At dawn on Saturday 20 April, INEOS Britannia, the English challenger of the Royal Yacht Squadron for the America’s Cup, also unveiled its new AC75. At 5 in the morning RB3, this is the name of the boat, left the base shed and for the first time was shown in public and made available for masting operations and checks in view of the launch and the first sea trial in Barcelona. (Here all our posts on the America’s Cup)
The satisfaction of Sir Ben Ainslie
INEOS Britannia Team Principal and Skipper Sir Ben Ainslie said: “This is a big day for the team. We have been keeping RB3 under wraps for such a long time that it’s almost surreal to see her out of the shed and in public view here in Barcelona. Thousands of hours of work have gone into this boat and so it’s great to finally reveal her to the world. Things are really stepping up in the campaign now, and we are looking forward to launching RB3 and getting out on the water very soon.”
An amazing hull for the America’s Cup
Bow volumes that recall in some way those seen on the AC 75s of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team and Emirates New Zealand but a pronounced keel fin with sharp edges that stops about three meters from the transom and a decidedly flat hull in the stern sections. Also new is the rudder support directly connected to the mast of the on-board instruments and cameras.
BR3 was developed by the INEOS design team based at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team site. The designers of the AC75 were able to count on collaboration with the Applied Science division of the F1 team. Construction took place at Carrington Boats before being completed at the team’s Turweston base where structural and load testing took place. BR3 had arrived in Barcelona on 6 April.
Emilio Martinelli
