Alinghi catamaran crosses Alps to Italy

Alinghi takes to the skies Keystone

The giant catamaran belonging to America's Cup defender Alinghi has been carried by the world's largest helicopter from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea.

After two weeks of trials on Lake Geneva, where it was built, the 35-metre-long yacht was flown 300 kilometres to the Italian port of Genoa for its first sea trials.

A Russian MI-26 helicopter, the largest and heaviest in the world, carried it using long cables. The catamaran’s 50-metre tall mast, which weighs two tons, has been flown to Italy separately.

Alinghi 5 took off at 9:15am on Friday before heading for the 2,469-metre Great Saint Bernard peak on the Swiss-Italian border. It made a refuelling stop at Biella, in northern Italy before arriving in Genoa at 2:25pm.

The boat and her crew will now spend a month training on the Mediterranean.

Alinghi announced this week that they had chosen the waters off the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah for the running of the 33rd America’s Cup. They are to race California-based challengers BMW Oracle Racing in February 2010.

After a lengthy legal battle to force acceptance of its challenge, Oracle, bankrolled by United States billionaire Larry Ellison, has contested the choice of venue. It is not clear what action the San Francisco-based team might take.

The Americans have been testing a trimaran similar to the size of the Alinghi 5 off the US West Coast for several months, setting the stage for a spectacular battle next year.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

swissinfo.ch