Emirates Team NZ designers comment on the three semifinalist boats

Emirates Team NZ issues a monthly newsletter that often is as educating as informative. In the May issue of this 2-page newsletter, the challenger's design team makes some very interesting observations on the yachts of the other three semifinalists of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

According to Grant DaltonManaging Director of Emirates Team New Zealand

Click for more info, general manager of the kiwi challenger, all boats are capable of winning the semifinal and "only one thing is for sure: there will
be no easy races in the semi-finals or the final".

Here is the integrity of their very interesting observations, as they appear on the newsletter:

BMW Oracle USA-98
USA 98-is certainly nothing less than one would expect from the self-professed “technologically most advanced team in the competition”. The hull design looks like a progression of the Bruce Farr/Oracle style, with no obvious signs of Juan Kouyoumdjian’s input.

Oracle have pushed the rules to the limit in making a 50% change to their first boat USA 87, effectively giving them 3 new hulls to sail during the 2007 challenge. Their appendage package has echoes of 2003 with a relatively long bulb which is slumped and has a chine with lawn mower (helicopter) winglets, a set up appropriate for moderate sea breeze conditions.

Alone among the challengers BMW Oracle ran a jumper less rig in the rounds robin, another indication of their prodigious spending power. The American boat has shown good speed in all conditions, but their chances of topping the challenger standings were undermined by headfoil failures in Act 13, and round robin 2.

Desafio Espanol ESP 97
This Reichel-Pugh, Scott Graham design has performed well during the rounds robin, claiming the scalp of Oracle and doing enough to claim fourth place in the standings.

The hull is traditionally proportioned and exhibits moderate bow fullness, similar to USA-98. The bulb is of moderate length with quite aggressive slumping, but no chine.

Generally the appendages match the hull shape in terms of seeking optimum performance in light to moderate airs. The hull has similar beam to the other semi-finalists.

Luna Rossa ITA 94
The Italians have gone for the most extreme hull shape in the fleet, having aggressively square sections throughout the length of the boat, coupled to an aft center of buoyancy position.

This style of hull should perform well upwind in moderate to strong winds, but the boat seems less happy downwind in light airs. The designers have been experimenting with different fin and bulb configurations during round robin 2 to optimize the boats performance profile.

Skipper Franceso de Angelis talked about finding the “right pieces of the puzzle” at the skippers’ press conference, so clearly there is more development to come.

The four semifinalists
Luna Rossa's ITA-94. Valencia, 9 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Desafío Español's ESP-97. Valencia, 9 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

BMW Oracle's USA-98. Valencia, 9 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Emirates Team NZ's NZL-92. Valencia, 9 May 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

James Spithill: Bring it on!! We are ready to race

James Spithill, Luna Rossa's helmsman, was very optimistic and confident when we talked to him on Sunday, when like dozens of sailors around Port America's Cup, he was closely examining all his competitors' boats. He and the rest of the crew are ready to race and their aim is of course to win the Louis Vuitton Cup although he sees a tough fight and no easy races.

Valencia Sailing: Since this is the "Unveiling" day my first question is an obvious one. What boat did you look at more carefully this morning? Did you see anything interesting or surprising?
James Spithill: I looked very closely at Team New Zealand, BMW Oracle and especially Alinghi. They are the team to beat and I was very interested in knowing what they had done. There were a few surprises. To be honest, I was a little surprised to see how different the fleet was. Obviously Alinghi wasn't showing all they were going to use, but still, it was interesting to see all the different ideas on hull shapes, volume distribution, sectional shapes and appendages.

Valencia Sailing: I suppose your primary goal is to win the Louis Vuitton Cup. Do you feel confident? Is it feasible?
James Spithill: Yes, this is our goal. I think it is feasible and it's up to us to do it. It is going to extremely tough though but it is up to us to go out there and do it. I think the boat is doing well with all the racing we have been doing so far, we keep developing it and keep taking the steps to get to the finals.

