Luna Rossa’s dad’s “new” boat is a 1909 P-Class

“Mr. Luna Rossa,” Patrizio Bertelli, has a new work of art, a new, extremely rare piece of sailing history, launched 114 years ago, to add to his grand collection of historic boats. His “personal museum” is thus enriched with a new gem, a still-to-be-restored but undoubtedly striking hull. This is Amoret, a 1909 P-Class made to the design of George Owen (#37) and part of a now rare class developed in a box-rule born from the Universal Rule of 1903, the formula devised by the “Leonardo Da Vinci of sailing” himself, the great Nathanael G. Herreshoff. Yes, the same from which the legendary J-Class and America’s Cups from 1914 to 1937 also emerged. Here is what we know about them and, more importantly, what the P-Classes are.

Luna Rossa’s dad’s “new” boat is a 1909 P-Class

It happens, sometimes, that we fall in love with an idea, an object. Sometimes it remains a dream; sometimes, depending on the availability of the individual, it comes true instead. The P-Class is a rare segment, active in vintage circuits and especially on the French Riviera. Hulls are very rare, and obtaining one is almost impossible. Amoret was probably the last one. Almost a wreck, now stripped and with the planking exposed, open, it was scouted out at a shipyard across the ocean in Maine, Northeastern U.S., to be brought “home” to Tuscany, pending major restoration. As befits a masterpiece, a work of art.

• Discover here all the great boats of “collector” Bertelli

What are P-Classes

But why are we talking about works of art? The P-Class is a special class, a little-known class. It is almost an exercise in style, an exercise signed by the greatest designers who ever lived, including precisely George Owen, Amoret‘s signer, and Nathanael G. Herreshoff, the greatest designer who ever lived(we explain why here). But to understand the P-Class, one must take a step back, looking at the America’s Cup and the most incredible defender ever, Herreshoff’s Reliance.

TheAmerica’s Cup of the late 1800s and early 1900s had become almost a two-man challenge between Sir Lipton (owner of the British contenders) and Herreshoff, designer of the American defender. With the 1903 Cup, the U.S. fielded the Reliance, a monster. It is the most extreme hull ever (contextualizing)-proportionately like an Imoca showed up at the first Whitbread Round the World Race, in 1973. Obviously, it overcomes all the odds and poses a question-we explain it HERE. The need arises for a system to consider Handicap, a Universal rule for running in compensation. In 1903 Herreshoff thus developed the Universal Rule. Within this come to life the so-called “Development Classes,” box-rules for approaching a monotype in racing. Emerging from here will be classes I to S, including the J-Classes (America’s Cup 1914-37) and our P-Classes.

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The parameters are not simple, but they are quickly defined in terms of rating: if the J-Class work on a 65- to 75-foot rating, the later ones go down, with the P-Class rating between 25 and 31 feet. Then, like any rule, it evolves over time. 1909 was the big year for the P-Classes, with several designs to be launched, including precisely Amoret, by Owen, and Herreshoff’s Naulanka and Joyant, to name a few.

To this day, several P-Classes still run, an elite circuit on par with the Js, but on smaller and perhaps more adrenaline-fueled proportions. And, as soon as it is restored, Amoret will join them, continuing to keep alive one of the most interesting and innovative design periods in sailing history.

What are Bertelli’s other works of art? Here are some of them

To start with a little masterpiece, signed by the great Herreshoff himself, this “little one” of Bertelli’s is also a big bolide: the
Scud
. Launched by Herreshoff’s own shipyard in 1904, it is one of 13 identical boats in the “Bar Harbor 31-footer” class, measures 14.80 meters overall, 9.60 meters at the waterline, and has the classic narrow beam of its era, just 3.20 meters. In terms of class, at its time it was the smallest cruising boat that could also participate in club races. She underwent a grand philological restoration by Federico Nardi of Cantiere Navale dell’Argentario and, in September 2021, immediately won in her category at Les Voiles de Saint Tropez. At the helm, Brazilian ace Torben Grael. (For more on this, we tell you about it HERE).

The second boat in the collection is also by Herreshoff:
Linnet
, the tenth of eighteen examplesof the New York 30, the first One Design class in history, developed precisely by Herreshoff using his 1903 calculation system, the “Universal Rule.” Linnet (LOA 13.26 m; LWL 9.10 m; BMAX 2.67 m) was born as a boat for members of the prestigious New York Yacht Club (hence the name of the class) based at sea in Newport, Rhode Island, famous for decades as the scene of the challenges of America’s Cup. To date, only 10 of 18 hulls are reported to be sailing.

However, the love for the classics was born with her,
Nyala
, 12 Meters SI signed by Olin Stephens in 1938. Stephens was the wizard of the 12 m SI (21 m long and 3.60 m wide) but, despite the pedigree and intended use, theAmerica’s Cup, Nyala had the misfortune to be born in 1938 for the 1941 edition of the Cup, which never took place because of World War II. After the 1960s it was abandoned, only to be reborn in the 1990s thanks to Bertelli, who had it restored by the trusty Argentario Shipyard in 1996.

In the 2000s comes
Vanessa
, a small masterpiece by the brilliant Giulio Cesare Carcano. Unmistakable in every respect, from the profile of the deckhouse to the rudder, “hanging” from the transom (despite its 15 meters), with retractable centreboard and double cockpit.

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In 1987 an unknown Australian entrepreneur reached the America’s Cup final as a title defender. He builds three boats with little difference between them. Of the three, it challenges the American Kookaburra III, but by all accounts the fastest was the
Kookaburra II
. The one Bertelli purchased in 1995. Beautiful.

Discover all the other boats of the bertelli collector, find them here:

Tutte le barche del collezionista della storia dello yachting: Patrizio Bertelli