of the Italian Republic. Société Nautique de Genève and Bertarelli's efforts to organize the 33rd America's Cup following their 2007 victory in Alinghi were subject to numerous legal challenges by the Golden Gate Yacht Club. The race finally took place in February 2010, in Valencia, Spain. Bertarelli was the primary helmsman of his boat Alinghi 5, which lost both races against the challenger USA 17 by a considerable margin. Alinghi now competes in the Extreme Sailing Series, which it most recently won in 2016, and in the summer-long, one-class D35 championship on Lake Geneva. Since 2016 he is a member of America's Cup Hall of Fame. Philanthropy Bertarelli and his family established a foundation in 1999 for promoting research and development in the field of male and female infertility, assisted reproduction technologies, andrology, genetics and endocrinology; supporting training, education and international and national exchanges in these areas through grants. The Bertarelli Foundation, in Trelex, Switzerland, merged into the Foundation FABER, in Lausanne, in 2006, and since 2008 a renewed Bertarelli Foundation has regrouped the family's numerous philanthropic initiatives in the fields of charity, health, sciences, sport and culture. Some projects recently sponsored by the Bertarelli Foundation have been the research Centre for Neuroprosthetics at the EPFL in Lausanne; the partnership with the British government to create the largest marine reserve in the world in Chagos, in the Indian Ocean; a joint research and education program in neuroscience between Harvard Medical School and EPFL; the Swiss Sailing Grants in partnership with the Swiss Sailing Federation; and the Henna Pre-School in South Africa and a partnership with the Stoke-on-Trent YMCA that is led by Kirsty Bertarelli. Bertarelli is a member of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows. Honorary doctorate Bertarelli was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Marine Sciences from Plymouth University in 2013. Personal life Bertarelli met Kirsty Roper, a former 1988 Miss UK and songwriter, while on holiday in Italy in 1997. The couple married in 2000, and have three children. The couple's divorce was announced in October 2021. The couple lived in Gstaad and also spent time in their house on the shores of Lake Geneva. In December 2008, Appledore Shipbuilders launched the hull of Project55, Bertarelli's new yacht, which was completed as Vava II by Devonport Engineering Consortium Ltd at Plymouth in February 2012 Honour : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic