America’s Cup: Now there are three

Cagliari, Italy (October 2, 2019) – Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA), Challenger of Record for the 36th America’s Cup, today launched their first AC75. Built by Persico Marine shipyard, the yacht is the product of more than 90 people, including 37 of the design team, who had toiled for a total of 78,000 working hours.

The Italian team is the third to reveal their AC75, following both the New Zealand defender and American Magic (USA) challenger, which launched their first boats about one month earlier.

“We are in our sixth America’s Cup challenge, but the excitement of the launch remains unchanged,” said Patrizio Bertelli, President of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. “It is the magic moment that sums up the efforts of many months of work and expectation of finally seeing navigate what until now was just a project. In this case, then, the revolutionary innovation with which it has been reinterpreted – the concept of single-hull introduces even stronger expectation.”

Max Sirena, skipper of Luna Rossa Prada Team Director Team Pirelli: “We are eager to know the AC75, a boat that will sail almost always in foiling mode. It has been done a great job in order to minimize the transition time between the phase with the hull completely into the water and that of flight; a difficult balance to find on which we will continue to work in development. I thank the whole team, and in particular the shore team and the design team, who have worked tirelessly for months.”

The launch for INEOS Team UK (GBR) is expected on October 4 while late entry Stars & Stripes Team USA (USA) remains silent on progress.

In addition to Challenges from Italy, USA, and Great Britain that were accepted during the initial entry period (January 1 to June 30, 2018), eight additional Notices of Challenge were received by the late entry deadline on November 30, 2018. Of those eight submittals, entries from Malta, USA, and the Netherlands were also accepted. Here’s the list:

Defender:
• Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)

Challengers:
• Luna Rossa (ITA) – Challenger of Record
• American Magic (USA)
• INEOS Team UK (GBR)
• Malta Altus Challenge (MLT) – WITHDRAW
• Stars & Stripes Team USA (USA)
• DutchSail (NED) – WITHDRAW

Of the three late entries, only Stars+Stripes USA remains committed, but they still must complete the entry fee payment process before they will be eligible to race. They have already paid their initial payment but as a late entry challenger under the Protocol they also have a liability to pay a US$1million late entry fee due in installments by October 1, 2019. This deadline coincides with the venue schedule which has the construction of their team base beginning in late 2019, which we assume was done in the event the team is unable to fulfill their payment deadline. It is not yet confirmed if they have paid the fee.

Key America’s Cup dates:
✔ September 28, 2017: 36th America’s Cup Protocol released
✔ November 30, 2017: AC75 Class concepts released to key stakeholders
✔ January 1, 2018: Entries for Challengers open
✔ March 31, 2018: AC75 Class Rule published
✔ June 30, 2018: Entries for Challengers close
✔ August 31, 2018: Location of the America’s Cup Match and The PRADA Cup confirmed
✔ August 31, 2018: Specific race course area confirmed
✔ November 30, 2018: Late entries deadline
✔ March 31, 2019: Boat 1 can be launched (DELAYED)
✔ 2nd half of 2019: 2 x America’s Cup World Series events (CANCELLED)
October 1, 2019: US$1million late entry fee deadline
February 1, 2020: Boat 2 can be launched
April 23-26, 2020: First America’s Cup World Series event in Cagliari, Sardinia.
During 2020: 3 x America’s Cup World Series events
December 10-20, 2020: America’s Cup Christmas Race
January and February 2021: The PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series
March 2021: The America’s Cup Match

AC75 launch dates:
September 6 – Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Boat 1
September 10 – American Magic (USA), Boat 1; actual launch date earlier but not released
October 2 – Luna Rossa (ITA), Boat 1

Details: www.americascup.com