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The latest iteration of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli AC75 foiling monohull was christened in April by his wife, designer Miuccia Prada, and is competing in the 37th edition of the race.

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According to Britannica, the definition of passion is “a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something.” This description perfectly describes Patrizio Bertelli ’s never-abated gusto for sailing and his ambition to win the America’s Cup — although he contends it’s persistence rather than passion that is “the true motor.”

For the past 25 years Bertelli has been investing in the Luna Rossa project to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, building increasingly technologically advanced sailboats and contributing to shaping the history of the prestigious competition.

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Decked in a metallic “Metal K”-colored livery, the AC75 marks the 10th Luna Rossa America’s Cup hull unveiled since the first boat in 1999.

Built at the Persico Marine shipyard in Nembro, Italy, the sailboat, made of pre-preg carbon fiber, required 70,000 hours of work by 35 boat builders. It is equipped with a 25.6-meter mast with a soft wing comprising two twin mainsails and a headsail made of carbon and Dyneema.

At the time of the christening , Bertelli, chairman of the Prada luxury group and president of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, said the boat has “become an iconic name in sailing worldwide” and that he had accomplished the goal “to create a team of extraordinary technicians and sailors capable of shaping the future of sport in our country and leaving a legacy for future generations.”

The upcoming America’s Cup will mark Luna Rossa’s seventh challenge, but sixth race. The team withdrew from the competition in 2015 after disagreeing with the overturning of rules that had been unanimously adopted the previous year by the then-Cup holder the Oracle Team of the U.S., which was owned by Larry Ellison. The Oracle team eventually lost the America’s Cup to the New Zealand team.

This year, five challengers in the Louis Vuitton Cup regattas — Ineos Britannia, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, NYYC American Magic and Orient Express Racing — will battle it out on the water to win the right to face off against defender Emirates Team New Zealand for the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Barcelona.

The Luna Rossa team was established in 1997 by Bertelli with the original name of “Prada Challenge for the America’s Cup 2000.” The team won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000, with a record of 38 victories over 49 races. It also competed in 2003 and in 2007, when it reached the Louis Vuitton Cup final.

Here, Bertelli explains why the America’s Cup continues to hold his interest, reveals his expectations for this year and talks about the lessons learned through the different stages of the competition.

WWD: Beyond your passion for sailing, what moves you to continue to invest in Luna Rossa and in the America’s Cup? When did you first think you wanted to participate once again?

Patrizio Bertelli : After the last edition in Auckland [New Zealand] I immediately said we would continue even without knowing at the time where the next challenge would take place. The Cup fascinates me because it’s a difficult, complex project that requires to develop a team of highly professional individuals super specialized in many different sectors that know how to unite and work together in harmony for a long period of time at a pace that is very intense. It’s a difficult structure to set up but even more to manage.

WWD: How does this reflect on you personally and what did you learn over the years from the past experiences?

P.B.: Since the first launch in Punta Ala [Tuscany], 25 years have passed and the enthusiasm is the same. As [Sir] Peter Blake wrote in the foreword to the first “Luna Rossa” book [on the 30 th America’s Cup in 2000] it is the difficulty to win that makes the America’s Cup so unique. Time is not important, it’s necessary to have the courage to continue to try and not give up. This curious and strange game requires  persistence to reach the objective and it is the difficulty that gives meaning to the challenge. Passion has nothing to do with it, persistence is the true motor and behind this obstinacy is all the technological research that over these past years brought an enormous development to the world of sailing and repercussions also on daily sailing. It’s a continuous challenge where you learn something every day.

WWD: How does all this affect Prada and the brand’s products?

P.B .: There wouldn’t be enough time to explore this in this interview, I would rather go back to talk about Luna Rossa.

WWD: How has Luna Rossa changed and how has the project changed over the years?

WWD: Some sponsors have also changed, and Oakley for example has joined as the new technical performance partner. Can you tell us abut the relationship with those who believe in the project with you, including skipper and team director Max Sirena?

P.B.: Our storied sponsor Pirelli has stayed on and I think the relationship with Marco Tronchetti [Provera, executive vice president of Pirelli, the co-title sponsor of the team] is increasingly more solid. Also Panerai and Woolmark have renewed their confidence in the team because they believe in it. We have two new sponsors, Oakley and Unipol. In addition, on the sails are now the logos of UNESCO and Sea Beyond, the educational project aimed at the protection of the oceans, born from a collaboration between our group and UNESCO. Then there are the suppliers that have a fundamental role in the project and with which the relationship developed over the years has increasingly strengthened. They represent Italian excellence and have obtained global recognition also thanks to Luna Rossa. With Max the relationship is excellent and consolidated, he has all my trust.

WWD: What are your thoughts now on Luna Rossa and the team? What has impressed you the most so far and how has the team evolved in parallel with the changes of Luna Rossa?

P.B.: Ever since the first challenge in 2000 we have invested a lot in our team because I think it is fundamental to compete at these levels. We have focused on the human relations, creating a community of interests that has generated strong and close-knit relations. There have been weddings, children, people that went to other teams and then returned recognizing the human quality of the relations within our team. Naturally in 25 years many things have changed to adapt to the evolution of the challenge and especially of the boats and the technology, even if a storied nucleus is still present.

The shore team has also changed. Today there is a true dockyard within the base, where we have realized both the hull for the LEQ 12 [less than or equal to 12 meters] training, the masts of Luna Rossa and many other parts of the boat.

