It's showtime!! Luna Rossa launches ITA-94
The clock has started ticking in Valencia at 11:30 this morning when the bottle was smashed on the bow of Luna Rossa's ITA-94. The first official launch of an America's Cup yacht in 2007 signals as well the start of the "America's Cup year" in Valencia. With less than three months left till the Louis Vuitton Cup no team has the luxury to waste any time, mirrored also in the fact that less than two hours after the end of the ceremonies, Luna Rossa's crew took ITA-94 out to the sea for the first tests.
The sense of seriousness could also be observed in the ceremony itself, when compared to the launch of ITA-86, the team's first boat, 10 months ago. There was no big party, guests were in the tens and not hundreds and the atmosphere was more mundane. The local priest blessed the boat, Mrs Prada smashed the bottle and it was back to business for the Italian challenger. Our "showtime" title refers to the countdown till the Louis Vuitton Cup rather than the nature of today's launch.
The boat itself can be judged by the photos that are posted here but the first impressions were of a very narrow hull and the mast positioned quite aft. Nevertheless, in the press conference that followed the launch of the boat, ITA-94 was not the center of attention or discussion of the journalists, but rather the remarks made by Mr Patrizio Bertelli, CEO of the Prada group and sponsor of the team.
After the customary self-congratulatory words, Mr Bertelli went on to make some quite critical remarks on the current status of the America's Cup as well as high-level sailing in general. First of all, in his view, the 32nd America's Cup has focused itself too much on the "social" or "mundane" aspects of the event rather than the purely sporting or sailing activity. This combined with its long duration (4 years) have stretched most team budgets thin and put a heavy burden on "smaller" challengers. According to Bertelli, the America's Cup should take place every 2 years and limits should be imposed on the ability of teams to build new boats, modify them or even train at free will. This should bring costs down and make the competition more accessible to more challengers.
He was also against the idea of holding events in areas where sailing is not popular, mentioning in particular Valencia, Dubai (winter training camp for Alinghi and Victory Challenge) or even Malaysia (referring to the Monsoon Cup held last December). Given this shift of attention to the state of the America's Cup, Italian journalists jumped on the bandwagon and the conversation touched subjects such as where Mr Bertelli would hold the Cup in Italy, should Luna Rossa beat Alinghi in Valencia, obviously. One of the cities mentioned was Piombino.
Video: Launch of ITA-94
Audio: Press conference (mostly in Italian, 26 minutes).
Listen to the press conference by clicking on the green play button. You can pause or stop the audio with the control buttons, just like with any other music player:
Laughing all the way till the America's Cup match against Alinghi? Philippe Presti (left) and James Spithill (right). Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing 
Luna Rossa fires the starting shot of the America's Cup year in Valencia with the official launch of ITA-94. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing Labels: ITA-94, Luna Rossa
5 Comments:
Maybe I'm missing something but how is this boat being supported by the lift? I noticed that it's attached to the boat just behind the mast. Am I wrong? Please forgive me for asking a stupid question. Just never payed much attention to how these boats travel on the lifts to the water.
That's an interesting point. It seems to be lifted by the base of the mast.
Could it be that the bulb is not in place yet so the boat is not that heavy to be carried the normal way?
Other way around... because the bulb is in place the boat is very stable and is hoised on a single hoistpoint that is, essentially, attached to the top of the keel (center of gravity). This is is the same way you lift a lot of smaller boats such as Melges 24s, Melges 32s etc.
By this way i think there are less mechanical constraints on the hull.
I have seen this system on other ACCs previously.
Thank you all for your responses. LIke I said before I never really payed attention to how they move these boats until now. Hoisting from the center, with the bulb in place, makes sense to me and now you guys/girls confirmed it. Thank you
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