Yachting: Alinghi plans May launch

America's Cup defenders Alinghi plan to launch their first new boat in May.

Alinghi general manager and head of design Grant Simmer said, "When you look at the weather patterns in Valencia, basically we have only got April and May in 2007 for our final preparation ... The real goal for 2006 for us is to make sure that we finalise the technical development in all areas of the boat."

Alinghi will launch a second boat before the cup, which starts on June 23, 2007.