WWD: How do you think this evolution will impact the sailing world?

P.B.: The impact is already visible on daily sailing. Today if you don’t have a foil, from the sailing boards on, you are a “nobody.” I think this course has been very fascinating for the new generations who find an added pleasure in speed.

WWD: What do you think about the other teams?

P.B.: It’s premature and I don’t like to talk about others. Surely they are all very well-prepared also because if you think you are not, it’s best to give up. It is a very cynical competition because you work for years and then only one of us challengers will acquire the right to participate in the America’s Cup against the New Zealanders.

WWD: Do you think you will be present in Barcelona for the whole time? What are your expectations? P.B.: I will be in Barcelona, I don’t know if for the whole period but as long as possible.

WWD: Do you continue to sail?

P.B.: Certainly, whenever I can, I like to stay on the open sea and navigate.

WWD: I know you collect boats; can you tell us about this?

P.B.: It’s a great passion, I very much enjoy it. I am fascinated by the restoration phase. We try to safeguard as much as possible the originality of the construction and return the original beauty and function to the boats. I also very much like to race with them. Today, modern boats require professional crews who need to be very well-prepared athletically. Instead, vintage boats allow me to race and have fun with a team of friends led by [Olympic Brazilian sailor] Torben Grael.

This year, we were gratified by winning both the 12 mR Pre-Worlds at Saint-Tropez as well as the 12 mR World Championship in Porquerolles [France] with Kookaburra II, a world championship we won twice before with Nyala and once with Kiwi Magic KZ 7.

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THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE BIRTH OF FOILING IN THE AMERICA’S CUP

In late August 2012 a grainy photo of a boat emerged online. Most hardened America’s Cup followers will clearly remember the image that was the talk of the sailing world for many weeks.

A high angle shot, looking down on a giant 72 foot red and black Emirates Team New Zealand catamaran seemingly flying above the waters of the Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour.

Debate raged:

“OMG photoshopped of course,”

“Can't be foiling - anyone can see from that picture they're simply launched off a wave.”

“On close inspection it is photoshop. You can see where the bow and stern were in the water. They have cut, lifted an pushed the boat forward 1/2 a boat length. Shame. That was cool for about 5 min”

An image that was so far outside the realms of the imagination of most people- but not those inside the base of Emirates Team New Zealand.

The cat was out of the bag, foiling had arrived. But there had been many months of secretive R&D meetings at Emirates Team New Zealand that went into developing a concept that would transform the world of America’s Cup racing forever.

Rewind to 2011, two years out from the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco. A time of any campaign where teams are thinking outside the square with weird and wonderful ideas having been studying the AC72 class rule, looking for loopholes and testing or attempting to validate some of the most innovative theories. A crazy concept was continuing to circle within Emirates Team New Zealand.

“What if we could make the AC72 catamaran fly above the water?”

Was there a way to design a control system within the rules to move the daggerboards in the water to create enough lift to support the weight of five saloon cars on a surface area the size of a desk?

In 2011, simulation was not at the required level of technology that it is today, so testing and ideas had to be validated on the water.

The challenge was how to keep such a crazy concept of foiling secret.

Auckland Harbour was a goldfish bowl to tens of thousands of eyeballs which would gawk at a vessel levitating above the water and sailing faster than most engine powered boats on the harbour, so a more discreet location was required.

And so, the first testing of the concept of foiling for America’s Cup all started on a remote and narrow lake in the middle of the Waikato region - Lake Arapuni - as a covert mission with a boat affectionally nicknamed, ‘The Waka’.

Things got off to a rocky start. Early on in the ultra-covert project, while towing the Waka south, a small group of team members (who shall remain nameless) had to call the team CEO Grant Dalton to explain there was a slight curveball in the operation. The top-secret test platform was now firmly the centre of public attention because they had neglected to tie it to the trailer appropriately and it had slipped off and was causing a multi mile traffic jam on Auckland’s Southern Motorway.

The issue was swiftly resolved, and adversity overcome. The operation was back on track.

Glenn Ashby was relatively new to the team back then and quickly understood that foiling was not just a whacky fad but something that had to be kept under wraps.

“We made sure we were not in branded team kit. To anyone walking the dog around the lake, we probably just appeared like a few old battlers towing a beat-up old catamaran down the lake for fun.” Said Ashby

“We just had quite a few people with cameras, computers and pelican cases in tow.”

It wasn’t an instant success, but it didn’t take long for the gigantic gains that foiling presented to emerge.

“After a couple of weeks of tuning and building new foils we got to the stage where we were able to tow the boat and pop out of the water and fly stably.

The Waka was a fantastic boat to learn all about foils, to understand what you could and couldn’t do, and potentially what the future could hold for us.”

“Some of those evenings where we would sit around the table, knowing we were pioneering absolutely new ground in the America’s Cup and in foiling multihulls and foiling boats was a pretty special feeling. Sitting there with the designers and the sailing team really knowing that you were part of such a special period of America’s Cup history in the making.” Recalled Ashby

The concept continued to grow legs and the operation eventually moved back up to Auckland and the backblocks of the Hauraki Gulf.

“Eventually we put all that technology and testing into use on our SL33 catamaran and, ultimately, we built our AC72 catamaran with fully foiling in mind. We knew we could do it, and we knew we had to push hard and push big because absolutely we could see that foiling was the future.”

