Alinghi wins the Open de Rolle

Murray Jones, helmsman for this event, lends some insight into the racing today:
"It was a good day for us overall. We didn’t set off so well, getting the wrong side on the first beat, but that is easy to do on the first race and we had to claw back from there. The crew did a good job. We got a sixth, which isn't brilliant, but that put us on equal points with the first team so it was important to go into the next race and do better. We went out to the next race and won it, so we had a little cushion for the last race, which was a tactical race with Foncia, because they were the only boat that could beat us. We weren't really focused on winning the race, we were more focused on beating them, so we did that and we crossed the line fourth on the last race. The end result was the most important."

You were helming for this event, whereas in the last regatta you did tactics, how do you adapt?
"When you are helming you don't get as much time to look around so you feel a little less secure about what's going on around you. You have to concentrate in keeping the boat going really fast, so it's different, but I really enjoyed the helming. These are really fun boats to steer because it's so crucial to keep them in the right groove. You can make a good gain when you do the right thing."

How tricky is racing on the lake compared to racing on the sea?
"It's tricky as there's often more breeze on one side of the course than the other; sometimes there can be a 15-20 degree shift, so if you get caught on the wrong side of that – because you can't tack too often on these boats – you tend to go near the corners pretty quickly and can get punished when you get the shift going the wrong way."

How was the crew work for this event?
"The crew work was good, it was never an issue which is a great situation to be in so you can focus on just sailing the boat and the tactics, and you don't have to worry on whether the boys are going to get the sails up and down."

What would you say are the top skills you, as a group, are learning in preparation for the America's Cup multi-hull race in 2009?
"Learning what makes the boat go fast is the main thing, the little tweaks you can do with the sails adjusting to changing wind conditions, what makes it quicker in certain conditions and slower in other conditions, and then trying to transfer that knowledge to a bigger boat."

The next event of the Julius Baer Challenge is the Geneva-Rolle-Geneva on 7 June.
Alinghi crew:
Murray Jones, helmsman
Pierre-Yves Jorand, mainsail trimmer
Yves Detrey, bowman
Nils Frei, headsail trimmer
Andrew Graham, trimmer
Tanguy Cariou, tactician

Results Open de Rolle:
1) Alinghi 3pts
2) Okalys 5pts
3) Foncia 6pts
4) Ladycat 7pts
5) Cadence 10pts
6) Smarthome 13pts
7) Julius Baer 14pts
8) Zen Too 15pts
9) Zebra 7 16pts
10) Romandie.com 20pts