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Prada unveils new AC yacht

Luna Rossa ITA 74

PUNTA ALA, Italy -- Italy's America's Cup team has unveiled the new Luna Rossa ITA 74 for the Italian Prada Challenge.

The event took place in a private ceremony at the Team Prada base in Punta Ala, Tuscany.

Miuccia Prada christened the boat by breaking a bottle of champagne across the bow while her husband and syndicate head Patrizio Bertelli and the whole Team Prada looked on.

The boat's logo remains unchanged, but the hull is painted a darker, matter grey than the 2000 series boats.

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After the toasts Bertelli, Miuccia Prada and skipper Francesco de Angelis boarded a plane for Milan where the official press conference for the presentation of the boat took place.

"This new challenge starts again from zero. It is a different challenge with a new team and new boats. We will try to be as detached as possible from the last Cup and we intend to tackle this challenge with renewed energy and enthusiasm," Bertelli said.

Angelis said: "I cannot think of any element of the boat that we launched today that is not totally new, a result of the intense research and development as well as intensive training program followed during the past two years. Every time you participate in a sporting event you must rewrite the page from zero with the intent to better yourself from your previous effort."

A fourth place for a strategist has been added to the back of the cockpit of Luna Rossa to team up with the skipper, the navigator and the tactician, Angelis added.

This could well mean that there are plans to bring American Rod Davis into the afterguard alongside Angelis, tactician Torben Grael from Brazil and starting helmsman Gavin Brady from New Zealand.

The team will train off Punta Ala for the next two months before moving to New Zealand for the Louis Vuitton Cup which starts on October 1 2002.

The second Prada boat, ITA 80, is still under construction and is expected to be shipped direct to New Zealand.