 Bertarelli's gets his hands on the Auld Mug |
To the average landlubber, Alinghi's triumph in the America's Cup came as a huge shock. Ernesto Bertarelli's team, which hails from landlocked Switzerland of all places, beat those seasoned sea salts from New Zealand 5-0 to lift the Auld Mug in Auckland.
In so doing, they became the first European nation to win sailing's most prestigious prize, following in the footsteps of the USA, Australia and the dethroned hosts.
But Alinghi's victory, while surprisingly emphatic, was not altogether unexpected.
Bertarelli's millions had ensured that his bid was among the best funded in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the challenger series that Alinghi won to earn the right to take on America's Cup holders Team NZ.
The cash provided the Swiss designers with the resources to build a boat capable of outpacing three mega-rich US teams and Italian outfit Prada among others.
 I'm incredibly proud of what we achieved with Alinghi - we didn't really have any big weaknesses |
Alinghi beat Oracle 5-1 in the Louis Vuitton final in January, having lost only three races en route during a weather-affected schedule in the Hauraki Gulf.
Despite making a reasonable return to the America's Cup after 15 years, Great Britain's team GBR Challenge fell a long way short of Alinghi's pace.
But skipper Ian Walker's men did manage a couple of memorable results, toppling US rivals Oracle and Star & Stripes in the round-robin before falling in the quarter-finals.
What was always going to be a learning experience for GBR Challenge can be judged as a moderate success, providing that it becomes a platform for more competitive bids in the future.
The big story in the build-up to the America's Cup proper surrounded Alinghi's captain Russell Coutts and some of his crew.
Coutts, a hero in New Zealand after helping the Kiwis to successive Auld Mugs, turned public villain number one when he defected to the Swiss bid in 2000.
With him came tactician Brad Butterworth and a key component of Team NZ's defence strategy was suddenly missing.
 Alinghi celebrate a famous victory |
If the hosts' preparations were damaged by their defections, nobody knew how badly until racing started in February. As usual, Team NZ had been very secretive during training in the Hauraki Gulf, taking great pains to cover their boat's hull, which sported a revolutionary "hula" design.
As it turned out, that hull appendage, designed to add to the overall waterline length, failed to boost Team NZ's speed as hoped.
But what really undid the Kiwis was an uncharacteristic lack of reliability.
The hosts had to withdraw because of gear breakage in the first race against Alinghi.
And that set the unhappy trend for what was to follow as Coutts and company piled on the pressure to ease home.
Bertarelli was dignified in victory, admitting that Switzerland were taking "a little bit of the United States, a little bit of Australia and a little bit of New Zealand" home with them.
But the big concern for Kiwi sailing fans is the daunting sum - estimated to be US$100m - necessary to mount a serious challenge to win back the Cup.
There are those in Auckland who believe that this kind of money will be hard to come by in a depressed economy.
If that proves to be the case, the America's Cup would unquestionably be worse off for New Zealand's absence.
But sailing's grand old competition may benefit from a visit to Europe's Mediterranean coast, with Naples, Barcelona, Palma and St Tropez being touted as possible venues.
MMIX
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