Eleven days after the spectacular unveiling on April 5, Alinghi Red Bull Racing launched its BoatOne for the America’s Cup with an equally spectacular ceremony. Godmother of the baptism Chiara Bertarelli, daughter of the patron Ernesto Bertarelli who at 2.00 pm sharp on Tuesday 16 April broke the traditional bottle of champagne on the bow of the AC75 on the square in front of the base in Barcelona with all the members of the fourth Swiss participation to the America’s Cup. To underline the concept of teamwork, another Alinghi Red Bull Racing tribute to Catalan culture: while Chiara Bertarelli christened the boat, the Castellers acrobatic artists created an exciting human tower. (Here all our posts on the America’s Cup)
Three years of work
The Barcelona sun allowed us to better appreciate the many particularities of the Alinghi Red Bull Racing AC75, the result of the work of the design team led by principal designer Marcelino Botin who worked closely with the Red Bull team including Red Bull Advanced Technologies. “You spend three years seeing the boat evolve on the computer. Then you see it full size, and it’s like magic,” said Marcelino Botin. “But you realize it is actually no magic. It’s the result of many people bringing their skills, their expertise, their passion to reach a result which reflects the team’s expectation. This is the most amazing thing with a boat like this.”
America’s Cup A special deck
In addition to the particular profile of the hull with the sides of the cockpit that stop about three meters from the transom, the launching operations also allowed us to appreciate other elements of the new AC75 from Alinghi Red Bull Racing. Starting with the bulges of the deck in the bow area. An element already present in some way on Imoca and VO70 hulls, and which could both create a Venturi effect on the jib as well as increase buoyancy in the event of a nosedive. Finally, the “racing” foils which had been hidden from view during the unveiling.
“We had the chance to see and discover a lot of BoatOne on the simulator, it’s ultimately much more impressive in real life”, said skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis. “Launching the boat marks the next stage for us, finally sailing BoatOne. The Sailing team will now have to keep up the amazing work done by the designers and boat builders.”
Emilio Martinelli
