The essential is invisible to the eyes. But “Lunetta” Rossa flies. PHOTOS

The essential is invisible to the eyes, wrote Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in The Little Prince. Forgive the literary digression, we are certainly not talking about the dialogues between the Fox and the Little Prince in the famous novel, but it was the first thing we thought of when we saw the first images of Red Moon, or rather of the Lunette, the scale prototype of Ac 75 under sail.

In our estimate we were right, we had estimated a length of 7.5 meters (Read HERE) and indeed the boat appears to be around 7 meters although there is no confirmation of the exact length. But what seems clear is that Luna Rossa has carefully avoided showing sensitive parts of the prototype: you can’t see the bow volumes, you can’t see the short side of the foil, you can’t see the profile of the mainsail and mast, so you can’t tell if they are working on the double mainsail or not (in this case, however, it seems not). In short, Lunetta sails, but she is careful to remain mysterious and not to reveal too many details, as she should of course. But something we noticed.

CHECCO AND RUGGERO

Let’s start with the most “striking” data. How nice to see Francesco Bruni at the helm, further confirmation that there is a real possibility of seeing an Italian at the helm of Luna Rossa. But how nice also to see Ruggero Tita by his side, the Nacra 17 outfielder has now officially joined Luna Rossa and has been actively participating in the first sea trials of the prototype.

THE BOAT.

Regarding the boat, there are some interesting things that can be said. Compared to what the Americans of American Magic and the British of Ineos Team UK have shown Luna Rossa’s actually looks like a scale replica of what the AC 75 might be.

The British and Americans had adapted existing hulls; this does not seem to be the case for Luna Rossa. The boat appears to be slightly narrower in proportion to those of the other challengers, and there is a very slight hint of edge in the middle of the boat.

Completely round volumes instead in the stern. The other thing that is noticeable in the photo from the stern is that the maximum beam appears to be definitely forward, even at the height of the mast if not slightly ahead. A detail that would portend not thin but rather substantial front volumes, suitable for giving an important dynamic thrust when the boat descends from the foils to avoid noose diving, the bow-hooking.

For the headsail, a small self-tacking jib is noted, working on a curved carriage, similar to what American Magic had shown. In sum, Luna Rossa’s prototype operation seems to be different than that of the British and Americans. In this case, it does indeed appear that Team Prada made a miniature AC75, whereas the other challengers’ tests seemed more oriented toward experimenting with flight systems and the double mainsail solution

But the essentials, at least for the moment and as is often the case in the America’s Cup, are invisible to the eyes.

Mauro Giuffrè