Ultimately the innovative foiling golden bullet from New Zealand didn’t win the 35th America’s Cup for Emirates Team New Zealand, but it did change the face of top-level yacht racing forever. And it did install the belief in the team that being different and pushing the boundaries, throwing the ball as far as we could in innovation was the secret to success which eventually came in Bermuda in 2017.

“I think back fondly of those times in 2012 and how foiling was really born on a lake in the middle of the Waikato in little old New Zealand.”

Now, two years out from AC36 in 2021, as quiet as it seems from all America’s Cup teams, you can be rest assured there are plenty of innovative ideas being tested within design offices around the world, that could be the next quantum leap forward in technology on or off the water.

Time will tell.

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The America's Cup: Everything you need to know about the sailing competition

Ahead of the 2021 America's Cup in New Zealand , Elaine Bunting explains everything you need to know about the sailing competition in our handy guide - from America's Cup racing rules and history, to detailing just how fast those hydrofoil boats can go...

The America’s Cup is considered the pinnacle of yacht racing. Every four years, teams compete for the oldest trophy in international sport in yachts that represent the cutting edge of yacht design and technology.

This is a magnet for the world’s most talented sailors. It is notoriously difficult to win, and the opportunity comes only once every four years. Yet the storied history of the Cup has always attracted brilliant minds and been backed by some of the world’s most ambitious and successful businessmen.

The America’s Cup match is held between only two teams, the defender and one challenger. The series that establishes the right to be that challenging team was held through January and February, and provided some genuinely shocking moments.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR?

Two of the four challengers were eliminated in the Prada Cup challenger series in January and February. The US team American Magic spectacularly spun out of control and capsized in a high-wind, high-speed mark rounding. Despite rapidly being rebuilt, the team was unable to get the boat fully functional again and was ousted from the Prada Cup without a single win.

The British team INEOS Team UK, led by Sir Ben Ainslie, won the opening round robin series handsomely and were regarded as favourites only to shock fans when they were thrashed 7-1 in the Prada Cup final by the clearly faster Italian team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

So after several brutal gladiatorial rounds, the match is on between old rivals Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. The stakes are sky-high: whoever wins the America’s Cup not only earns the historic America’s Cup ‘Auld Mug’ trophy, but they get to write the rule for 37th America’s Cup in four years, defining the yacht design, how it is sailed – and to choose the venue where it will all take place.

It is a winner-takes-all format. The America’s Cup is famously a race in which, as Queen Victoria was informed during the first contest in 1851, “there is no second.”

HOW IS THE AMERICA’S CUP WINNER DECIDED?

The challenger, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, will race against the defender, Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th America’s Cup match series starting on 10 March.

There are two races each day on 12, 13 and 14 March with additional days on 15, 16 and 17 March if needed to conclude the first-to-seven wins series.

A choice of race course is decided each day depending on wind conditions, but the courses are all windward-leewards with around 3km between each end and around 1.5km from side to side.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TEAMS RACING FOR THE AMERICA’S CUP?

Emirates Team New Zealand, yacht Te Rehutai – The home team is the defender, having won the Cup in Bermuda in 2017. Heading it up is the steely Grant Dalton, with eight times America’s Cup campaigner Kevin Shoebridge capably in charge of the sailing side. The design team is also second to none – and between them they all set the rules this time.

The Kiwis boast some of the youngest sailors, who grew up in the era of foiling, notably the wildly gifted Pete Burling as helmsman and his Olympic champion crewmate Blair Tuke, who share a Gold and Silver Medal and six World Championship wins in the high performance 49er class.

The pair works in partnership with the team’s resident Australian Olympian, Glenn Ashby. This successful triumvirate was a crucial ingredient in Emirates Team New Zealand’s last Cup win. Ashby is key to tactical decisions, Blair Tuke is the so-called flight controller in charge of flaps on the foils and rudder, with Peter Burling is steering and coolly making those split-second decisions on the race course.

Their yacht Te Rehutai has many visible differences compared with Luna Rossa. It is a more brutal looking design beside the smooth shaped, elegant Italian boat, and has quite different shaped foils (see ‘How do the America’s Cup yacht work?’): New Zealand’s are almost flat across the wing base, while Luna Rossa’s foils are in a dihedral shape, sloping downwards from a central wing bulb.

These are just the most obvious differences, and there will be many more variations beneath the surface, especially in the complex control systems. Yet despite dissimilarities, the speed differential between teams in the Prada Cup varied only by fractions of a knot, putting the emphasis on dominating pre-start manoeuvres, reading the wind shifts and match racing the opponent. These will all play a part in the Cup match too.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, yacht Luna Rossa - The Italian team, backed by Patrizio Bertelli, is bristling with experience. Italian team boss Max Sirena has been involved in six America’s Cups.

At the wheel, the Italians have a set-up never seen before, with straight-talking Australian Jimmy Spithill helming on starboard and Italian Olympic sailor Francesco Bruni helming on port. When one is steering, the other acts as flight controller and trims the foils.

It is a formidable partnership. Spithill is the most successful Cup sailor in the line-up, having been part of seven campaigns and winning it twice in 2010 and 2013 for Larry Ellison’s US team Oracle. Bruni, meanwhile, has three Olympics behind him and several Cup campaigns himself.

