[4] The boat was launched on 8 July 2009[5] when the hull was lifted from the construction shed in Villeneuve, Vaud by a Mil Mi-26 helicopter and carried to Lake Geneva.

[6] At the end of September 2009, the boat was shipped to Ras al Khaimah, the venue selected by the defender for the 33rd America's Cup.

[9] An appeal by SNG regarding the venue was rejected[10] and Alinghi 5 was shipped at the end of December 2009 from Ras al Khaimah to Valencia, where she arrived on 5 January 2010.

Her official finish time was 15:28 behind the winner because Alinghi 5 had to perform a penalty turn, having failed to stay clear at the start.

[21][22] On 14 February 2010, Alinghi 5 also lost the second race, and thus the America's Cup, again by a considerable margin, even though she appeared to sail better upwind than on the first day, thanks to a fuller mainsail combined with a smaller jib.

Alinghi 5 reached the windward mark in 59 minutes, so her velocity made good was about 13.2 knots (24.4 km/h; 15.2 mph), or about 1.8 times wind speed.