Defending champion Alinghi will start the 32nd America's Cup match on Saturday without three-time Olympic champion Jochen Schümann. The 53-year-old from Penzberg confirmed this today in Valencia. "It's a question of the optimal team constellation," explained Alinghi's sports director.
"I have to be just as subordinate as everyone else. It may not be nice for the individual, but it has to be that way for the team." Schümann, who is in charge of Alinghi's sporting programme, thus put an end to the rumours that have been swirling around him for months. Experts assume that the German had to sacrifice his position to the increased proportion of New Zealand sailors in Team Alinghi and the deployment of team boss Ernesto Bertarelli on board the Swiss yacht.
Schümann himself says he can live with the decision: "It's easy to take. And it's not just loose talk. Everyone has to be subordinate. I expect the same from the other team members."
Schümann's role without a position on board the regatta yacht had already been foreshadowed last year, when the three-way battle between Alinghi's helmsmen Ed Baird (USA), Peter Holmberg (Virgin Islands) and himself increasingly developed into a duel. In the meantime, 49-year-old Ed Baird from St. Petersburg is considered to have the best chance of being at the helm of the presumably nominated SUI 100 from Saturday. The Cup finalists do not have to announce their official team line-up and choice of boats until Friday.
The 32nd America's Cup match between defending champion Alinghi and challenger Team New Zealand begins on Saturday afternoon. ZDF will broadcast excerpts of the opening race in a joint programme with the European Athletics Cup on Saturday between 2.30 pm and 5 pm. The commentator will be Nils Kaben. Hamburg professional sailor Tim Kröger will be co-commentating on the duel between the Cup giants.