While this unconventional division of control between the two helmsmen prompted observers to shake their heads at first, it has proved highly successful. Spithill has suggested that the arrangement allowed them both to accelerate their skills, while at a very practical level it means no one has to jump out of the cockpit and cross the boat during high-speed G-force tacks and gybes before settling back into continuity in a new position.

Indeed, it has been so successful that Emirates Team New Zealand have been experimenting with changing to the one-helmsman-per-side arrangement, split between Peter Burling and Glenn Ashby. Watch out, this may come into play at some point.

Meanwhile, they have increasingly brought into play the tactical skills of Pietro Sibello, an Olympic 49er sailor, who is to be seen popping up to read the wind and the race course and feed back into the strategy.

HOW TO WATCH THE AMERICA’S CUP

America’s Cup racing is split into two parts throughout February and March and you can watch them all free. All the racing will be streamed live on the official America’s Cup YouTube Channel , Facebook and on americascup.com .

It will also be on free-to-air and pay-to-view networks in 120 territories around the world, including TVNZ in New Zealand, RAI and Sky Italia in Italy, the BBC and Sky UK & Ireland in the UK, and NBC Sports in the USA and Caribbean.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR IN THE AMERICA’S CUP RACES

1. The pre-starts. This America’s Cup has traditional upwind starts. Each team must enter the start box from opposite ends at the two minute mark. They jostle for the best position with the aim of hitting the line powered up exactly as the clock counts down to 0:00 – and in front of their opponent.

To get an advantage, each team will look to dodge, weave, box out their opponent, put a penalty put on them, or execute some other perfectly legitimate but edge-of-the-seat manoeuvre. These minutes can be among the most exciting of a whole race, and may set the tactics and playbook for all that follows so are not to be missed.

2. Mark roundings. Teams can round either one of two marks at the top or bottom of the course, so watch for splits here, close overlaps and other tactical manoeuvres. As the boats bear away at the upwind mark rounding they head into a power zone, speeding up rapidly. This is where we have seen the AC75s exceed 50 knots of speed and get unstable and into trouble with flight control.

3. Light winds. The AC75s have sometimes struggled to foil in winds of under 8 knots. When they come off their foils they suddenly go from supersonic to super-slow. Comparatively huge distances can open up or disappear in a flash if one team finds a puff and gets flying while the other is floundering. On light days, everything can turn inside out in seconds.

4. Strong winds. The same is true in big winds. Mistakes in crewing and sailhandling can be punishing when these massively loaded boats are fully powered up. When the winds are up, the pre-starts and mark roundings are likely war zones.

5. Match race tactics. Some thought the equivalent of hand-to-hand combat could never happen in the AC75s, but they have turned out to be agile and the crews surprisingly willing to throw them into some very close quarter spots. They are also able to mark opponents tack for tack and gybe for gybe round the course to defend a lead and deny their opponent a passing lane. Watch for these clever displays of aggression and stealth. And do listen in the live audio feed from each of the boats that gives big clues as to what each skipper and tactician is doing, thinking and planning.

WHAT ARE THE AMERICA’S CUP YACHTS?

Teams are racing in the AC75 design, a radical 75ft long monohull with no keel that flies on foils at speeds of up to 50 knots.

Deciding the boat to be raced is one of the spoils of victory, and when Emirates Team New Zealand won the last America’s Cup in Bermuda in 2017 they decided to create something never seen before, and where their knowledge of foiling could be a winning advantage.

The AC75 design rule is a so-called ‘box’ rule, which sets some key parameters such as hull length and overall length with bowsprit (75ft, hence the name AC75). The 62-page rule specification defines draught, minimum hull volume, number of sails, number of foils, even the number of boats – the teams have been allowed to build two and will all be racing with iteration No. 2 – but leaves other areas such as hull shape and foil flaps open for teams to develop.

As these yachts do not have keels, they rely for stability on a mere three tonnes of total ballast, plus 960-990kg allowed for 11 crew. The ballast is spread across two swivelling foils that look like arms (some say insect legs) on each side.

To keep some design costs down, the teams have one-design elements, such as the components and arms that move the foils up and down. However, the shape of the foils, the flaps and the control systems that operate them are absolutely key, and unique to each team.

The rule has also kept hull shape relatively open so we see quite striking differences in shapes. This reflects different teams’ thinking about the best way to promote foiling as early as possible in the wind range and slip as smoothly as possible between displacement and flying modes.

The sails are unique, too. The mainsails are twin-skinned soft wings, a new hybrid between a conventional sail and hard wing.

HOW DO THE AMERICA’S CUP YACHTS WORK?

The AC75s are designed to be able to fly in as little wind as possible, and as consistently as possible across the wind range up to the maximum of 23 knots allowable for the America’s Cup match.

To do that, the yachts have a canting T-foil on each side that provides the lift to take the hull out of the water and fly.

The foils are ballasted to provide stability, and are set across a large beam, so the AC75s have a huge amount of righting moment. That means they can carry a very large and efficient sail area to drive the boat.

Once the leeward foil lifts the hull clear of the water, there is very little drag, with only one slender foil and the T-foil rudder in the water. That, in a nutshell, is how it is possible for these yachts to reach 50 knots of boat speed, and potentially more.

