Challenger of Record for the America’s Cup, Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA) has made the first sailing moves in its bid to win the America’s Cup.
With the 36th America’s Cup, scheduled to take place in New Zealand in 2021, Luna Rossa Challenge will commence its preparation in the waters of Cagliari (Sardinia – Italy) with a TP 52 Class yacht. The yacht is a permitted surrogate boat in the Protocol governing the 36th America’s Cup, and the TP52 is one of the most performing and challenging racing classes/ The team will participate in the 2018 TP 52 Super Series.
The program for this project will be developed in two phases: a preliminary training – from February to May 2018 – on a provisional TP 52, while the final yacht is under construction at the Persico boatyard in Bergamo (Italy).
During this period about thirty of the best young Italian sailors will be involved in the training in order to develop a new generation of top level racing sailors and expand the Luna Rossa sailing team.
During the second phase – which will start in May 2018, after the launch of the new boat – the team will continue its preparation in the waters of the Adriatic Sea, with the fine-tuning of the new TP 52. The final training of the racing crew will also take place in the Adriatic Sea, where the first races of the TP 52 Super Series will be held, with Francesco Bruni at the helm.