Some of the members of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the Swiss America's Cup team, share apartments in Barcelona. Others live alone or with their families. Some are in the area and a few others have decided to settle in the upper part of Barcelona. But all, or almost all, pedal to Port Vell every day. The hours? It depends on the weather forecasts. It has already been said that time is capricious.
“We are a huge team”, explains one of its managers, Matías Bühler, who warns that “in addition to the crew we form a company, almost a more than numerous family”. Logical. They go on boats that fly. Authentic Formula 1 of the sea that require many hours, many hands and also a lot of statistics, engineering and criteria to add, as the need arises, that change that will make the boat the fastest. And as in F-1, engineers, pilots and mechanics sign confidentiality documents. It is the way in which the America's Cup has put an end to espionage. Gone are those times when divers, wrapped up in the night, submerged to take pictures of their rivals.
"More than boats, they are bulls that you have to tame," explains Bühler, Youth coach
So the team doesn't just train at sea. They exercise daily in the gym (a lot of cardio, but also a lot of weights) and they keep a close eye on their weight, which they coordinate among all those who are going to board the ship. Nico Rolaz tells it: “There is a limit, which is the sum of the crew, if one goes too far, another will have to lose weight, so it is reasonable for everyone to maintain their weight throughout the year… there is not that much left either. The America's Cup is almost here."
Time flies. They have been in Barcelona for a year now and it seems to them that it was yesterday when they arrived. But there is a lot to do. The America's Cup, like the boats, which are the main protagonists, has changed radically from 15 years to now. "Before, they wore polo shirts, their shorts and a cap... it was enough to handle those boats that didn't even exceed fifteen knots," says Rolaz. “The preparation is now a thousand times more demanding and it seems that it is never enough to master these authentic sea bulls”, he sums up. In order to be there, she has renounced to opt for the Olympic Games in Paris. There is no other, you cannot train for two such disparate competitions.
Who has been, not in one, but in four Games has been Bühler, one as a sailor in Rio 2016 and three as a coach. Now, as part of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, one of five teams confirmed for the 2024 America's Cup, he believes he can take on defending champions Team New Zealand. “We sailors want to be here. And in the Ocean Race and in the Vendée Globe and in the Games, of course… you have to experience this at least once in your life”.
And the ship? You can look at it, but (unless you are one of this super-selected team who are identified by wearing a unique watch on their wrist, the Tudor Alinghi, a Black Bay Ceramic with personalized red inscription), they are neither photographed nor touched. She is in the hangar, undergoing maintenance until the moment she goes sailing. Then, the ship leaves escorted by a boat from the organizers who take data and images and share them among the title contenders.
Until then you can inquire into what others do. But not a single yard more.
The America's Cup is regulated espionage. That's why there are so many engineers. Naval, but also aeronautical specialists, such as Nicolás Bailey. They study how to stabilize ships and their speeds, with effects, for example, such as cavitation. "It occurs when steam cavities are created in the water, such as when the ship rises and the sharp edge (the keel) barely touches the sea," explains the engineer, who predicts that in ten years we could see ships "flying at 100 knots”.
Therefore, more and more prepared teams will be needed. More than sailors, superheroes, taking into account that the traction is achieved with the power group, or energy generators, obtained with the rowing or pedaling of four crew members. pure strength.
