March 14, 2003

Winning by Design

By DAVID COHEN

Over these past few weeks I've been looking at the role that academics have played in the quest for the America's Cup by the Swiss-backed Team Alinghi, which sailed to a smooth victory this month on the watch of Russell Coutts, the skipper. It turns out that some of the yachtsmen's clear edge in the regatta may indeed be credited to a team of scientists and professors from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, who worked on everything from research and design to the construction,