Alinghi unveils SUI-64 without 'false hull'

10.15am

The Swiss challenger for the America's Cup will not be sailing with a false hull, a so-called "Kiwi clip-on".

There has been speculation that Cup defenders Team New Zealand have developed a radical hull appendage for the stern of their boats to effectively increase waterline length and, therefore, potential speed. Rumours have been rife around the Viaduct Harbour that the innovation was being adopted by challengers Alinghi and Oracle BMW.

But this morning's unveiling of Swiss challenger SUI-64 revealed no such secret weapon.

Several hundred people crowded onto the Team Alinghi base to catch the first glimpse of SUI-64's hull, which was unveiled at 9am.

A light-hearted atmosphere prevailed as the keel was unveiled to reveal a smiling Swiss cow painted on the bulb.

Alinghi design co-ordinator Grant Simmer revealed that subtle changes to the appendages in May last year, after some testing, had made SUI-64 faster than it had been when it was launched in November 2001.

He said the boat could undergo more changes after the challenger finals.

Simmer believed SUI-64 was up to 90 seconds faster around the race course after the improvements in May.

"The improvement you can get just tuning the boat over time can be dramatic," he said.

Among the inspectors at the Alinghi yard was Team New Zealand's Tom Schnackenberg, who said he noted some interesting aspects of the SUI64's design but he declined to elaborate.

"It's roughly what we expected...a very tidy boat," he said.

Rolf Vrolijk, Alinghi's principal designer, said the use of skirts to hide the racing yacht's underwater design was important because it allowed the team to test quite different concepts and configurations in secrecy.

"It's not so much that you're hiding the boat, but you're hiding the direction in which you are thinking, and the ways you have conceived to optimisze the boat.

"At the unveiling people see the configuration you have come up with that you think is best for the next series of races, not what you've been doing during the past year or so."

Four musicians entertained the crowd playing Swiss Alpes horns.

After the festivities, the crew plunged the cow into the water, and went back to work.

The sailors launched SUI-64 and the team's trial boat, SUI-75, before continuing preparations for the Louis Vuitton Cup final against Oracle BMW which begins on Saturday.

Team Alinghi announced yesterday that it would continue to use SUI-64 for the remainder of its challenge for the America's Cup.

Oracle BMW Racing and Cup defender Team New Zealand are also hosting unveiling ceremonies today, inviting the media and the curious public onto their bases to view their boats for the first time.

Closeup picture: Alinghi's cow keel

Team Alinghi profile

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