In the real world, there are lots of variables that will affect foiling. New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf sees a large wind range, often blustery conditions, and there are also waves to contend with. Keeping a large boat foiling efficiently and consistently on just two slender points is like juggling on a slackline, and the control systems for rapid adjustments will be a critical but largely invisible factor.

WHAT’S THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICA’S CUP?

Books could, and have, been written about the contentious history of the America’s Cup. It all began in 1851, when a syndicate of businessmen from New York sailed the schooner America across the Atlantic and beat a fleet of British yachts in a race around the Isle of Wight, winning the 100 Guinea Cup.

Famously, Queen Victoria, who had watching the race, asked who was second and the reply came: “Your Majesty, there is no second.”

The 100 Guinea Cup was donated to the New York Yacht Club, renamed in honour of the schooner and a Deed of Gift drawn up for ‘a perpetual challenge cup for friendly competition between nations’. The America’s Cup is the oldest trophy in international sport and arguably the most difficult (and expensive) to win.

For 160 years, Britain has been trying to win it back. Challengers have included the tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton, who challenged five times between 1899 and 1930.

After a golden era of racing in the J Class yachts, the Cup was raced for in the 12-metre design, then an evolving International America’s Cup Class. More recently it has been contested in much faster multihull designs.

The America’s Cup has always been defined by, and contested with, the backing of some of the world’s wealthiest businessmen. Winners have included Harold Vanderbilt (1930, 1934 and 1937) and Henry Sears (1958).

In the modern era, Ernesto Bertarelli’s team Alinghi won in 2003 and 2007 before losing to Larry Ellison’s Oracle Racing in 2010. Ellison’s US team successfully defended in 2013 before losing to New Zealand in 2017.

Both men retreated from the America’s Cup following their defeats, but Patrizio Bertelli, CEO of the Prada Group, is still trying to win it for Italy after five Cup campaigns with the Luna Rossa Challenge.

Since 1851, the US has defended or won the America’s Cup 30 times, New Zealand three times, Switzerland (Alinghi) twice, and Australia once (Alan Bond’s Australia II in 1983). Despite 16 challenges in a Cup match since 1870, Britain has never yet won back the trophy that left its shores in 1851.

WHAT IS THE AMERICA’S CUP TROPHY?

The America’s Cup , affectionately known as the ‘Auld Mug’  is an impressive piece of silverware. Including its pedestal, it stands 1.1m high and weighs over 14kg. It was made by London-based silver maker Robert Garrard & Co, the royal jeweller since 1735, and was originally a claret jug.

It was given an extra pedestal in 1958 to make room for more engraving, and when that ran out of space, another was added in 1992.

A little known fact (which says so much about America’s Cup rivalry) is that when Oracle won the trophy in 2010 the engraving marking rivals Alinghi’s victory was rotated round to the rear. A new base in carbon fibre was also made to replace the mahogany one.

When Louis Vuitton sponsored the challenger series, the America’s Cup was given its own large Vuitton trunk on its 150th birthday in 1998. With Oracle as the holder it was accompanied everywhere and closely guarded by white-gloved bodyguards.

On winning it in 2017, Emirates Team New Zealand took it to yacht clubs round its home country and let members and young sailors handle the famous silver trophy.

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Watch: America’s Cup – foiling explained

• Stef Bottinelli

When foiling was introduced in the America's Cup in 2013 it was a real game changer. But how does this impressive technology work and what are the benefits? Watch the videos of the America's Cup teams talk about hydrofoils and how to use them

Foiling not only looks impressive, it makes boats lighter and helps them race faster. No wonder it was a game changer when hydrofoils were introduced in the America’s Cup in 2013, after 159 years of using displacement boats…

How it all started….a look at the history of the America’s Cup 

How did the America’s Cup go from using displacement boats, heavy boats that sit deep in water, to foiling? Watch the evolution of the race from 1851 to now.

It’s just like flying…how foils work

Foiling looks impressive, it’s like flying on water. But how does it work? Here’s for the science bit….

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America’s Cup: how does it work?

Our guide to understanding how points are allocated during the competition for the 35th America's Cup and how the Challenger…

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Emirates Team New Zealand have won the Challenger Playoffs Finals after beating Artemis and will now face Defenders ORACLE TEAM…

How to work with foils

Did you know that hydrofoils behave just as an aeroplane wing does? When foils get enough velocity they lift off the ground, making the cat fly on water. With the weight of the hull no longer dragging the boat down, the craft can sail much faster.

Learning to foil-tack

When SoftBank Team Japan started foiling-tacking successfully in 2016, the other teams knew they had to catch up and quickly! But it took a few crashes and mishaps before they managed to nail the tack.

Berthon Winter Collection

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August 2024

In the August 2024 issue of Yachting World magazine: News Few finish a tempestuous Round The Island Race European rules are eased for cruising to France and Greece Olympic sailing…

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“At this stage of the America’s Cup, you don’t want to be too comfortable.” – Inside INEOS Britannia

• Helen Fretter
• August 20, 2024

Just one week out from the start of the 37th America’s Cup, Helen Fretter goes behind the scenes with British Challengers INEOS Britannia

“There’s a moment where you cut the chase boat for the last time and then you’re by yourself. There’s eight of you left to do it. I love that moment.” It’s one week to go until the first race of the 37th America’s Cup . The opening races for the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta in the AC75 begin on 22 August 2024.

For every team, there is still a huge amount to do and the clock is ticking relentlessly, but after four years of hard graft, stress, sweat and anticipation, that first race is tantalisingly close.

