Andreas Winistoerfer is a part-time designer for Alinghi. His company, Carbo-link, supplies rigging components and other structural composites to the team. Part time he may be, but he is nevertheless fully committed to the Defender's success. "I am proud to be one of the Swiss team members in a Swiss team that has achieved great things in the past and will do so again in the future," he says.

With a Masters in aerospace materials engineering and a PhD in engineering, Winistoerfer founded his company in Switzerland from those academic beginnings. "After my PhD I designed repair and strengthening methods for existing large concrete and steel bridges. The technology developed there is now the basis for the current rigging parts supplied to Alinghi." As a keen sailor of small catamarans, Winistoerfer is enjoying combining his expertise with a sport about which he was already enthusiastic.

"The America's Cup is the right playground to bring technology in a specific field to the limit and the people involved are dedicated to a common goal to make it happen. Alinghi is clearly the leader in this environment."

One of Winistoerfer's strengths is having an overview of cutting edge developments in the fast-moving world of composites development. Because his company is involved in other projects in the medical and aerospace industries, for example, he is well placed to see if there are new developments that might be carried over to the sailing world.

Surprisingly, one of the biggest sources of inspiration for the components on Alinghi 5 has come from Winistoerfer’s experience of developing components for giant crawler cranes. These are huge cranes capable of lifting big loads of a few hundred tonnes, and they are supported by carbon-fibre cables supplied by Carbo-link. “These cranes operate in the same load range as Alinghi 5, whereas the Version 5 boats are toys by comparison.”

Winistoerfer supplied the rigging for the mast, and the cables and components which have gone into creating the spine of the boat. “Alinghi 5 is like a trimaran without a central hull. What we have provided is in place of the third hull that would usually be there, so I suppose you could say that this time around I could describe myself as a boatbuilder,” he quips.

As to whether this is his most challenging project yet, Winistoerfer is in no doubt. “Everything is longer, bigger, the loads are bigger and we’ve made huge steps in terms of development because we are working virtually without limitation. With Version 5 boats it was like living in a cage and not being allowed out. Here, what is technically possible is allowed. That is a huge playground for an engineer, but you can also hurt yourself on a big playground.”

Asked if he feels anxious about whether or not the vital components he has provided will be up to the job, Winistoerfer replies: “Yes, it does make me anxious. It has to. If I’m not anxious, it’s because I’ve built something too heavy. You have to go to the limit, because if you don’t you have no chance of winning. It has been an exciting time, and sometimes we have taken some big risks, but hopefully we’ll enjoy some big rewards at the end.”
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 February 2010 )