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It is an extraordinary feeling to have conceived and designed that yacht. During the Final, there was no doubt over which was the faster boat!Principal designer of Alinghi, Rolf Vrolijk is jubilant on the 2nd of March 2003 after his SUI-64 has just won the fifth race over Team New Zealand to claim the 31st America's Cup. Alinghi first defeated all other challengers to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, winning 32 of 35 races.
How did the Swiss team achieve such a remarkable record? According to tactician Brad Butterworth, the team needed "a good, fair boat. But in reality, we've had much, much more than that!"
SUI-64 was not just fast, but it was strong as well; a telling factor in the America's Cup Match where Team New Zealand suffered numerous breakdowns. Unlike most America's Cup Class boats where the deck is welded to the hull, SUI-64 was original in that the boat was made from two equal longitudinal hull sections, glued together along the entire length of the hull and along the median of the deck from bow to stern. The result was a very strong, stiff yacht, reinforced by an original structure designed by builder Dirk Kramers to sustain the immense loads of the mast and keel ballast.
The design team also worked well to exploit every advantage remaining in the America's Cup Class Rule to create a formidable upwind boat.
Racing in the same winning configuration, SUI-64 was back on a race course in September 2003 in San Francisco and June 2004 for exhibition matches. Although it lost on both occasions to a modified BMW ORACLE Racing Team boat that it had previously beaten to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, SUI-64 was very competitive. Alinghi also raced SUI-64 in the first three Acts of the 32nd America's Cup over the summer of 2004 in Marseille and Valencia, winning Act 3.
SUI-64 remains a tremendous asset for Alinghi, providing a useful measuring stick for the design team. It is expected to be modified to conform to updates in the Class Rule for 2005 before being replaced by the new Defender in 2006.
J.T.
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Year of building
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7/2001 |
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Launched
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20/11/2001 |
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Edition 31(2003)
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Crew
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16 |
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Hull
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Carbon Fiber |
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Mast
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Carbon Fiber |
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L.O.A
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25 |
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L.W.L
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18 |
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Mast
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|
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Beam
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4 |
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Boom
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4 |
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Sail Area
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690 |
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Displacament
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25 |
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Draft
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|
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Rating
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IACC |
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Ballast
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|
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