After the Preliminary Regatta Sardinia, the Italian AC team has returned its focus to the development of the AC75 Luna Rossa, the boat with which it will compete in the 38th America’s Cup in 2027.
The modified AC75 returned to the water in Cagliari a few weeks ago and after the tow test and the first technical trials, on one hand, ashore, designers and engineers continue the R&D phase to optimize the boat ahead of the 2027 event; on the other, solutions and innovations are tested on the water, while the crew trains at the same time.
Horacio Carabelli, Design Director of Luna Rossa, is very satisfied: The boat is lighter than in the previous Cup and she is easier to handle in light air. At the moment we are still sailing with the foils from the last campaign, but we will soon be updating many things.
The development side and the training side go hand in hand, and we are happy with the new layout configuration: it seems to me that the boat is responding very well, as we had expected.
Peter Burling, one of the team’s helmsmen, also shares his impressions after the first days at sea: She is certainly a different boat from the one I was used to. The hull is lighter than in the last Cup, and our job is to push her to her maximum and in the most correct way possible in this new configuration.
In fact, everything has to be verified: the sails, the foils, the control systems, and it is not work that can be done in a short time. In this phase, the sailors’ feedback is crucial: we are the end users, the ones who will then have to sail her and do so faster than our opponents.
The aim is to test at sea the ideas developed ashore and verify whether they work or whether they can be further improved. The synergy between all departments in this phase is fundamental. We have only been sailing for a few days, but I am very satisfied.
Meanwhile, the AC40s’ road to Naples continues. After the final sailing session in the Gulf of Angels, the team’s two “small” boats are being transferred to Naples, where training will resume ahead of the second Preliminary Regatta, scheduled from 24 to 27 September.
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