Alinghi launches giant catamaran for duel

Swiss America's Cup defenders Alinghi launched their giant catamaran for a duel against US rival Oracle by airlifting it into Lake Geneva on Wednesday.

In the carefully choreographed 30-minute flight, the 90 foot (27.4 metre) gangling twin-hull craft was hoisted out of the boatyard at Villeneuve, western Switzerland, by a huge Russian MI-26 transport helicopter and flown five kilometres to its temporary port on the lake.

Dozens of boats with onlookers watched as the mastless 2.5-metre tall white multihull was gently settled offshore near its temporary berth at the southeastern end of the lake.

Estimates for the total length of the wing-profiled mast, which was lying in port at Le Bouveret ready to be fitted, ranged from 48 to 50 metres - about 17 storeys high according to a team member.

But Alinghi is quietly hinting at some surprises as it draws on experience of high-tech lake racing that has drawn some ocean racers in recent years.

The lightweight carbon fibre catamaran - christened Alinghi 5 - is the Swiss team's response to the huge trimaran that Oracle launched last year during the legal battle over the duel, that Alinghi eventually lost.

Bankrolled by billionaires Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison respectively, Alinghi and Oracle are due to fight out their duel on the open seas by March next year.

"As a passionate multi-hull sailor I am extremely excited to see Alinghi 5 launched and for the next stage of this campaign to begin," said Bertarelli.

"Over the coming weeks and months the team will work towards defining the 33rd America's Cup next year."

Trials of Alinghi's catmaran are due to start on the relatively calm waters of the lake over the coming days.

But the exact configuration of the innovative Swiss testbed will be developed over the coming months.

A team member acknowledged that they might even have to come to grips with some new seafaring vocabulary for some of its parts.

A key feature is the long Y-shaped central section and bowsprit attached to the hulls, which appears to include a forward attachment to test hydrofoils.

The venue for the race - which is up to the Swiss - has yet to be decided, with speculation over a choice between Valencia in Spain, where Alinghi won the last America's Cup in 2007, and the coast of Dubai.

Sailing's most prestigious regatta has traditionally been sailed in large monohull yachts, apart from a one-off challenge in 1988.