Alinghi Red Bull Racing ready for first-ever Women's America's Cup
by Alinghi Red Bull Racing 2 Oct 02:07 PDT
2 October 2024
Alinghi Red Bull Racing Team practice ahead of Puig Women's America's Cup © Oriol Castello
This week, the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Women's team makes their final preparations for the Puig Women's America's Cup. Starting from Saturday 5th October, 12 nations will face off in the first stand-alone Women's event in the 173-year history of the America's Cup.
After six months of selection trials over three separate phases, Alinghi Red Bull Racing's final roster for the Women's squad was revealed in October 2023. Olympic sailor Nathalie Brugger, in her role as team skipper, is responsible for bringing the team's wide range of ages and personalities onto the same page. "My job is to have an overview of the team, making sure everyone feels good, and has what they need to be ready to race."
The aim in the Qualification series is to finish in the top three and advance to the Final Series.
The sailors have come a long way since starting training in January, sailing together for the first time while learning to handle the challenges of multi-crewed boats. For some, like trimmer Anja von Allmen, it's their first time on a foiling boat - no less than the AC40. "This is really the world stage - the highest we can go in sailing," says von Allmen.
"The way we've come here, it's been a long journey for each and every one of us. We all started out as little kids sailing somewhere where we never would have dreamt of this, and now we're here. It's incredible."
Above winning the trophy, the team sees the Women's event as a way of changing people's perceptions in the America's Cup world. Coraline Jonet, Project Manager for the Women's team, hopes this is just the first of many competitions. "We have to give credit to the organisers for this first-ever Women's America's Cup, because when we see so much imbalance in the sport, we need things in place to shift it back the other way. Roughly 70 women across the 12 teams have been given that chance to train and compete at the highest level."
Not only does it provide concrete opportunities for women to progress in the sport, but a dream for the next generation to aspire to.
"It's a way for girls to see women in the spotlight, racing top-end, cutting-edge boats," Jonet adds. "When it's not only men on TV, it shows them that they can make it too."
The Qualification Series for the Puig Women's America's Cup begins on Saturday 5th October, with all six America's Cup teams taking part in a series of eight fleet races in Group A while six other Invited Teams compete in Group B.
Quotes from the sailors
Nathalie Brugger, Skipper: "At the Base, you get to learn from really experienced sailors, as well as all the experts that are part of the team. They helped us a lot in the workshops we've done together. I think being part of a big team, learning from the engineers, and being in this whole environment every day makes a really big difference, and we've all really benefited from it."
Anja von Allmen, Trimmer: "I really hope that we can be an inspiration for little girls, and boys, starting out sailing like we did on the lakes in Switzerland. Everyone thinks you can't really sail in Switzerland, because it's a landlocked country. But we really made it to the top, and it shows that anyone can. Personally, I'm really proud of how far I've come, and my main goal now is to just go out and enjoy every second of it."
Coraline Jonet, Project Manager for the Women's team: "The AC40 is a high-tech foiling boat. It's made for four people, sails very quickly, and the way it's set up means you're blind on each side. So it's a lot of learnings on all fields—the way you communicate on board, the way you have to trust the others, and understand the physics onboard. This really gives the crew the experience they need to compete in boats like the AC75 in the future. The level of learnings the women have now after a year will be key for their future career."