Triumphant Alinghi return to home base

Members of Alinghi celebrate on their arrival at Geneva airport Keystone

Thousands of fans in Geneva have given the Alinghi team – the 2007 America's Cup winners – a hero's welcome.

The crew, led by billionaire owner Ernesto Bertarelli, arrived back in Switzerland on Sunday at the start of a week-long homecoming tour.

Airport fire trucks blasted water cannon as a salute when the plane carrying team members and their families landed at Geneva airport shortly before noon.

Hoisting the silver trophy at the aircraft door, Bertarelli was applauded by fans and a delegation of top Swiss officials, as the team song “Can’t Stop” played from loudspeakers.

“I’m enormously proud to be here in Geneva with you for the second time,” Bertarelli said.

“This cup was much more difficult than the previous one, probably because the Swiss got passionate about the regatta,” he added.

Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey and Geneva government officials welcomed Bertarelli, skipper Brad Butterworth, helmsman Ed Baird and the rest of the 130-strong Alinghi crew at the airport.

Pride

An estimated 7,000 fans gathered for a party with fireworks and a concert on the shores of Lake Geneva.

Alinghi – the first European team to successfully defend the cup – will continue the homecoming tour later this week, travelling to the Swiss cities of Zurich, Bern and Lugano.

“The America’s Cup stays in Switzerland and we are very proud,” said Calmy-Rey, adding that Alinghi’s victory stood as a symbol of Swiss innovation and cultural diversity.

Switzerland, a landlocked alpine country in the middle of Europe, scored a major upset in 2003 by snatching the cup from Team New Zealand, bringing sport’s oldest international trophy to Europe for the first time in more than 150 years.

Alinghi’s dramatic one-second win over the Kiwis on Tuesday off the coast of the Spanish city of Valencia ended the closest America’s Cup regatta in 24 years, with the Swiss winning 5-2.

Bertarelli was the only Swiss on board Alinghi – and even he was born in Italy. The rest of the winning team was made up of six New Zealanders, three Americans, two Italians, and one each from Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, and Spain.

Alinghi, which was founded by Bertarelli in 2000, has crew members from 20 countries.

Same team

The 41-year-old Bertarelli said he planned to defend the cup with roughly the same team. But he declined to say whether the next cup would be held in two or four years and whether it would be hosted by Valencia again or by another city.

Alinghi last week announced that a new class of boat would sail at the next America’s Cup. The new class rule, the first since the 1992 competition, will see the carbon-fibre boats extended and a crew of up to 21 instead of 18.

The winner has the right to decide the rules for the next race, its location and timing – usually within three to four years. Alinghi have floated the idea of staging the next event in two years.

Bertarelli, who has devoted himself exclusively to managing Alinghi after he sold his family’s biotech company Serono to German drug maker Merck earlier this year, declined to comment on whether he had other projects in mind for the future.

“First, I’ll go on holiday,” he said.

swissinfo with agencies

In brief

Alinghi won the best-of-nine series of 2007 America’s Cup against Team New Zealand in Spain 5-2.

Alinghi, owned by Ernesto Bertarelli, is registered with the Geneva Nautical Society.

The Swiss syndicate is the first European team to defend the cup after winning the competition in Auckland in 2003.

Key facts

Alinghi’s Swiss tour:
Zurich (July 10)
The capital, Bern (July 12)
Lugano (July 14)

America’s Cup

The inaugural race was held off the Isle of Wight in 1851. America dominated the race until 1983 when Australia won the trophy.

In 1995 New Zealand became only the third country to win the competition, successfully defending their title in 2000.

Alinghi sailed to victory against Team New Zealand in 2003 and became the first European team to win the Auld Mug.

The Swiss syndicate defended its title in a best-of-nine series off the coast of the Spanish city of Valencia in June/July 2007, beating Team New Zealand 5-2.