Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli for MEDSEA Foundation
The “winglet” is the terminal part of the foil on the AC75 "Luna Rossa", the innovative flying monohull with which the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team took part in the challenge for the 36th America's Cup presented by PRADA, held in Auckland between January and March 2021.
Now, after its sixth participation, the team has a record of two conquests of “Challenger”, a title to be earned to race against the defender of the America's Cup, the most ancient trophy in the history of sport.
The America's Cup was born in 1851, when the schooner America beat the English fleet in a regatta around the Isle of Wight, winning the "100 Guineas Cup", which would later become the “America's Cup”.
The America’s Cup does not only represent a sporting challenge between nations, but for decades it has been considered a technological challenge. Each edition has showcased the progress of yacht design and the use of increasingly advanced expertise, both in terms of design and use of materials.
The AC75 is an extremely innovative sailing boat, 75 feet (23 meters) long, weighing 6.5 tons, capable of sailing above the surface of the sea while balanced on lateral arms, called foils. In these boats, the only part touching the water is the extremity called “wing”.
The wing structure, positioned at the terminal end of the foil arm, has a crucial role on AC75 boats; its shape and size are key factors to boat performance.
“For the auction we have chosen a particularly characterizing and distinctive piece of the AC75 Luna Rossa. These new boats are able to navigate lifted above the surface of the sea thanks to the foil system to which the winglet is connected, an element that encompasses design, innovation and the renowned Made In Italy craftsmanship. Never before has the issue of sustainability and ocean protection been such a challenge that has come to involve everyone. For this reason and as a sign of appreciation for the Sardinian community - which for years has represented our home, we have decided to donate the proceeds to support a restoration project of the marine ecosystems in Sardinia”.
The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli designers conducted accurate studies to achieve the design of the wing and its components, drawing inspiration also from the technologies applied to the aeronautical field.
In the last edition of the America’s Cup, the types of wings adopted by the different teams have drawn a great amount of attention, and expert debates mainly focused on the details of components such as flaps and winglets.
These winglets are considered to be the first generation of wings, and were used during the training period in Auckland. Each one is 59.8 cm long and 28.7 cm wide and is made of 17-4 PH stainless steel, a structure with outstanding mechanical properties and excellent resistance to corrosion. Welded pins are positioned at one of its extremities and are used to connect the winglet to the whole foil system which includes arm, wing and flap.
This component was manufactured by means of innovative 3D metal printer technology, with steel powders micro-welded in layers, a production technique that allowed for extreme lightness of the part. To obtain the ultimate smoothness and uniformity, the surface was finished with CNC machinery.
The study and construction of the winglets and of the whole foil system will engage designers for the next editions of the cup and will be subject to further development. The current design now marks a fundamental stage in the research process, and it is likely that in the future it will become an iconic element in the evolution of foiling yachts, that today represent the new frontier of navigation.
The proceeds will be devolved to the MEDSEA Foundation to support its campaign to restore the Posidonia Oceanica ecosystem in the Mediterranean. The donation will be devoted to replanting Posidonia oceanica through the use of eco-friendly and biodegradable substrates in the Marine Protected Area of "Capo Carbonara" in Sardinia.
Though the Mediterranean makes up less than 1% of the ocean, it is home to 10% of all known marine species. Posidonia is a key element for the conservation of Mediterranean ocean providing crucial services as regulating ocean acidity, fixing and sequestrating CO2 to mitigate climate change, consolidating sandy coasts against coastal erosion and finally sheltering several marine organisms. Posidonia is one of the major biodiversity hotspots as it hosts about 25% of marine species of the Mediterranean Sea.
Posidonia oceanica meadows experienced a strong declining trend in the Mediterranean. More than 30% of seagrass areal extent has been lost in the last 50 years. This urgently call for restoration of degraded Posidonia ecosystems. MEDSEA mission is to restore and protect Mediterranean moving from scientific knowledge to concrete on-site actions and thus preventing the degradation of protected ecosystems. This donation will allow concrete results to revitalise marine life and tackle climate change in the southern-east coast of Sardinia.
