La Revue du Bol d'Or Mirabaud 2024

SOCIÉTÉ NAUTIQUE DE GENÈVE
La base barcelonaise d’Alinghi Red Bull Racing.
SWITZERLAND AND
THE AMERICA’S CUP
2 MARCH 2003 IS A DATE ETCHED IN THE
HISTORY OF SWISS SPORT, A DATE ON WHICH
A EUROPEAN BOAT WON THE AMERICA’S
CUP FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. OVER 20
YEARS ON, THE LEGACY OF THAT LANDMARK
VICTORY REMAINS SIGNIFICANT.
The question is, is it a legacy that lives on
in the Swiss syndicate Alinghi ahead of this
year’s America’s Cup? Renamed Alinghi Red
Bull Racing following its partnership with the
Austrian giant in 2021, Alinghi is making its
return to the Cup. The first of six teams to set up
in Barcelona, it is happy to take on the role of the
local outfit. But with 21 nationalities represented
in its various departments and given its proximity
to the people of Barcelona and its dual Austro-
Swiss culture, has it managed to retain its Swiss
spirit? On the water, there is no question that it has,
not least because the rules of the 37 th America’s Cup
require that all crew members meet the nationality
criteria of the countries they represent. And yet,
it is not just on the boat that Swiss know-how is
making its presence felt in the Spanish city.
Passion. That is the one-word answer the Alinghi
Red Bull Racing team members give when asked
what it is that Switzerland and Lake Geneva in
particular have given them. “It’s where I did my
first tacks and nurtured the passion that’s guided
me in the choices I’ve made,” said Aurore Kerr, a
structural engineer who graduated in mechanical
engineering from the École Polytechnique Fédérale
de Lausanne (EPFL), as did fibre optic engineer
Antoine Sigg. “I sailed on Lake Geneva my whole
childhood and I wanted to combine my passion
for sailing and science. The EPFL allowed me to
put the two together and I was lucky enough to
benefit from its collaboration with Alinghi at the
31 st America’s Cup. Then I hit the jackpot, working
on Alinghi 5 just as I was finishing my studies.”
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