shipstamps.co.uk

Swiss Post is bringing out a special stamp to mark the triumph of the Swiss Alinghi sailing team in the 2003 America’s Cup in New Zealand, honoring its masterly sporting and technical achievement in the world’s most prestigious sailing race by issuing a so-called event stamp with a face value of 90 centimes.
This is the first time a landlocked country has won this sports trophy, the oldest in the world- and Team Alinghi has not only written European sporting history, it also shows the entire world the image of a competitive, innovative Switzerland.

Last night the Swiss Alinghi sailing team sealed yet another victory in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland in New Zealand, deciding the America’s Cup in its favor.
Under its skipper, New Zealander Russel Coutts, and its navigator, Swiss businessman Ernesto Bertarelli, the team is bringing the coveted sailing trophy to Europe for the very first time in its racing boat ALINGHI, developed in collaboration with the Swiss federal Institute of Technology, in Lausanne. Swiss Post is celebrating this supreme sporting and technical achievement with this stamp of 90-centime.

Switzerland 2003 90c sg ?, scott?

Further reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alinghi

Copied from the Swiss Post web-site.

Dimensions of SUI 64
L = 25 m
beam=4m
draught = 4m
Weight = 25 tons
Ballast = 20 tons
Sail area 350 sq m
Crew 16
Designer Rolf Vrolik
The keel is not in the mast axis but located a little bit rear
The waterline at the stem is shortened to allow the ship to have a little bit more sail area, according the tonnage rules.
The orange strips on the sail are used by a computing process with cameras to determine the best form of sails.
The yacht profits also of double shrouds (thiner and more aerodynamic) which limit the resistance in the air.
The main sail is inspired from the windsurfs forms and was copied by all Class America. It is like a gaff sail and use a lot of batten to be very flat.
Jean-Louis
wwww.philateliemarine.fr