer: We changed to the new, bigger, rig soon after we came here and we have been working on our sail crossovers and learning about optimum angles; really just concentrating on learning to sail the boat and optimising the performance.

Alinghi training. Ras Al-Khaimah, 19 October 2009. Photo copyright Guido Trombetta / Alinghi

Have the conditions in Ras Al Khaimah been conducive to the testing and development?
Grant Simmer: One of the reasons we came to Ras Al Khaimah in the first place was that the winter months offer really nice sailing conditions and that is what we have enjoyed here. Luckily we have only lost a couple of days in the six weeks that we have been here and that was mainly due to too much wind. The conditions have been great and very stable so we don’t expect much change from that.

Can you hint at the modifications that will be made to Alinghi 5 over the coming days?
Grant Simmer: Well, you will see them at the end of the week! The thing about this boat is that everything is so massive that you have to plan months in advance to make virtually any component in the boat. We have been manufacturing these pieces in Villeneuve, Switzerland, where we still have a factory (the same one that built the boat) and the boys have done a good job and delivered the parts on time so we will spend next week installing them.

Is adapting the boat for Valencia in February a consideration at this point?
Grant Simmer: Since the decision on Valencia, the default venue, we have been adapting the boat to the increased variability there at the time of the Match. Of course in the background we still have the appeal on the RAK decision, which we feel quite strongly about because RAK is a far better place to race these boats in February; something we have said repeatedly.

Any plans for the few days off?!
Grant Simmer: Actually I plan to take the weekend off to go to Dubai so I’m looking forward to that!

Grant Simmer (left) and Loïck Peyron observing Alinghi 5. Ras Al-Khaimah, 19 October 2009. Photo copyright George Johns / Alinghi

Labels: ,

11 Comments:

At 10:53 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great guy, wonderful team!

 
At 11:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What are the planning to change in the shed?
A wind Mast - i do not think so.
hydrofoils - thats what they will mount in the coming week.
You will see it!
watch here: http://www.syzfoiler.com/images/photo/index.lbl

 
At 11:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just hope Alinghi will get their boat and crew out of RAK should the race be in Valencia

 
At 11:43 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Lets win the 33rd A.C. Alinghi and go back for the 34th A.C. at RAS - UAE! THIS COUNTRY DESERVE IT !Get rid of Oracle as quick as possible in order to give chances to other syndicats that are sportifs and wants to sail on the water and not in court !

 
At 4:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramon, do you know that EB wants to continue with multihulls? Not many teams will be able to afford that. Besides, I doubt that multihulls are the best format for match racing anyway.
If cutting down the expenses to make it possible for the "less endowed" teams to stay in the game was an important goal, a multihull format is certainly going to be a "killer" for many teams.

 
At 4:59 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

to 11:04 AM anon

you are wrong. They will come up with a bigger engine that doens't fail 50% of the time...

 
At 7:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In comparison to BMWOracle with wingsail, Alinghi looks pretty lame now. I hope they also come up with a wingsail or something equally exciting.

 
At 8:06 PM, Anonymous restrop said...

Anonymous 4.52 pm, any evidence for your statement that EB will continue with multihulls? Allegations of LE are no evidence.

EB will certainly continue with multihulls as he is a professional in these boats and won many regattas. That doesn't mean that he wants the AC be sailed on multihulls, which - I agree - are definitely not the best device for matchracing.

 
At 8:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Restrop

well, at least that is what EB said during the recent TV interview from UAE. The life interview was actually shown on this website

 
At 11:36 PM, Anonymous restrop said...

8.40 pm just watched that interview with EB again: No he did not say anything about the next cup, should Alinghi be defender again. He is just fascinated of multihulls and after BOR stopped the process of an America's Cup in the usual format with monohulls Alinghi built A5. - Would be great to see BOR win against Alinghi, but they did never so far (except in court) and the latest results in Nice are not very encouraging.

 
At 7:36 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Grant Simmer-Legend and all round nice guy
Marc Antoinette
Fremantle WA

 

Post a Comment

<< Home