The Swiss Alinghi team, who from a cold start in June 2000 became the first European winners of the America's Cup 13 months ago, have put their design secrets up for sale.
Last week some 16 firm or potential challengers for the 2007 cup assembled in the Spanish host city of Valencia. Another handful of potential teams around the world did not attend.
Alinghi hope to find a buyer from one of them, though this does not include Larry Ellison's Oracle BMW Racing, the only team so far to match Alinghi's budget, activity and potential.
Their asking price is £1.1 million and the design data includes the lines of SUI 64, the yacht that trounced Team New Zealand's NZL 82 to win the cup 5-0.
Most interest has stemmed from groups in eastern Europe (believed to be Poland), the Middle East and Australia.
That the Swiss team are selling their data says much of the self-belief in a design team centred around skipper Russell Coutts and designers Rolf Vrolijk, Manolo Ruiz de Elvira, Dirk Krammers and Grant Simmer.
Coutts said: "It's obviously valuable information and, rather than sit on it, it is better to get some value from it now."
Simmer sees a double benefit. "If we can sell technology to new challengers it will kick-start their technology, getting their design programmes established quickly and at a high level," he said. "We will be able to use this funding to further develop our technology and move ahead of our opposition."
After winning the cup in Auckland, one of the rule changes Alinghi instigated was to allow an open market for design data until October 2004. "What's really useful is that this allows a team to start off immediately from the level of winning boat," Coutts added. "This will be a big benefit, especially if a team want to launch their first boat early."
A clue to the value of the package is what Alinghi spent last time. Tank testing carried out in Newfoundland cost £436,500. Masts cost £152,800 each to create. The development cost of Alinghi's 2003 generation yachts SUI 64 and SUI 75 ran out at £1.1 million apiece.
Coutts confirmed that the much-modified 2000 generation yacht SUI 57 is for sale too and that SUI 75 will be marketed quite soon as well.
Though wind and sea conditions in Valencia will require different design solutions to Auckland, and the class rule has been tweaked to make a slight reduction in weight, Coutts said neither will cut the value of "the general characteristics of the hull shape" in what Alinghi are selling.
Le jour ou l'homme a decouvert le lait, que cherchait-il exactement a faire a la vache ?