I spent a day behind the scenes with the INEOS Britannia British America’s Cup squad. What, right now, are they are most looking forward to?

“It’s T minus 5,” cyclor David ‘Freddie’ Carr says. “So we have a call sheet, from T minus 90 to the entry all the way down to the start. Every minute is planned in that 90 minutes for warming up.

“And from T minus 25 to T minus 5 we have 20 minutes where the chase boats are alongside. The shore crew get on and do their last checks. The coaches come on and input into the afterguard about what they’ve seen. The performance team will talk to the trimmers about where they think the set up’s at. The cyclors will do their last bit of fuelling and cooling.

“And then at T minus 5, you cut the chase boat for the last time and then you’re by yourself.

“That’s the moment. That’s the moment where there’s eight of you left to do it. I love that moment.”

Article continues below…

Ben Ainslie: “We’re a bit of a dark horse” – America’s Cup countdown

It’s one week to go until the first races of the 37th America’s Cup in the AC75. Inside the INEOS…

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The pursuit of the America’s Cup, the pinnacle of competitive sailing, has long been a storied journey for Britain. With…

Good vibes in British camp

That first race is a delicious prospect – but this is also the point in the campaign when stress levels ramp up. Freddie Carr knows better than most how the mood of an America’s Cup team can fluctuate. This is his sixth America’s Cup campaign, having worked with: GBR Challenge; Swedish Victory Challenge; Team Origin; Luna Rossa; Ben Ainslie Racing; INEOS TEAM UK. What’s his assessment of the mood in the British camp?

“The team vibe is good, actually. It’s really good. It’s not comfortable. And I think that’s really good. You don’t want to be comfortable.

“I would not be happy sitting here right now going, ‘Oh yeah, the boat’s really fast. We’ve maximised everything, and we think we’re in a good spot,’ because you know if you’re at this point in the America’s Cup and you’re happy with everything, you’re going to get overtaken pretty quick.

August 13, 2024. Training in Barcelona ahead of the Preliminary Regatta. INEOS BRITANNIA

“And we’re not there. We’re in a position where we’re – I’m reluctant to use the word happy because you’re never happy – but we’re in a position where we are satisfied with where we’re at.”

“Comfortably uncomfortable,” I suggest?

“Comfortably uncomfortable,” he agrees. “And with some potential performance gains on the cards, which I’m sure all the other teams have got as well.

“And excited. I think that’s the big thing. I’m not going to lie – the previous two America’s Cups with this syndicate, we’ve been in this spot and I’ve been filled with a little bit of trepidation because I knew that we weren’t hitting the performance markers that would put us on a trajectory to achieve what we wanted to achieve.

“Now, that’s not by any means saying that I expect us to go and clean up this summer, but we are comfortably uncomfortable. Let’s leave it like that.”

If you enjoyed this….

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Want to See America’s Cup Racing Up Close? These 9 Yacht Charters Let You Watch From the Water

Options range from 200-foot-plus superyachts with side trips to ibiza to intimate sailing vessels catered by michelin-starred chefs. let the races begin., jemima sissons, jemima sissons's most recent stories.

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Next week, when the 37 th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup kicks off in Barcelona with its opening ceremony, the contest that began in 1851 with a race around the Isle of Wight between the fastest British and American sloops (the yacht America won handily) will come back to Europe for the first time in 14 years.

The move to the Catalan capital from the 2021 event in New Zealand will make it more accessible to sailing fans in Europe, and even North Americans who want to view the fast, technical AC75 foiling boats in person. Barcelona has been preparing itself for a surge of spectators for the “return” of the Cup, which was held twice in Valencia, Spain, in the aughts.

The America’s Cup may be billed as “the race with no second place,” but it takes three months of racing and four events for one of five Challenger teams to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, and that winner will race Defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup final. The racing runs from August through October, and this year includes a first-time all-women’s America’s Cup as well as an event for the world’s best youth sailors.

Having Barcelona as a venue was a smart move, partly for the gorgeous beaches fronting the race course on the Med. But there is also the city’s magnificent architecture and sense of history as well as vibrant arts, culture and, of course, no shortage of Michelin-starred restaurants.

There are many five-star hotels in the area, but the smartest and most thrilling way to see racing is by water. The vessel options are wide-ranging—from weeklong superyacht charters to luxury suites on a cruise ships to day trips on sailboats with Michelin-starred cuisine. Many can be combined with on-land stays and even cruises to other parts of Spain as part of the itineraries.

One important note: Four zones adjoining the race course allow spectator boats. Before chartering a vessel, be sure to find out which zone the boat will operate in, because that impacts how close you are to the racing.

Here are 9 options to suit the most avid Cup aficionados or those visiting Barcelona who want to sip champagne and watch the AC75 foiling boats battle it out.

Superyacht ‘Resilience’

Edmiston is offering charters aboard the 212-foot Resilience during the America’s Cup. The ISA-built superyacht, designed by Enrico Gobbi, features a mosaic-tiled pool, circular fire pit and a BBQ for a ringside lunch. Post-race pampering comes via the steam room, sundeck jacuzzi and gym, and there’s even a self-playing Edelweiss piano and projector for evening entertainment. The vessel sleeps 12 across seven cabins. From September 16, weekly charters start at about $645,000 (€600,000).

