Il est discret...
Voile une petite interview de Vrolijk, traduite à SA:
Il n'ya pas de voile chez Alinghi.
Il n'aime pas Valencia.
(Je pense que, selon le résultat de la Cour, ils ont deux options:
1. Regater le plus tôt possible a Valencia, pour pas donner temps à BOR.
2. Tenter d'aller à la Cour d'Appel d'Albany pour avoir 6 voir 12 mois faire une aile. )
Yesterday there was the following short interview in the Zurich paper:
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/sport/akt ... 17369.html
"A Lottery Game"
Rolf Vrolijk, the Alinghi designer, on the Cup-venue Valencia.
Q: Rolf Vrolijk, Oracle presented a wing mast this past week, a 57 meter high mast with a hard sail. What do you say about it?
Rolf Vrolijk: This kind of thing has earlier been on the small C-cats. New however, is such a construction on this big a boat - that is something one has never seen before.
Q: How does such a wing sail work?
RV: Like an airplane wing. The wing mast consists of two rigid parts that can be moved in relation each other. And then one tries to create a profile as with a normal sail.
Q: What is the advantage of such a rigid rig?
RV: The profile is better controllable, it can be better adjusted. A sailcloth deforms under pressure.
Q: The press speaks of this as a miracle weapon for Oracle now. Do you share this assessment?
RV: The wing mast is certainly an interesting thing, but no miracle weapon. We also have checked this option at Alinghi, but for us time was too short to develop such a system. Therefor we've decided to use a conventional sail.
Q: Does this wing-mast give Oracle a distinct advantage in the duel with Alinghi?
RV: We'll see. Oracle themselves don't know this yet, either. The tests on the water will show whether this rig is better than the others they have already tested. A configuration is only good if it is perfectly optimized. This is also the reason why Oracle is now trying to gain time.
Q: Alinghi has chosen this week to sail in Valencia. For the catamaran you've designed this is no optimal venue.
RV: Valencia is generally not a good sailing area in the winter. We simply have no stable wind conditions there, so the competition becomes a lottery. This is a shame, because then it will not be a matter of which boat sailed better, but who had more luck.
Q: Alinghi will apparently sail in Ras al-Khaimah until just before Christmas and then ship the catamaran directly to Valencia. What is the mood within the team?
RV: It is good. We are all just sad that we have to leave this place, because the conditions here would be perfect for the Cup. It is completely illogical and against all reason, that the America's Cup can't take place here.
Il joue vraiment con, là !