Valencia Sailing: How important is Louis Vuitton Act 13 for you?
James Spithill: If you look at the mathematics, I don't think it can change a lot. Whether we finish second or third or win the Act, honestly I don't think it will change a whole lot. We obviously want to win it because we are competitive, I want to win, Francesco wants to win. But we also enjoy it and it is a whole lot fun go do a fleet race and finish first. I really look forward to it and we have always done pretty well in fleet races.

Valencia Sailing: Concerning your performance in training, allow me to quote Ray Davies who stated in New Zealand's Sunday Star Times that they beat you 4-1 in training here in Valencia and it could have been 5-0 if they hadn't been interfered by some over zealous spectator boats. What is your comment?
James Spithill: It's great to see them being so confident. They are obviously the big favorites and listening to them if they don't win there must be something wrong.

Valencia Sailing: Allow me also to mention some rumors I heard saying that "ITA-94 really struggles upwind".
James Spithill: Who said that? Who are they? Anyone can say anything they want and you know how it works. We'll have to wait till we see how the boat goes. It's very difficult right now. Until we get to racing you don't know what your competitors are up to or if anyone is going at 100% next time they race.

Valencia Sailing: Regardless of these statements or rumors, do you feel confident with the new boat?
James Spithill: I do, I'm confident with the new boat we have produced. I think we still have work and development to do but we are confident and ready to race.

Valencia Sailing: Should we give importance to the results of these training races?
James Spithill: I don't think so because they don't count for anything. At the end of the day it's up to who wins the official races and the Louis Vuitton Cup. You obviously want to win every race but they can win all the training races they want as long as we win the ones that count.

Valencia Sailing: Of course, but you don't go out to on a training day against Dean Barker with the spirit to lose.
James Spithill: Never. We are all very competitive, we all want to win and to be honest with you, these guys sailed extremely well the days we raced them. If you look at all the betting agencies, they are the favorites and I think they have the right to be the favorites. They were the top team in the Acts, they are the top challenger and they have done a very good job. I have a lot of respect for them but going into the races I'm happy for them to be the favorites.

Valencia Sailing: On Friday they also raced against Alinghi. Is that something Luna Rossa would consider doing?
James Spithill: We have raced them a lot of times and we will do so in a couple of days in fleet races. But as far as a training race is concerned before the Louis Vuitton Cup, who knows? We have done it in the past. As you know, we did it last year when we raced in training but this time we'll have to see. You know, the hard thing for all challengers right now is to find time. There is very, very little time in your schedule. You have to keep developing and testing different things that you have. Obviously we like to do training but it's very difficult because time is so short. It's very hard to manage with the weather and the schedule you have.

Valencia Sailing: You will keep developing ITA-94 from what I understand.
James Spithill: Absolutely, if we don't do that then it's over. Having someone like Tom Schnakenberg has really reinforced the crew. We have been pushing hard the development, making the boat fast.

Valencia Sailing: Alinghi has proposed to increase the length of the race course for the America's Cup match. Are you in favor it?
James Spithill: I think that for the spectators a short race course is better. As far as the sport is concerned, in order to attract fans and people to watch from outside, I think a shorter course is better. It's more exciting and more suited for someone that doesn't know a lot about sailing and a longer course might appear monotonous. For me it doesn't matter either way but for the general public and the event a shorter course might have meant more action, which is obviously good.

Valencia Sailing: From what you have seen so far which one of the other top challengers (Emirates Team New Zealand and BMW Oracle) do you fear the most in the Louis Vuitton Cup?
James Spithill: Both of them but, I know it's going to sound funny, it could be some of the other teams. I think they have taken a big step and there will not be any easy races. It's hard to say but initially I would say Oracle and Team New Zealand. We have a similar history, with a similar number of America's Cup campaigns, 3 for Prada, 3-4 for the others, we have similar resources, similar funding. But when I look at the other teams now, they are up to the level where they could win any race. As I said, there won't be any races and you really have to be on your game.

