LE BOUVERET, Switzerland (AFP) - – America's Cup defender Alinghi began a spectacular airlift of its giant yacht from landlocked Switzerland over the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, dangling beneath the world's biggest helicopter.

After some two weeks of sailing on Lake Geneva, where it was built, the new 90 foot high tech catamaran is being flown about 300 kilometres (186 miles) to the Italian port of Genoa for its first sea trials.