Dubai: The decision of America's Cup holders Alinghi to use Dubai as their winter training base was welcomed by the Dubai International Marine Club yesterday.
Speaking to Gulf News from Switzerland, following yesterday's announcement by the Swiss team, DIMC Managing Director Saeed Hareb said: "We are very proud and excited that Alinghi has chosen Dubai as a training ground.
"They are obviously a team who know what it takes to win, and by choosing Dubai, it reflects on the world class facilities that the DIMC, and Dubai, has to offer."
Hareb revealed that representatives from Alinghi visited Dubai two months ago to carry out a feasibility study.
"They obviously liked what they saw and took the decision to relocate to Dubai during the European winter," he said. "They will be back in a week or two to finalise their transfer plans."
Alinghi are currently based at a purpose-built training centre in Valencia, Spain, where the next America's Cup will be staged. But they will carry out training on their new boats in Dubai from mid-November until the end of February.
"The move wasn't part of our original plans or budget," Alinghi managing director Grant Simmer told Reuters from Geneva yesterday. "But it's all about finding the best weather conditions. We looked at the conditions in Dubai and found them very similar to the Valencia summer. There are also good flight and shipping links and accommodation which is important as we'll be going there with around 60 people." Simmer said the move to Dubai would add around "two or three per cent" to Alinghi's overall budget of "slightly higher than 100 million euros (Dh473 million).
Having raced primarily with their old SUI 75 boat during the pre-regattas, Alinghi will now focus their efforts in Dubai on the new SUI 91, which will eventually compete with a still unfinished and unnamed fourth boat for use in the America's Cup final.
"Broadly speaking we will use the time in Dubai to work further on our technical set-up before returning to Valencia to hone our match practice," Simmer added.
That approach means Alinghi will play catch-up to rivals and potential America's Cup finalists Emirates Team New Zealand who currently hold a 4-1 record against the holders.
"Emirates Team New Zealand have definitely improved significantly since the last Cup," Simmer acknowledged.
Boasting an experienced and international team bankrolled by Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi became the first European team to win yachting's most prestigious trophy with their triumph over New Zealand three years ago.
The America's Cup is returning to Europe for the first time since the inaugural 1851 contest off the Isle of Wight.