Valencia Sailing is reporting that..
"Alinghi's two training catamarans arrived in Valencia at around 4pm, on Monday, January 14."
"The two Extreme 40 catamarans will be fitted out in that base, according to very reliable but unofficial sources."

Valencia Sailing

Oh , we are going to have sooo much fun watching THESE guys on those boats! Send the paparazzi quick!

Woah woah woah....this is news to me!! i thought that the whole "Cats in the America's Cup" thing was a myth....hmm...i have a feeling i need to get out more

This news bit is true.

I have a personal contact in the Volveo-extreme 40 area and he told me about the sale (c.q. delivery) about a week ago.

These guys definately have 2 VE-40's in their camp. It is no myth and this supports the possibility of an America's cup on cats.

Wouter

Wow, words cannot express the feeling of excitement the just overcame me when i read your last words. "and this supports the possibility of an America's cup on cats."
This could very well be the media coverage the catamaran community has been waiting on for a very long time. Considering the amount of viewers to the America's Cup this past year, imagine how much more exciting the event would be on cats. But I have one question, will they be racing on the VX 40's or would larger cats be built (ie. 90') Honestly, the largest catamaran I have even heard of was the Playstation and I am not sure how big that was. I cannot imagine anything larger than that. How large was the Orange II?

Orange II - 121 ft
Playstation - 125 ft

While E.B. may be one of the biggest Freds* around he does know how to by the talent around. If you check the record he has some cred in the large cat game.
I hope he gets his butt kicked, but ...

http://www.challengejuliusbaer.ch/en/
http://www.decision.ch/ANG/default.htm
http://www.challengejuliusbaer.ch/en/


*"Fred" comes from my mountain bike background. A Fred is a guy (or..) who can buy the very best and talks a good game but can not preform.

Yeah, it's very likely that this will happen...they will likely be racing on 90 foot by 90 foot multihulls.

Not that I truly wish it to happen given how crazy dangerous it would be on a cat that size BUT...
there would be an amazing amount of press if there were a pitchpole! That would make all the headlines.... and now that I think about it... may hurt cats more than popularize them. Would be a crazy sight to see though...
But then again, is it even possible on a cat that size?

I don't know if they could pitch pole one if they are racing close to a shore. I think they might need some big waves to be surfing down to do a proper job of it. But come to think of it, the Volvo EX 40's did that a couple of times, inshore, so I guess if they try hard enough they probably could.

So what's wrong with the 40s?

Somebody else is already capitalizing on them.

Does anyone think that they will be pushing as hard as the VX40's? I would assume so, but that seems a bit dangerous as someone said, with a boat that size. The folks on SA must be loosing their minds about now.

It's been done is a 60 footer, so don't see why it won't happen on a 90:



Will be expensive if it does happen mind....

This "news" has been on the official website for yonks, as I recall its the former Basilica they bought.

For Bartarelli this makes a lot of sense since he can use this as an affordable promotional/spectator platform for the AC (and his other projects), and race it under the Alingi brand as a racing/training platform.
Maybe there will be cats at the next AC, but in the form of a VX40 event instead of the "main event".

Using the 40's as the boat wuld be very cool

Fairly cheep, but only 5 crew!

And there is another Big Cat fleet building somewhere, I think it was Paul Cayard and Russ Couts who are trying to put together a fleet of 70 foot cats for a racing circuit similar to the Volvo VX40's.

It's taken a long time but it seems like the top Mono racers are finally starting to realize dragging around thousands of pounds of lead is not the way to go fast.

Can you imagine where sailboat developement would be today if the Hershoff Cat were not banned by the NYYC 100 years ago, after it smoked the fleet way back then? And I'm sure you all remember the 1988 America's Cup when Connor smoked Fay's 140' ultra-light sled with a little 60' cat.

Well, it's about time. New Century, New Boats!

AC skipper, James Spithill is currently racing an Infusion which he just purchased at the F18 Austrailan Championships <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Well that's it then, he'll never be the same! Hey, you guys down under, didn't Chris Dickson also do a Tornado Olympic campaign about 10 years ago?

How ironic. The Olympics are pushing multis out while the holy grail of sailing -- the America's Cup -- is embracing them.

So how does a traditional America's Cup boat compare to a modern catamaran in performance?

If an AC boat had a Dpn what would it be?