EXCLUSIVE: America’s Cup: Alinghi and Red Bull pull back the curtain on their partnership

Ever since Alinghi and Red Bull announced their America’s Cup partnership in 2021, one of the best-kept secrets in sport has been how the two technological innovators were working together, and which aspects of the boat they were collaborating on.Now, with less than 50 days before preliminary racing begins at the event venue in Barcelona, Spain, top designers and experts from both sides of Alinghi Red Bull Racing are discussing their roles in developing a boat that’s turning heads among media, fans and competitors alike.Dating to 1851 and known as “the race with no second place”, the America’s Cup is the pinnacle of sailing competition and the oldest active international sporting trophy. In 2024, the six competing teams will be sailing AC75 monohulls that are the most technological boats ever launched. With sails as their “motors” and foils that lift them out of the water, they’re capable of speeds over 54 knots (100 km/h) – and these towering, 75-foot-long vessels have no brakes.Sailing for the Société Nautique de Genève of landlocked Switzerland, the Alinghi syndicate founded by Ernesto Bertarelli stunned the sailing world by winning its rookie America’s Cup campaign in 2003 and successfully defended in 2007. Now back for the first time in over a decade, and with an entirely new team of Swiss sailors on a Swiss-built boat, Bertarelli once again has a “take no prisoners” approach. He says, “I am 100% motivated, and if you ask me if we can win the Cup as a new team, in for the first time, I’m going to say yes, as much as we did back then [2003].”Red Bull shares this vision, and brings the expertise of its Red Bull Advanced Technologies unit, which works with global players, sports teams and entrepreneurs worldwide to deliver effective solutions for their innovations.