America’s Cup tactician Peter Evans joins the Swiss Defender for the start of the 2006 sailing season.

Evans brings a wealth of experience to Alinghi, with four Cups behind him, three with Team New Zealand (including two wins) and one with the Japanese challenge.

Having grown up in Devonport, Auckland Evans spent his early sailing career sailing Sabots, Starlings and Lasers earning several National Championships before later moving on to the Olympic 470 class and representing his country for the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. By 1992, he had a Match Racing World Championship to his name and in 1997 held the ILC40 World Championship title. Having met Brad Butterworth while competing in the Europe worlds in Copenhagen in his teens, the two converged again in 1992 in San Diego with Team New Zealand.

Now, as from the start of the Alinghi sailing season on 21 March, they will be team mates again, this time opposite one another, as tacticians, on the two-boat training programme. Brad Butterworth, skipper and tactician commented: “We’re happy to welcome Peter Evans as a new member of the Alinghi team. He brings a lot of skills and experience needed to defend the America’s Cup. He has great strengths in many areas of the campaign and will be a real asset to our team.”

Evans added: “As a sailor for Alinghi, I’ll be helping with the in-house racing and I have also always been very interested in the testing side too. This being my fifth Cup, I have always had a strong interest, not only in the weather programs, but in the design side too, so I will be another set of eyes in this area trying to make the boat go faster.”