Alinghi Red Bull made up for Tuesday's mast break with an opening victory in the pre-regatta against the French Orient Express Racing Team.
The Swiss team achieved a start-to-finish victory off Barcelona. Swiss skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis clearly got off to the better start and never came under pressure in the following 23 minutes of racing with his seven colleagues. "BoatOne" had a slightly higher basic speed than the French yacht. In rather light winds, the high-tech projectile from Alinghi Red Bull flew across the water at up to 88.34 km/h.
Only the duels against the four other competitors will show what the victory over the French is worth. The Orient Express Racing Team has the least credit with the bookmakers and is regarded as the last of Team New Zealand's challengers for the America's Cup.
All six teams involved in the America's Cup will compete in a pre-regatta until Sunday. This will be the first time the AC75 foilers have to sail, which will then be used in the challengers' Cup, or in the case of the New Zealanders in the America's Cup, from next Thursday.
SDA
