Maccaferri Futura’s new Class 40: Luca Rosetti at the start of a super ocean season

The wait is over, another major Italian ocean project is about to take flight and has taken its first steps from Genoa where the technical launch of Luca Rosetti’s Class 40 Maccaferri Futura, a project-supported by Officine Maccaferri, a global leader in civil and environmental engineering, took place. Our Sailor of the Year 2024, winner of the last Mini Transat, put his Musa 40 Evolution, the sixth in the series designed by Gianluca Guelfi and Fabio D’Angeli, on the water for the first time. A busy season starts immediately for Rosetti, with the primary objective being the Transat Cafe l’Or at the end of October, formerly the Transat Jacques Vabre, a transatlantic in doubles. Rosetti will race the boat in major regattas on the Class 40 circuit, including the Rolex Fastnet Race, the Route du Rhum, the Transat Café L’Or Le Havre Normandie, as mentioned, and the RORC Caribbean 600.

What Class 40 is Maccaferri Futura

Construction was entrusted, of course, to Sangiorgio Marine, the yard that has built all Musa 40s since Hull 1, Ambrogio Beccaria’s Allagrande, and the boat is now a certainty among Class 40s, as it has established itself as one of the best performing hulls in the fleet. A few small but important changes in this Evolution version, namely the keel moved towards the stern and forward mast, the “flaps” at the stern to divert water flow and keep the rigging area drier. Small upgrades due to feedback gathered over the past 2 years. This new trim allows a better balance between upwind and downwind gaits, making the boat even more versatile and competitive in a wide range of conditions.

“The launch of Maccaferri Futura represents for me a moment of great emotion and pride. It is the result of months of passionate work by an exceptional team, which, together with Officine Maccaferri, believed in an ambitious project from day one . It is a balanced, fast boat designed to give its best in all conditions.” – Luca Rosetti commented.

“With Maccaferri Futura, we have a goal that goes beyond the individual boat: we want to push Class 40 to think about an evolution of the regulations that incentivizes research and the use of sustainable materials.” – Rosetti added.

In fact, some non-structural elements were developed from flax fiber and thermoplastic resins in collaboration with nlcomp® (Northern Light Composites), a company at the forefront of sustainable solutions for recyclable composite materials. Harken provided a range of state-of-the-art products for deck equipment, from winches and blocks to safety equipment.

The boat was coated with Stoppani‘s innovative bio-based transparent paints, with 30 percent of the raw materials used derived from certified renewable sources, while North Sails provided the sail set, tailored to ensure maximum performance and versatility in racing.

Research in Maccaferri Futura is not only part of its construction, but also part of its mission. Already since its launch, the vessel houses participatory oceanographic monitoring instruments and projects inside, curated by Arianna Liconti, the project’s Scientific Coordinator, with the goal of better understanding the sea, mile by mile. Recently, the science project aboard Maccaferri Futura was selected as a charter action of the European Union MissionRestoreour Ocean and Waters, for its central role in protecting marine ecosystems and biodiversity, in line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030.

Who is Luca Rosetti

Born in 1995, a native of Bologna, Romagna, he has been sailing since childhood and discovered racing around age 10. As a teenager he moved between Optimist and Laser, where he tasted the first race courses, but it was not until 2016 that his love for offshore racing was sparked. A meeting with the owner of a Mini 650, Lorenzo Gervaso, is the spring that sparks his curiosity.

It was with Gervaso’s Mini that Rosetti began to grind out miles until he participated in the 2019 Mini Transat, which he finished in 18th place after a good performance. From then on he decided to shift gears and put on a more ambitious project. It would take a few years, but eventually Rosetti bought a new generation boat, the Maxus, and decided to set up his training directly in France, in Lorient. Thus began the preparation for the Mini Transat 2023, showing some very good things already in the approaching regattas that confirm how much the sailor Rosetti, despite not being a veteran, has the makings of something important.