Explora Journeys

The soon-to-be-launched Explora II looks very much like its sistership, the Explora I : onyx finishes, self-playing Steinways, on-deck Technogym bikes, a spa with a Himalayan salt room, Dunhill cigar den and a wine cellar boasting decades-old Chateau Latour. With 461 luxury suites, how was the Explora II chosen to become an America’s Cup viewing platform? The idea came from the top down. 

“I love sailing and believe the Med is the most beautiful sea on earth,” Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of the cruise division of MSC Group, told Robb Report during a visit aboard Explora I in Barcelona. “We thought if only our customers could also experience [the America’s Cup], we can call it the ocean state of mind.” 

Explora II launches in mid-September, with itineraries planned to coincide with the different Cup events. On October 6, the vessel will be in port for the Louis Vuitton Cup Final and Puig Women’s Races. Guests can take a walk to the official race village and experience its excitement before watching the races from their suites. A 10-night journey starts from $5,210 per guest.

The Almanac Sailing Experience

Barcelona’s Almanac hotel has a romantic-gastronomic experience that offers guests front-row seats on a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45 sailboat with a capacity for 10 guests. Besides the racing, the package includes two nights at the hotel. The boat comes with the hotel’s branded slippers and Jimmy Boyd bespoke amenities. Enjoy a selection of customized Cava Bellinis from the pop-up bar. Chefs from the hotels’ restaurant will also serve up shrimp salad and fennel ceviche paired with organic Spanish wines. The boat can be chartered every Saturday from August 31 to October 26. The Louis Vuitton Cup round-robin starts on August 29 and lasts through Sept. 8. There’s also the Puig Women’s Race (first all-female America’s Cup in its 171-year history) and, of course, the America’s Cup finals in October. Prices start at $2,940 per couple. 

Superyacht ‘C’

For a majestic week-long cruise that incorporates America’s Cup summer races and possible side itineraries in Costa Dorada, Sitges and Formentera, Camper & Nicholsons’ expansive 177-ft C is the flashy option, defined by Minotti furniture, lacquered panels and a hamman. It also sleeps 12 in six cabins that feature a master and two VIP suites. Its chase boat also offers a great opportunity for side trips. Weekly charters from Sept. 18-October 31 run from about $513,000 or €400,000.

Sailing Yacht ‘Imagine’

UK adventure specialists Pelorus offer a private seat on an elegant sailing boat seeped in America’s Cup history. Built in New Zealand by Alloy Yachts, Imagine is a 110-footer that served as an official viewing platform for the America’s Cup in Auckland, but it has also completed three global circumnavigations. Beyond its sailing chops, it’s a beautiful vessel, with a blonde, teak-lined deck, large salon and dining area, and three cabins for sleeping seven guests. It will be available from October 12 for the America’s Cup final. Pelorus is also offering to bookend the week with trips to Majorca and Ibiza. About $101,000 (£79,121)

Superyacht ‘Diane’

Also available from Edmiston, the 141-ft Diane can accommodate 10 guests in five staterooms for the week. The interior is all about soft hues, featuring cream leather and white marble, boasting a bar and plenty of outdoor seating for watching the races. For the non-race legs, guests can take to the water via the large beach club, complete with seabobs and wakeboards. It has a Balearics license, making a hop to Ibiza or Majorca a possibility. Weekly charter rates from September 23 run about $150,000 per week (€140,000)

Black Tomato Cup Package

Incorporating a city-stay, Black Tomato’s America’s Cup getaway includes a day’s private day charter to view the race, plus five nights at the Mandarin Oriental as well as visiting the regatta course and different bases of the America’s Cup teams for an insider’s look at the operations and technology. As a dayboat, its Bali Yacht Saxador 400 GTO can accommodate 11 guests. It sets sail from Port Olympic, giving guests a sweeping view of the city on one side and the regatta course on the other. The boat has access to the blue area (for preferred charter boats) on the front line. From $12,750 per person, based on two people.

Superyacht ‘Quasar’

Camper & Nicholsons recently introduced the 153-foot Quasar to the charter market and what a great way to end the Med season than by viewing the America’s Cup. It has six cabins (including two master suites) that can accommodate 12 guests, along excellent outdoor seating, an upper salon that joins the aft deck area for viewing the races or dining al-fresco. The beach club has a large selection of water toys. Visits to scenic Med ports around Barcelona are also possible on the week’s charter, which start at about $232,000 (€210,000).  

Superyacht ‘Kiawah’

For front row seats on day charters in the blue zone (the third-closest area to the races), official charter partner ac37 Sailcharters offers different types of vessels and packages. The 110-foot Kiawah features a cocktail lunch on board, a specialized lecture from an expert sailor, and an AV system to follow the race in real time. From August 22 through October 11, daily rates are about $34,000 (€30,800) and during the America’s Cup finals October 12-27, rates move to about $41,000 (€37,400).

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Herreshoff America’s Cup Yacht “Colonia”

LOA: 119′ 0″ LWL: 85′ 0″ Beam 24′ 0″ Draft 15′ 0″ Original Rig: Cutter Hull Number: 435 Designer: N.G. Herreshoff Contracted By: Archibald Rogers Syndicate Contract Date: 12/13/1892 Original Price: $45,000 Boat Location: Current Owner: Owner Since:

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CHANGING FORTUNES ON DAY THREE OF LOUIS VUITTON PRELIMINARY REGATTA

Another glamour day in Barcelona with four tantalising match-ups on the penultimate day of action at the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta. No change at the top of the leaderboard overnight with Emirates Team New Zealand holding firm after a win against the Swiss whilst the charging Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli kept the pressure on and secured the second podium spot with a clean win against INEOS Britannia.

