The AC 45’ Luna Rossa touches the water for the first time on Monday in a beautiful, sunny day of the austral summer, with a westerly wind of 18 – 22 knots, and starts its training programme in the Hauraki Gulf. Three questions with Max Sirena, skipper of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013.
Max, how was this first day ?
It has been a very good day, and we are very satisfied. We have reached our first target, the one against the time: we arrived in Auckland the morning of the 9th of January, we have opened the AC 45 containers that same night, and in not even one week we managed to successfully assemble the boat. We knew it would have been difficult in such a short time, but the team has been really fantastic, motivated and concentrated, and I would like to thank everybody for their commitment. And above all I would like to thank Patrizio Bertelli, whose support has been instrumental to achieve all this.Credit : Valencia Sailing TV
Max, how was this first day ?
The boat is really incredible: great accelerations and I was especially impressed by her manoeuvrability. Today it was a learning day and an overall check of the boat at sea, so we did not push too hard, but the first sensations are excellent.
What is your programme for the coming weeks ?
We will be training on our own, with crew rotations, until the end of January and get confident with the boat. Then, in the first decade of February, we shall race against Emirates Team New Zealand. We shall then start practicing with the SL 33’, another class of catamarans, for four more weeks.
At the end of March we shall come back to Italy in order to prepare for the America’s Cup World Series of Naples and Venice.
What is your feeling in coming back to New Zealand ?
It’s a little bit like coming back to your “second home”: some of the best memories of Luna Rossa’s history are tightly linked to Auckland. We therefore have a great relationship with the country and its people, who always showed us their friendship and welcomed us warmly. We really feel at home !
From : America's Cup
