AS THE two remaining teams prepare for the Louis Vuitton Cup finals, Sir Keith Mills’s British America’s Cup campaign, Team Origin, prepares for the next event. Calls, text messages and e-mails bombard its sailing director, Mike Sanderson, from those keen to be part of the team, but his most recent and important acquisition has been a boat rather than crew.

Last week it was announced that Origin had bought the sister ship to the vessel that brought the cup to Europe. Alinghi’s SUI75 proved herself last season to be every bit as potent as the boat that won the America’s Cup for the Swiss in 2003, finishing second overall. Now the boat will have a new home in the British camp.

“So many teams aim to get to where the winners left off last time, but the trick is learning the lessons that have already taken place in order to get to the next event,” said Sanderson.

“We need to start where the game is being played now, or at least as close as we can. The chances of being able to buy one of the current generation, such as one of the latest Alinghi boats, or one from BMW Oracle or Emirates Team New Zealand, is pretty slim. And even if we could, negotiating the transfer after this event would take a great deal of time, time we don’t feel we have.

“With this purchase we’ve been able to get hold of a boat and sail package that is pretty current. We even paid extra to make sure we got one of Alinghi’s existing back-up masts. Sure, they will be careful they don’t let us have their latest concepts, but with so much development having taken place in the rigs, we can at least get a good idea as to their thinking.”

Not only was SUI75 a boat with exceptional performance, she was used extensively in the Swiss development programme to create two even faster boats. But aside from the performance under sail, one of the most difficult aspects of a modern package to evaluate remotely is the construction. Although the Swiss team will doubtless have removed as many clues to its design philosophy as possible, there are crucial elements that are difficult to erase completely.

“Some of the critical issues in the design of a modern cup boat involve the way the boat is built, its keel weight, its balance on the helm and its bend characteristics,” said Sanderson. “I believe this boat would have been good enough to have a decent shot at getting into the current semi-finals.”

Securing such a contemporary boat would be a coup for any team. So why would Alinghi’s wealthy owner, the biotechnology billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, sell what has been a jealously guarded secret until now? Speculation suggests that there may be more to the deal and that Mills has agreed to take on the role of challenger of record, who acts as administrator for the other challengers. It is a role that requires close cooperation with the defender, which many in Valencia are assuming will be Alinghi.

“The issue of challenger of record was not part of the deal to buy the boat,” said Sanderson. “That’s not to say that the subject hasn’t been broached. But we have a lot of things to sort out along the way first.”

- Matthew Sheahan is racing and technical editor of Yachting World