For the Defender of the America’s Cup, Alinghi, the situation is a little bit more complicated. The team has said all along that it needs to build two top-level sailing teams, as it won’t benefit from the intense competition of the Louis Vuitton Cup the way each challenger will. Instead, once the challenger selection series begins, Alinghi will be on its own, advancing its skills solely through in-house racing. ©ACM 2005/Photo:Carlo Borlenghi

To that end, the Swiss have hired boatloads of talent. Alinghi has three world-class helmsmen at its disposal in Peter Holmberg, Jochen Schuemann and Ed Baird. A similar depth of talent applies across nearly every position on the boat.

How good is Alinghi? Well, with Peter Holmberg on the helm in Valencia, the team went undefeated in the match racing. Here in Malmö, Olympian Jochen Schuemann, with a handful of substitutions in other positions on board, took control and matched Holmberg win for win. In Trapani, the team says it will be Ed Baird’s turn on the wheel.

One of the sailors in the substitution programme is mid-bowman Curtis Blewett. He won the America’s Cup with the team in Auckland and rotated on and off the boat in the opening Louis Vuitton Acts in 2004. This year, he watched the first events in June in Valencia, but has sailed every day in Malmö.

“You have to be able to push really, really hard in-house if you’re the Defender,” Blewett said. “We’re on track for that. This is a very different squad from what we had in Valencia and in Trapani it will be another mix of guys as well. I’ve been a spare or sailing in each Act, so it keeps you sharp and it’s good mix.”

For team President and leader Ernesto Bertarelli, building two sailing teams capable of winning the America’s Cup is not only a necessary exercise, it’s something he’s enjoying.

“I'm particularly pleased with the results as we swapped teams between Valencia and here and we will swap teams again at Trapani,” he said at the conclusion of the match races of Act 6. “The objective for us is to build a highly competitive squad.”

Alinghi still has a long time when it can compete against the 11 challengers in the 32nd America’s Cup. It will race against and alongside each team up to the final Louis Vuitton Act, the fleet race series that opens the 2007 season in April. From there, the Swiss team will rely on the abundance of talent it has acquired to run two fast racing boats, each pushing the other in an effort to be prepared to Defend its title in the America’s Cup Match.

- Peter Rusch