Interview with Alinghi Helmsman Ed Baird

Lorient 27 March 2008 - Sebastien Destremau: Ed, what have you been up to since Alingi’s historical victory in Valencia last year?
EB: Given the situation, it has been very quiet from a sporting standpoint for us however we have been busy planning for a conventional 33rd America’s Cup as we previously expected. The team was working on refining our calendar as well as researching and designing the new AC90 up until very recently. But this is history.

SD: Do you have a viewpoint on the current legal battle between your team and BMW Oracle?
EB: First and foremost I am an athlete and my job is to make sure that Alinghi remains the best possible team on the water. But it saddens me to see that the legal issue has already delayed the whole process by 7 or 8 months and effectively eliminated the rest of the challengers.

SD: Getting back to the sport, you arrived today in Lorient to sail on ‘Foncia’. Have you ever sailed on this kind of boat?
EB: No, I have sailed on smaller multihull’s but never on a 60 footer. So that was a first today. They are quite amazing machine’s and we are getting really excited about learning how to understand sailing on this type of boat.

SD: What did you do today specifically?
EB: Well, the wind was very light as opposed to yesterday when the boys had a blast. They came back with huge grins on their faces after spending the day sailing with 25 to 30 knots of breeze. Today was much quieter and although we did a few maneuvers around the buoys. We spent most of our time discussing and understanding the various systems and process of these boats.

SD: Is the team enjoying sailing on a 60ft multi? Or would they rather sail on an IACC V5 or AC90?
EB: Our preferred choice would be to keep sailing on big keel-yachts like the AC90 however we have been forced to prepare for a match in multihull. The team is now focusing on learning as quickly as possible to assist our design team in their mission to create a winning multihull.

SD: Assisting the design team? It is now common knowledge that you haven’t started building yet, so are you saying that you are still designing the multi?
EB: As you know the design is a long and an ongoing process for us. I am not saying that we haven’t started designing but we have to learn very quickly to understand the mechanics’ of these multihulls. Our design is not finalized yet so we are working pretty hard and you are well aware we have very limited experience in this kind of boat. We are trying to put ourselves in the best position to feed our design team with thoughts, feelings and new ideas to help them develop the best racing machine we can get.

SD: You have been sailing on the VX40 in Valencia and now here on an Orma 60. Can you give us your thoughts on Cats vs Tris?
EB: I am not too sure at present. Being a sailor yourself, you know that the bigger the boat the harder it is to feel her. You have to rely on the electronic’s, computers and other things to assist you in sailing the boat as fast as possible. Today, I was focusing on understanding the difference between my feeling and what the electronic was telling me.

SD: Isn’t it a challenge for you guys to go back to “school”?
EB: Oh yes. After having stomached the fact that we were not going to defend the Cup in our preferred way, the whole team is now finding this new challenge extremely exciting. Don’t forget that it is our duty to defend the cup against whoever wants to get his hands on it. The sailing guys knows that as much as the design, legal, marketing, shore teams, etc… It is our responsibility to work hard and prepare the best possible defense on the water and that is one of the reasons we are here.

SD: Alinghi has always been a role model in their racing plan. From a match racing point of view, how do you adapt the game plan to multihull sailing?
EB: That is something that we have been working on. Defining a game plan is key. We have noticed in Valencia that covering your opponent up wind does not achieve as much as what is does on a keel-yacht. Downwind you think you have built a “buffer” however your opponent can catch-up extremely quickly. Distances can be huge between boats but time wise there is not much in it. So it is very different and our goal is to learn, learn, learn…

SD: One would wonder how the start is going to work?
EB: Yes. It is going to be very scary isn’t it!! (laugh) Can you imagine two 90 ft multihulls going head to head at 25+ knots before the dial-up? I know what side of the start line I would rather be! More seriously, with all the recent legal issues put aside these boats are going to be absolutely amazing and the racing will be very spectacular.

SD: What’s next for the sailing team? And are we going to see you back in Lorient soon?
EB: We have an extremely busy sailing and racing calendar this summer. However we have to be as flexible as possible. The team works as a whole and sometimes we might have to adapt our schedule to internal or external circumstances. We will endeavor to come back here, but I am not in a position to tell you when!

SD: Fair enough. Is there anything you'd like to add?
EB: Yes, one could assume that our moral would be low after the recent decision. However, I’d like to say how impressed I have been with the team here. From the designers to the sailors, the whole team is 150% committed to give their best. We are definitively looking forward to defending the Cup successfully.

SD: Thank you Ed for taking the time to speak to us. The weather forecasts for tomorrow (today) should be 20 to 25 knots and you will probably have a ball. Good luck and have fun sailing on Foncia!