Audemars Piguet and Alinghi join forces to capture the world’s oldest sports trophy

PRESS RELEASE
The adventure begins…

A legendary race

After many years of consistent interest in the world of sailing competition, Audemars Piguet chose to associate with the America’s Cup through an alliance with Ernesto Bertarelli’s Swiss Challenger. Like the latter’s first sailing dinghy, the sailboat was to be christened Alinghi. It was to fly the colours of the Société Nautique de Genève and would sail under the Swiss flag. For many months, a team of architects, engineers, sailors and tacticians monitored all stages in the making of Alinghi: they examined the sailing conditions off New Zealand in order to design the keel, the sails and the boat’s equipment, and in particular undertook major research in the field of carbon in order to produce parts featuring peerless resistance.

From November 2001 onwards, skipper Russell Coutts and his thirty-two crew members tested the boat, constantly improving speed, precision and team work.

In 2002, on the eve of the first round robin, a draw determined the order of the Louis Vuitton Cup regattas. Russell Coutts drew number… one. A stroke of premonitory luck? Whatever the case, after successively vying with the other prestigious teams in the competition, Alinghi won the Louis Vuitton Cup and the right to meet Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup…