Alinghi uses hydroplanes

With unpredictable mid-winter weather likely to be a key factor in next month’s planned America’s Cup in Spain, Swiss defender Alinghi has employed a novel — and eye-catching — way of monitoring the conditions.

The team this week began using small hydroplanes to monitor wind speeds, something it hopes will give it a technological advantage over bitter US rivals Oracle in their scheduled showdown to decide the 33rd edition of yachting’s most prestigious event.

“The idea is that we can measure the wind speed at any height we like,” said Alinghi’s chief weather man, Jon Bilger.

“With a boat we’re stuck at six metres (18 feet) but the planes can go to the height of the mast which is the equivalent of a 17-storey building.” The two Australian-built aircraft, which resemble jet skis with small wings attached, could be crucial if the next America’s Cup goes ahead on schedule in the Spanish port of Valencia from February 8.

Doubts have been raised about staging the event in the Mediterranean in mid-winter, when rough winds and heavy seas could provide extreme conditions for the crews of the two massive and fast yachts.

Oracle’s trimaran — with its 50-metre fixed-wing sail — and Alinghi’s giant catamaran both arrived in Valencia this month to begin training.

Bilger explained that the last America’s Cup — won by Alinghi in Valencia in July, 2007 — was staged in a race area of nine square miles (14.4 square kilometres).

“We have now an area of 450 square miles to cover, so we need some different equipment to do that effectively,” he was quoted as saying by Alinghi.

He said helicopters, which have been used in the past, are problematic as they are subject to down draft.

“Because these boats are going so fast and because they are so large, the sailors won’t be going up the mast unless absolutely necessary, not to spot wind,” said Bilger.

“Because they are going so fast, and they tack relatively slow compared to how fast they go, deciding which side of the course is going to be done before the start of the race on the information we give them so it will be quite critical for them to go the right way.

“If the two teams go different ways they are going to be a long way apart in a short space of time.” Continued legal wrangling between the two teams continues to threaten the event.

Oracle last month launched a legal challenge that charged Alinghi’s boat fails to meet the competition’s nationality rules.

The two sides were meeting in Singapore on Tuesday to discuss the issue, along with the head of the international jury, Australia’s David Tillett, and a representative of the International Sailing Federation.

Alinghi and Oracle have been arguing over the rules of the America’s Cup in court since 2007.

The New York Supreme Court ruled in April that the Cup should be settled by a one-on-one multihull duel between the two sides next February instead of the traditional fully-fledged regatta with several teams.