ITA-99 of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team on her way to Valencia

[Source: Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team] Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team´s second new boat for the 32nd America’s Cup, ITA-99 is currently en route to Valencia from Green Marine of Lymington (UK), where it has been undergoing the final fit out.

ITA-99 will travel by truck from Lymington to the UK shores where it will be ferried across to Spain and then continue on to Valencia. Once ITA-99 arrives at the base in Valencia, the keel and the mast will be mounted, and then she will be ready for her first sail.

ITA-99 leaving the Green Marine boatyard. Lymington (UK), 17 January 2007. Photo copyright Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

“During last summer when we were planning the construction of ITA-99, the biggest unknown variable was time. Now after 5 months of extremely hard work we are very happy to see ITA-99 in transport to our base in Valencia. All of the team has done an enormous – and fantastic – job to have the boat arriving in the same period as all of the other second boats of the bigger teams,” explains Team Manager Silvio Arrivabene.

In December, Mascalzone Latino-Captialia Team retired the “old” ITA-77 and in January started sailing again with ITA-90, the first of the two new boats constructed for this campaign.

ITA-99 leaving the Green Marine boatyard. Lymington (UK), 17 January 2007. Photo copyright Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team

Skipper Vasco Vascotto is ready for the final push: “The year 2006, both technically and sportingly, was an extremely positive year for Mascalzone Latino: for us it was a continuous progress. We reached and exceeded our objectives. Boats like the ones for the America´s Cup need a lot of time in the water to be brought to their maximum potential, and I think that we have really spent a lot of time on the water. ITA-99 is the result of two years of research and development work, and from how much we have learned from racing with ITA-77 and with ITA-90.”

Also ready to face the next weeks of intense preparation is Coach Mauro Pelaschier: “We closed 2006 with ITA-90 properly tuned up and we have created all the possible premises the will enable us to make the second boat, ITA-99, competitive. It´s a very exhausting job, but it’s normal in this sport: we have to deal with highly technological boats where, obviously, everything is extremely sophisticated, everything is difficult, and therefore every team is pushing for the search for perfection to have the best results.”

“I see the game as wide open so it’s difficult to make predictions. In February when all of the new boats in Valencia will have gone out sailing, there will be a reshuffling of the cards, so to speak, and we will need to completely reconsider the ranking according to how the teams have come along in their designs. It will be exciting to see again, after four years of work, everything square off. We’re not taking anything for granted: our people and technical support in Valencia are very high quality and we will not be surprised if there are some upsets in the ranking.”

ITA-99 leaving the Green Marine boatyard. Lymington (UK), 17 January 2007. Photo copyright Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team