Luna Rossa Challenge: Take-off!

The Hull#1 . Ready to Go!- Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015

Marcello Persico Managing Director Persico Marine

-After how many weeks of work leaves the yard the hull # 1?
6-7 weeks

- Which have been the most delicate phases?
The most delicate phase is the internal assemble making sure to control the accuracy of joining all the parts together and maintaining the repeatability of each and every hull and structure. We build and assemble the main keel structure, chain plates which all integrate with the CNC tooling for close the circle of the Persico Marine philosophy of building with full CNC integration and composites. The way of the future…

- Will the other components leave with the boats?which parts?
We built and supply:Volvo 65 Hull.Main Keel Structure.Chain plates.Bow sprit and Bob Stay support.Stanchion supports.Integrated Dagger Board bearing housings.Integrated Rudder bearing housings.Padeye supports.Deck tack trough.Dagger boards.Transport yacht cradles for each team.

- Are already working on the second hull?
Yes yacht #2 started on February 18th.

Mark Somerville Operation Manager Persico Marine

- How much material has been used and how many people worked on the project?
We use about 3000kg of composite material for our part of the puzzle. Currently we have approximately 20 people for this project.

- It is exciting to see the fruits of your labor?
Like every yacht we focus 100% on the final result, build quality and timeframe and this is no different. The result is in the effort and initial planning which established the outcome. We are very pleased with this first hull set and look forward to repeating this standard with all the rest to follow.

- Your job now, after delivery of the first hull will be easier? And if so, why?
Yes it will be easier for all of us, from the construction teams to the management staff as the first 1-2 yachts brings a great deal of time and effort to build the processes, templates and steps. Once these are established we simple have to concentrate on maintaining the quality and tight schedule of each yacht.

Michel Marie Production Manager Persico Marine

- It is exciting to see the fruits of your labor?
It is always exciting to see the timely delivery of any projects your are involved with.  The boat looks fantastic and I feel very fortunate to be part of this new ear of the Volvo Ocean Race

- What kind of project was in relation to other important that you follow?
Compare to other projects I have been involved with (like the America's Cup) the difference has been in developing production concepts with gives us a very quick turn around delivery of high performance composite parts.  Looking at the result going through the factory door this week, I believe we have achieved our goal.

- Your job now, after delivery of the first hull will be easier? And if so, why?
The goal of the first boat was to deliver it on time while putting in place all the systems and processes which will insure every boats are the same.  The job will be somewhat easier for the subsequent boats, nevertheless it remains a challenge to produce repetitively, once every seven weeks, those complicated composite structures.

The New Volvo Class . The Mould ready for lamination



Marcello Persico . Photo Credit Rick Deppe



Photo Credit Tognozzi farevela.net

Photo Credit Tognozzi farevela.net



Photo Credit Tognozzi farevela.net

New Volvo Class 2014/2015. Building the boat

This week we're all over the place. We start out at FARR Yacht Design in the USA, then its Multiplast in France before heading off to Persico in Italy and finally back to France

Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 - The First Sailing

Luna Rossa - Team Activity in Auckland before the first sailing







LUNA ROSSA / Carlo Borlenghi



Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada launch their Luna Rossa AC72




LUNA ROSSA/Nigel Marple

 

With a mighty blow, Miuccia Prada shattered the traditional champagne bottle across the bowsprit of the Luna Rossa AC72 catamaran that will carry her famous fashion brand into battle on the continuing quest to win the America’s Cup for Italy.

Although the Italian flag flew large over the base, this latest addition to the AC72 fleet entered the waters of the Waitemata Harbor in Auckland, New Zealand, where Luna Rossa made its Cup debut a dozen years ago.

By Miuccia Prada’s side at the launch was her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, who earlier said that in the current economic climate Italy had an appetite for something joyful and serene.

Always noted for elegant graphics, the latest yacht to carry the Luna Rossa name cut a dash in the sunset with its hull and wing coated in a dramatic mirror surface. The symbolism from this treatment was appropriate in the sense that this yacht is a mirror image of Emirates Team New Zealand’s AC72, which was launched in July.

LUNA ROSSA/Carlo Borlenghi

The two teams have entered an agreement to build identical boats and conduct trial races against each other in Auckland over the next five or six months of the southern hemisphere summer.

Under the Protocol, the hulls of the Italian challenger were built at the Persico Marine facility in Northern Italy and were shipped to New Zealand in May. Most of the components, including the towering, 130-foot tall wing sail, were built in New Zealand.

As the Italian yacht was lowered into the water for the first time, fireworks erupted and the crowd of invited guests burst into cheers and applause. Among the guests were Regatta Director Iain Murray, Louis Vuitton’s Christine Belanger and a large contingent of Emirates Team New Zealand personnel, including Grant Dalton and skipper Dean Barker.

This presence reflects the close relationship between the two teams, which Patrizio Bertelli said was crucial to the Italian campaign. Having decided to re-enter the Cup arena quite late, Bertelli said the challenge would not have been viable without the technical design sharing arrangement with Emirates Team New Zealand.

Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

“The objective is for us both to get to the Louis Vuitton Cup finals and then we will beat each other up on the water,” he said.

“We have two virtually identical boats that can be mutually beneficial. We can compare boats and improve boats better that way than in isolation. It is going to be very interesting.”

Bertelli, who confirmed that Luna Rossa was committed to competing in the 34^th and 35^th America’s Cup regattas, said the Italian team had also changed some elements of their boat, including foils and soft sails, to test different concepts.

Skipper Max Sirena said the team would take a step-by-step approach to learning how to handle their new boat. “We will not go out sailing in 25 knots on day one,” he said. “In the AC72, there are a lot of tricky systems to test. It is not just the structural part. There are the foils, the rudder systems, the wing – a lot of systems to check before we can start to push.

“We are excited to jump into the water. It is hard to keep the crew under control, because they want to push, but we need to push smartly.”

LUNA ROSSA/Carlo Borlenghi

Mindful of ORACLE TEAM USA’s recent capsize in San Francisco and subsequent damage to the main beam of the Artemis Racing yacht, Sirena said: “It is going to be hard to find the limit of the boats. We will take that step by step. We don’t want to have the same problem as Oracle and Artemis.”

He predicted that this America’s Cup would be won not necessarily by the team with the fastest boats or the best technology, but “by making fewer mistakes than the other guy.”

Asked how long he thought the team would take to get up to speed, Sirena replied: “We have watched Emirates Team New Zealand, Oracle and Artemis very closely. We don’t know how long it will take, but if everything goes well by the middle of the second week in November, we hope to line up around the race course with ETNZ.”

Even though the team is setting up half a world away, Bertelli believed there was support for their campaign in Italy.

“Italy is not going through a very happy period of time in general. We carefully thought about whether it was a good idea to make an investment in the America’s Cup at this time. Fortunately Prada could afford to make that investment, so we decided to go ahead.

“As far as the Italian public is concerned, they would be happy to support a winning team in any sport. Italy has an appetite for something joyful and serene. That is something we would like to do for Italy.”

— Ivor Wilkins - Americascup.com