It will be about winning the world’s oldest sports trophy, the 37th edition will be decided in 2024. The defending champion New Zealand has yet to determine the venue.
The Alinghi syndicate was the first team to take the trophy from an inland area in 2003 and successfully defended it in 2007. Alinghi founder is the Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, through whom the current involvement of Red Bull also went. After the success in 2007, the events for Alinghi increasingly shifted from the water to the courtroom, and a legal dispute developed. There was a duel with Oracle, the Americans won 2-0 in 2010.
On the one hand, Red Bull is supposed to bring in the all-important financial strength, the entry fee for the 2024 edition alone is $ 1.5 million (EUR 1.33 million). But also in terms of technology, a lot should be incorporated, not least from the Formula 1 Red Bull team. “We take Formula 1 DNA and use it for the boat. There is so much energy in there,” said Christian Horner, Red Bull’s Formula 1 team boss at the media event. “Maybe we’ll get Mercedes and Ferrari on the water too.”
At the forefront of the new project is Hans Peter Steinacher on the Red Bull side. The double Olympic champion in the tornado class with Roman Hagara will not race for the trophy himself, but the 53-year-old should be an important part of the new project. “In Formula 1 there is only one person in the cockpit, at the America’s Cup there are only eight people on board,” said Steinacher, explaining the importance of his task. “But the team behind it is very big, the team behind it is very important.”
Source: Nachrichten