For the British and French teams though, there were plenty of positives to take away with both securing their first points of the regatta. INEOS Britannia enjoyed an impressive opening win against Alinghi Red Bull Racing where the potential of ‘Britannia’ was stunningly revealed. Looking fast both upwind and downwind, Sir Ben Ainslie’s team secured the lead in the closing stages of the first windward leg and romped home, never headed again, to a resounding 33 second victory.

Ainslie was pleased with that performance saying: “It was a much better day. I felt like we were finding our groove a bit with how we were sailing the boat. It’s very small differences as expected at this level, but, a good race against Alinghi Red Bull Racing but a shame against the race with Luna Rossa with the pre-start entry - it was a nice pre-start - other than that I think it would've been quite an interesting race without the penalty as there was a difference in sail plan decisions. So yes, a good day, a positive day, every day we’re out there we’re learning more about how to sail the boat and improving on that which is a good feeling.”

For Orient Express Racing Team, the French bounced back from their Foil Cant System issues of yesterday and looked super-positive on the water. Their win against NYYC American Magic was awarded soon after they started as NYYC American Magic were forced to retire with a rudder rake cylinder issue that brought ‘Patriot’ to a halt before they could start. 

Quentin Delapierre was pleased to score their first point and praised his outstanding shore team, saying: “It was good to be back on the water and good for the team’s confidence. I really appreciate the teamwork the guys did last night, and I think the boat worked pretty well today and we could do our normal boat handling. We were ready to race against the Americans but unfortunately, they had a big issue.”

Tom Slingsby, helmsman for NYYC American Magic talked through the rudder-rake issue they faced in the pre-start with Orient Express saying: “There was a loud bang and we had a failure in the rudder system. It’s frustrating because it’s a completely new issue. We have sailed around here for six months now and never had a problem. We were sailing around for an hour prior to the race, doing all sorts of manoeuvres with no issues. Then we enter the start-box, cross the French, go into a tack and ‘bang.’ You hope this never happens but the points in this event don’t count – and it would have been hard for us to progress to the final, even with a win – so it doesn’t really matter. But we lost a chance to get some more practice in, which is disappointing.”

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli kept their relentless pressure on, with a win against INEOS Britannia in the third race of the day after the British scored two penalties on themselves in the pre-start with a marginally early entry at the starting line and a boundary infringement. The resultant 150 metre forfeit was enough to give the Italians an early lead from which they built and were never headed, recording a 46 second victory and reaching the final.

Speaking afterwards, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli helmsman Jimmy Spithill said he was looking forward to the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta final against Emirates Team New Zealand with clear objectives: “It’s really just to learn as much as we can, and really just another great opportunity to have a shot at the Kiwis. I haven't seen the forecast yet but yeah, just another good opportunity to line-up against the top team.”

For Alinghi Red Bull Racing it was a tough day on the water, succumbing to two losses – against INEOS Britannia and Emirates Team New Zealand. Maxime Bachelin, port helm, was looking to the future and taking as many positives out of the day as possible, saying: “It was a tough day. We worked a lot on the pre-start in the simulator yesterday because of the start with American Magic yesterday was not that good. Today our two pre-starts were pretty good, we managed the boat-handling quite well so this was nice, but afterwards we made mistakes on the racecourse on the first cross, and so it's there where we just lost the boatlengths and after that they kept extending. But still, very happy with the day. It's a very good practice to have two races in the day.”  

The final race of the day saw Emirates Team New Zealand take on Alinghi Red Bull Racing and for the first time we saw a split tack start with the Kiwis taking the right and the Swiss going left. When the two boats came back together, it was advantage Emirates Team New Zealand and they capitalised on every leg, winning by some 1 minute and 15 seconds. A 100 percent record from the Defenders of the Louis Vuitton 37 th America’s Cup, they go into Sunday's match against NYYC American Magic having already sealed their place in the final.

Speaking afterwards Peter Burling, Skipper of Emirates Team New Zealand was eyeing the racing tomorrow saying: “Everything to play for, we’re very much here to try and improve the performance and just check in across the range of conditions. It’s obviously going to be completely different conditions tomorrow so that'll be exciting, and just trying to figure out a plan overnight.”

Asked if he saw Luna Rossa as the closest competitor, Peter responded: “I’m still going to stand by that teams are good in different wind strengths - we haven't seen Magic in too much breeze yet, and Ben (Ainslie, INEOS Britannia) in some conditions seems pretty fast as well, so yeah we have to wait to and see, it just seems like whoever puts their best foot forward in a race and gets off the line well seems to win them so it’s all going to be about that tomorrow.”

All is now set for a super-Sunday of outstanding AC75 racing with three more matches followed by the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta final between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Their race on the opening day of the regatta ended prematurely with a breakdown on the Italian yacht on the first windward leg so it will be a fascinating tussle between these two impressive teams for early momentum and team morale.

With it too close to call, this one could see fireworks on the water. Tune in at 14:00 CET tomorrow to catch all the action.

(Magnus Wheatley)