Alinghi fired up for cup race one

Alinghi 5 left its base in Valencia on Monday morning for the opening yachting race of the 33rd America's Cup against BMW Oracle. Supporters ringing Swiss bells crowded the quai to see the team off.

“We have been looking forward to this moment for a long time,” said Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi team president and principal helmsman. “It is good to be going racing at last."

"The designers have done an amazing job in creating this boat for us and the shore team have done a phenomenal job in building it. It's time to go racing,” he added.

Race one is a 40 nautical mile windward/leeward course and is due to start at 10:06 this morning, weather permitting.

The forecast predicts a west-south-westerly wind, cloudy conditions with possible rain and a maximum temperature of 12 degrees Celsius.

Three races are scheduled.

Alinghi team: bowman: Piet van Nieuwenhuijzen (NED); midbow: Curtis Blewett (CAN); pitman: Rodney Ardern (NZL); trimmer upwind: Simon Daubney (NZL); trimmer downwind: Nils Frei (SUI); mainsail trimmer: Warwick Fleury (NZL); traveller: Pierre-Yves Jorand (SUI); helmsman: Ernesto Bertarelli (SUI); tactician: Brad Butterworth (NZL); runner: Murray Jones (NZL); navigator: Juan Vila (ESP); floater: Jan Dekker (RSA/FRA); floater: Loïck Peyron (FRA); pre-start: Peter Evans (NZL).