Ras Al Khaimah: Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli has reiterated his faith in Ras Al Khaimah as the best possible venue after testing Alinghi 5 ahead of next year's America's Cup here.
"I am so excited about the sailing part here… in fact I am jealous because I could not go out and sail yesterday when the boat went out on the water for the very first time," Bertarelli told the media at the Al Hamra Village in Ras Al Khaimah yesterday.
Despite a low wind yesterday morning, Alinghi 5 went out of their base from the specially made Al Hamra Village followed by boats and yachts carrying media from all over the world.
"Sailing is my passion and I love being out on the water. And to miss one day meant a lot to me," he said.
Bertarelli arrived in Ras Al Khaimah late on Friday, but by then the team led by Brad Butterworth had taken Alinghi 5 out on the water for the very first time since the boat arrived here from Genoa, Italy some two weeks ago.
"When I signed to back this team [Alinghi] at the first press conference in Auckland, I did so because of the sailing pleasure and not because I am a businessman," Bertarelli said.
The Swiss billionaire, however, refused to look either at the past feuds or the ongoing tussles in a New York court.
"The reality here will be that we look forward. We need to have the vision to move forward and only then can we have a fantastic sailing venue for the future," Bertarelli said.
"The court battles aside, I am convinced that everyone wants to see these two boats out there on the water. Everyone wants to see if the catamaran is better than the trimaran or whether Swiss technology is better that American technology. My message to Larry [Ellison] and his team [BMW Oracle Racing] would be ‘there is everything here. So come on, let's race and settle it once and for all'," Bertarelli added.
Getting ‘real'
He refused to be drawn into the belief that the waters off Ras Al Khaimah are dangerous for sailing due to their proximity to Iran.
"Let's get real here. As far as I know 40 per cent of the world oil trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz and if there was a security situation we would have definitely known about it. More than half a million American citizens live here in the region and we've not heard of them having any problems," Bertarelli said.
"Valencia had to put up with similar criticism from these same people after it was announced as the venue for the 2007 edition. Now these same people are asking that the race be shifted back to Valencia. We did not choose February to sail. We wanted the next America's Cup to happen in May, but BMW Oracle chose February. So why are they not too keen on coming now?"
