Luna Rossa returns to Cagliari: launch set for April 13th

Luna Rossa returns to Cagliari. In its headquarters located in the Ichnusa dock. The appointment is set for April 13th, when there will be the launch of what has been defined as the new “masterpiece of naval engineering”. This is the Ac75, the boat that will try to bring the America’s Cup to Italy and Sardinia in Barcelona. The hull is already in the Sardinian capital, but the colour, characteristics and shapes will only be revealed in two weeks. There is still maximum confidentiality surrounding the entire operation and for the moment the date and time are official. 1pm on April 13th at the Ichnusa Pier in the port of Cagliari, a space that has been the team’s headquarters for years. Until the day it remains the secret even if someone would have noticed a long black tree sprouting from the base. This is the tenth “definitive” version of Luna Rossa. The presentation will be “live worldwide” as there will be a live streaming on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube.

The appointment of the next few days is the third involving the Luna Rossa headquarters in Cagliari. In 2019, the then Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, the Olympians Sofia Goggia and Gregorio Paltrinieri, footballers and representatives of the institutions were also present at the launch. The exceptional event of presentation of what had been defined as a “torpedo” capable of flying at 45 knots above the water relying only on the rudder and a centerboard.

The prototype was launched four years ago

Then four years ago, once more in Cagliari, the christening of the prototype (godmother on both occasions Miuccia Prada): a scale boat, smaller than the Ac75 that will challenge New Zealand and its partners. Now we have arrived at the definitive version, the one that Barcelona will have to try to win to bring the America’s Cup to Italy.

A challenge that began in 1997

An important challenge for the team born in 1997 from the meeting between the entrepreneur Patrizio Bertelli and the Argentine yacht designer German Frers. Since then the team has taken part in five editions of the America’s Cup, winning the Challenger selection regattas twice, the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000 and the Prada Cup in 2021, and competing in the final in 2007 and 2013. Then other successes, such as the one in the final match of the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada once morest the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand, where the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team «recorded the best score of an Italian challenger in the history of the America’s Cup». Luna Rossa will once once more represent the Circolo della Vela Sicilia yacht club in the challenge for the 37th edition of the America’s Cup to be held in Barcelona, ​​Spain, in September and October 2024.