Jochen
Schueman Will Be The Skipper Of Alinghi In San
Francisco
Triple
Olympic gold medallist Jochen Schuemann will be
the skipper of Alinghi for the Moët Cup,
scheduled to take place between 15th and 20th
September in San Francisco, whilst Brad Butterworth
will act as tactician.
"Alinghi's
goal over the coming years is to create two first
class teams for the Americas' Cup 2007. This covers
all members of the team, explains Russell Coutts.
This is why I asked Jochen to take the helm of
Alinghi against Oracle BMW Racing."
Jochen
Schuemann has been Coutts sparring partner since
the start of the Alinghi campaign, in the year
2000. A formidable match-race helmsman, he has
helped Russell to raise his game and carry off
the Americas' Cup competing against Team New Zealand.
Now he is taking command. Coutts will be in San
Francisco by the end of the event, supporting
his team from a follow boat.
The
Moët Cup is divided into two events: a professional
regatta and an owners/founders match. This means
that Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison will
compete with each other before handing over the
helm to Jochen Schuemann and Gavin Brady.
The
two teams will take this opportunity to test new
crew and to present their program for the coming
years. Both Alinghi and Oracle BMW Racing have
indicated that they intend to modernise the Americas'
Cup to allow the general public to get closer
to the event. Many regattas are scheduled each
year and the Moët Cup is being used to kick
off the series.
Quotes:
Jochen Schuemann, helmsman, Alinghi Team: "After
helming Alinghi in training against Russell for
more than two years, I am now happy and proud
to take the helm for a real race. We have been
training every day since the beginning of the
week. The Alinghi Team still has to make more
progress but our crew will be ready to race against
Oracle BMW Racing on 15 September."
Russell
Coutts, Director, Alinghi Team: "The contribution
of Jochen Schuemann to our victory in the Americas'
Cup was critical. Everyone knows how great a sailor
he is, having won four Olympic medals."
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