Luna Rossa AC72 launched

Italian challenger for the 34th America's Cup unveiled

The  Luna Rossa AC72 catamaran, set to challenge for  the 34th America’s Cup, was launched today in Auckland, New Zealand.

At 6.40 pm local time, Miuccia Prada, with her husband Patrizio Bertelli at her side – the Team Principal of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 – broke the champagne bottle, christening the 22m long maxi catamaran with its mirrored hulls and a 40m tall wingsail. 

Luna Rossa’s AC 72 is the outcome of the effort that has kept the team's 70 team members busy for nearly one year.

Construction involved 300 people for a grand total of 52,000 working hours – 12,000 to build the wingsail, 17,000 for hulls construction, and 23,000 to build the platform and foils. 500kg of titanium ws  used, and there are about 2,000 metres of ropes on board (halyards, sheets, etc.).

Patrizio Bertelli, Team Principal of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013, said: “This is our fourth challenge for the America’s Cup, certainly the most revolutionary compared to past ones. Launching a yacht is still as exciting as ever, maybe even more so in this case because this boat is so technologically extreme, the outcome of state-of-the-art research and of a huge effort from the whole team.”

Max Sirena, skipper of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013, said: “Today is a celebration day for all of us. Tomorrow we will begin the first structural tests on the water, and then, as soon as we complete our checks, we will start training. I want to thank all of the team, and in particular shore and design teams, who have worked relentlessly for months, allowing us to comply with the deadlines we had set.”

The launch was followed by a party for all the team’s families; 350 guests were present, including the President of Circolo della Vela Sicilia (i.e. the challenging yacht club) Agostino Randazzo, Grant Dalton, CEO of ETNZ Emirates Team New Zealand, Steve Burrett, Commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the Italian Ambassador to New Zealand, Alessandro Levi-Sandri, Sir Michael Fay, and the Maori community representative Alec Hawke of Ngāti Whātua o Orākei.

Vital statistics

Hulls length: 22 m
Beam: 14 m
Wingsail height: 38 m
Maximum draft: 4.40 m
Weight: 5,900 kg
Crew: 11

Wingsail: 260 sqm
Jib: 80 sqm
Gennaker: 320 sqm

Projected top speeds

Upwind: 25 knots
Downwind: 42 knots