Luna Rossa's ITA-94 on her way to Valencia

[Source: Luna Rossa] At 2.06 p.m. today Luna Rossa ITA-94 began her transfer towards the Team’s base in Valencia. Here the mast and appendages will be fitted and after completing her configuration the first on the water fine tuning tests will take place.

The hull left from Nembro (Bergamo) and will travel to Livorno then reaching Tarragona (Spain) via ship. Luna Rossa’s arrival at the Valencia base is expected by the 18th of December.

Luna Rossa's ITA-94 leaving the boatyard in Bergamo on her way to Valencia. Bergamo, 13 December 2006. Photo copyright Simon Palfrader / Luna Rossa

ITA-94’s construction follows three years of research and executive planning carried out by the Luna Rossa Design Team, 22 people from 10 different nations. The boat was built at the Persico Nautical Division yard by the Luna Rossa Boat Builder Team supervised by Kiwi Director Richard Gillies. The Team consists of 27 people from 9 different nations.

This morning Gillies stated: "I am very satisfied with the work we have done here. Today is a wonderful day although I’ll be able to breathe a sigh of relief when the boat reaches Valencia."

Luna Rossa's ITA-94 leaving the boatyard in Bergamo on her way to Valencia. Bergamo, 13 December 2006. Photo copyright Simon Palfrader / Luna Rossa

Claudio Maletto, Yacht Designer, was present at the yard representing the Luna Rossa Design Team. He commented: "This boat represents the result of three years of work of Team Luna Rossa. She is radically different from the first ITA-86 and a very interesting aspect for us has been the full scale testing we carried out on ITA-86. The changes we made on ITA-86 at the end of the last series of regattas allowed us to work on three boats. The ITA-86 that was launched was a transitional boat between those of the last Cup and ITA-94 which presents an extreme form. It makes no sense to ask oneself if ITA-94 is more beautiful aesthetically than ITA-86. From a structural point of view one can definitely appreciate the evolution of the hull lines."

The launch of Luna Rossa ITA-94 will take place in Valencia in January at the Team Base designed for PRADA and Telecom Italia by world re-known architect Renzo Piano. ITA-94 is the sixth hull designed and built by the Team since 1999. To this date Luna Rossa’s hulls have taken part in 154 match races: 46 for ITA-45, 9 for ITA-48, 74 for ITA-74 and 25 for ITA-86.

The official event which will open the 2007 program will be the Unveiling, in Valencia. It will be held on Sunday April 1st and on that day all Challengers will unveil their boats.

Luna Rossa's ITA-94 leaving the boatyard in Bergamo on her way to Valencia. Bergamo, 13 December 2006. Photo copyright Simon Palfrader / Luna Rossa