Valencia Sailing: Have you raced any of the smaller teams in training?
James Spithill: We have and it has been extremely tough and racing was very close. This is exactly what I had thought would have happened. During the last year they leaped ahead and got up to the level.

Valencia Sailing: Has the gap between the bigger and smaller teams gotten smaller performance wise?
James Spithill: I think so. You certainly can't make any mistakes.

Valencia Sailing: Have you decided what boat you are going to race?
James Spithill: No, not yet. Like most of the teams we are trying to look at the weather, whether wind is going to be light. As you know, these past weeks the weather has been a little bit strange. We haven't fully decided which boat to use yet.

Valencia Sailing: On Saturday you trained against Mascalzone Capitalia and Victory Challenge. Was there any particular reason you trained one day before unveiling while almost all other teams took the day off?
James Spithill: No, there was no special reason. We will also train on Monday. As I told you, time is really short. You can't buy time and we are using every single chance we have to make the boat get fast. The whole crew is working extremely hard to do that.

Valencia Sailing: If we have this kind of wind is it going to be tricky?
James Spithill: I think so. Whenever you get the westerly wind it's very tough because it gets very shifty. Still, it could make fleet racing very interesting if we had that. It will be excellent.

Valencia Sailing: Is there anything you would like to add?
James Spithill: Yes. Bring it on!! We are ready to race

Italian training derby one day before unveiling

A mere three days before Louis Vuitton Act 13 and a few hours before the unveiling ceremony, a handful of teams trained off Valencia's coast. Some teams chose to train far away from indiscreet eyes while there were a couple of match races, among them, the Italian derby between challengers Luna Rossa and Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team.

We cannot comment on the race or its result, but let's say it was very interesting. According to what Paul Cayard stated it could well be the Louis Vuitton Cup final but of course it might have been a far fetched statement to please the Italian media. We'll know in a few weeks.

ITA-94 of Luna Rossa and ITA-99 of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team racing during a training regatta, three days before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 13. Valencia, 31 March 2007. Photo copyright Ignacio Baixauli / www.mmediapress.com

ITA-94 of Luna Rossa and ITA-99 of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team racing during a training regatta, three days before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 13. Valencia, 31 March 2007. Photo copyright Ignacio Baixauli / www.mmediapress.com

ITA-94 of Luna Rossa and ITA-99 of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team racing during a training regatta, three days before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 13. Valencia, 31 March 2007. Photo copyright Ignacio Baixauli / www.mmediapress.com

ITA-94 of Luna Rossa and ITA-99 of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team racing during a training regatta, three days before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 13. Valencia, 31 March 2007. Photo copyright Ignacio Baixauli / www.mmediapress.com

ITA-94 of Luna Rossa and ITA-99 of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team racing during a training regatta, three days before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 13. Valencia, 31 March 2007. Photo copyright Ignacio Baixauli / www.mmediapress.com

ITA-94 of Luna Rossa and ITA-99 of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team racing during a training regatta, three days before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 13. Valencia, 31 March 2007. Photo copyright Ignacio Baixauli / www.mmediapress.com

ITA-94 of Luna Rossa and ITA-99 of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team racing during a training regatta, three days before the start of Louis Vuitton Act 13. Valencia, 31 March 2007. Photo copyright Ignacio Baixauli / www.mmediapress.com

Identify the boats

We received a great number of replies and the first correct one came considerably fast, one hour after posting the quiz, from a reader in Copenhagen. Here are the correct sailnumbers of the boats, in the order they appear from the top: USA-87 (BMW Oracle), ITA-86 (Luna Rossa), FRA-93 (Areva Challenge), ITA-94 (Luna Rossa), ESP-97 (Desafío Español) and USA-98 (BMW Oracle).

So far our quizzes have been limited to some obscure parts of a racing boat. Today we focus on the big picture and our test will consist of identifying 6 America's Cup yachts being towed out of Port America's Cup. All photos were taken today Thursday while the boats were on their way out to another day of training, taking advantage of the considerably good wind conditions so far. Some might be obvious while others, hopefully, not so.

The first person to correctly identify all boats will receive a surprise gift from Valencia Sailing. As a result and in order to be able to reach you, please send your replies by email. Don't leave an anonymous comment at the bottom of the article since we will not know who you are.

Speaking of wind conditions, Paul Cayard's comment this morning on his website is very revelatory: One thing I think could throw a curve ball at some teams is the weather in April. April is still definitely spring and the previous racing in Valencia has never started this early. February was 15-20 knots 75% of the time. Most teams have designed their boats for 9-14 knots which is expected in June. But to get to June, you have to survive April and May. The competition is going to be tough. I think there will be a number of "upsets". All this will mix up the results a bit more than expected and create some anxiety for the teams that are "supposed" to be there in May.

It will be fast and furious for six teams; the regatta will be a three week event for them. You only have to look at that reality to become extremely motivated.

Valencia, 22 March 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 22 March 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 22 March 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 22 March 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 22 March 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia, 22 March 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Luna Rossa's ITA-94 sails in Valencia

As we wrote in our report on Thursday, Luna Rossa did not waste any time and a couple of hours after the end of the launch ceremonies, ITA-94 sailed off Valencia's coast. The first impressions were very positive and the Italian America's Cup challenger will now begin training and testing with both new boats, ITA-86 and ITA-94, as soon as possible.

Here are the first images from Thursday's test sail of the brand new Italian "rocket", courtesy of the team.

ITA-94 sailing for the first time. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa Challenge

ITA-94 sailing for the first time. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa Challenge

ITA-94 sailing for the first time. Valencia, 18 January 2007. Photo copyright Carlo Borlenghi / Luna Rossa Challenge

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

Luna Rossa's ITA-94 already in the base in Valencia

Unlike China Team last Friday and Desafío Español next Wednesday, Luna Rossa's arrival this morning was low key, almost secret. The cargo ship arrived in the Spanish port of Tarragona at midnight yesterday and then left for Valencia at 2am. She arrived at the Luna Rossa base early in the morning and at 8:30am she was already inside the boat shed, taking the place of good old ITA-74.

ITA-74 is now outside the boat shed and the brand new yacht is behind closed doors, safe from all indiscreet eyes, including Valencia Sailing's... Sorry but we don't have any photos of the new Italian rocket, just the ones made public by the team. According to Luna Rossa, ITA-94 will be launched in January, without giving more details.

ITA-94 entering the Luna Rossa base for the very first time. Valencia, 18 December 2006. Photo copyright Luna Rossa Challenge

ITA-94 entering the boat shed of the Luna Rossa base for the very first time. Valencia, 18 December 2006. Photo copyright Luna Rossa Challenge

Patrizio Bertelli (left) and Francesco di Angelis unpacking ITA-94 inside the Luna Rossa base. Valencia, 18 December 2006. Photo copyright Luna Rossa Challenge

Short videos on Luna Rossa's brand new ITA-94

Luna Rossa, the Italian America's Cup challenger, have just made public 4 short videos on their brand new ITA-94. The latest Italian yacht left the boatyard yesterday and is expected to arrive in Valencia on Monday. One of the videos shows the departure of the yacht while on the other three, members of the team give their view on the new Italian "rocket". You can watch the videos by clicking on the links here below. Remember that all videos can also be easilly viewed through the "Video" link on the top navigation bar of the site.

Departure of ITA-94 from the boatyard in Bergamo, Italy.

Boat designer Claudio Maletto talks about the new yacht.

Boat builder Richard Gillis talks about ITA-94.

Head of structural design Andrea Avaldi talks about ITA-94.

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