America's Cup defenders Alinghi have chosen a giant catamaran to meet US rival Oracle's challenge, the team revealed Saturday.

The slender craft with two 27.4 metre (90 foot) long hulls is the Swiss team's response to the huge ocean racing-inspired trimaran that Oracle launched last year during the legal battle over the duel, that Alinghi lost.

The Cup holders said in a statement it was "the first step in Alinghi’s development process towards the 33rd America’s Cup in February 2010," hinting at the possible date for the duel.

The carbon fibre catamaran was pictured inside a tent at the boatyard on Lake Geneva in western Switzerland where the finishing touches are being put ahead of an expected launch around July 8.

A giant Russian helicopter is due to airlift the boat into the nearby lake for trials.

"This multihull is nothing like you’ve ever seen before in a big boat. It’s like a small boat but scaled up," said team strategist Murray Jones.

"It’s a highly finely tuned and engineered boat that’s light. It’s a piece of art."

The craft includes a longer, fixed central boom for a headsail, and draws on some designs used for lake racing to allow a wide variation in the sail configuration and rigging, Dutch designer Rolf Vrolijk told Swiss newspapers.

"What you can gain in speed with the hulls is in the end less important than the gains from the rigging and the sails," he told the Tribune de Geneve newspaper.

However, the exact configuration, including the mast, and the other dimensions were not revealed, while parts were kept hidden according to local media that were allowed into the high security tent to see the boat.

Estimates for the height of the mast ranged from 48 to 50 metres.

"That's about it," Jones told Le Matin newspaper.

"This boat is one of the greatest challenges ever made in the history of yachting," he added.

Engineers collaborating with Alinghi have worked on hydrofoils, which have made their appearance on experimental multihulls.

The winglets make for a spectacular sight, lifting a hull out of the water as a boat gains speed, and greatly increasing its pace.

However, the Swiss team declined to give any details on any of its work.

Bankrolled by billionaires Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison respectively, Alinghi and Oracle are due to fight out their duel on the open seas by next year.

The venue for the race -- which is up to Alinghi -- has yet to be decided, with speculation over a choice between Valencia in Spain, where Alinghi won the last America's Cup in 2007, and the coast of Dubai.

Sailing's most prestigious regatta has traditionally been sailed in large monohull yachts, apart from a one-off challenge in 1988.

Speculation has been growing in the sailing world that Oracle is developing a catamaran after having trouble with the monster three hull design it launched on the US west coast last year.

AFP

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