Totally bonkers
... or just flying high but with an Italian heart! Aside from a small handful of occasional tweets from designer Mark Mills the final assembly of the most outrageous coastal racer of its generation has largely remained beneath the radar... But that will very soon change. Giuliano Luzzatto talks to the new FlyingNikka’s admirable Italian owner Roberto Lacorte
The meeting is on Google Meet at 7.30pm. Despite the long day at the yard where the boat is under construction, the owner of the 60-foot FlyingNikka Roberto Lacorte smiles on the other side of the monitor and begins to update us about the most innova- tive and radical Mini-Maxi ever launched, that we will soon see out on – and above – the water. Of course the boat’s Irish-based designer Mark Mills has enjoyed a long and successful relationship with Lacorte, having designed his previous Mini Maxi SuperNikka, four-time class winner at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. Even so, the faith that the Italian owner has shown in his designer’s ability to tackle something so radically different is something exceptional. Confidence is high, however…
54 SEAHORSE
Seahorse: An amazing boat that, to be honest, we would not be shocked to find running well behind schedule as numerous inevitable new issues are ironed out… Roberto Lacorte: Actually we are perfectly on schedule! The hull came out of the mould on the specified day – and she came out so perfectly that no further fairing was required. Now we are assembling the bulk- heads and by the start of February the deck, currently being post-cured in the oven, will be joined to the hull. After that we’ll begin to install the mechatronics and all the systems… of which many are com- pletely new in a boat of this type. By the end of April we expect to be
starting the first sea trials in Valencia. If all continues to go as planned the racing debut will be at the 151 Miglia Regatta in June [a very popular race between Livorno and Punta Ala on the Tuscany coast, with over 250 yachts and for which Lacorte himself is both organiser and sponsor]. However, this project obviously has
more unknowns than usual because we are exploring absolutely new areas. On the one hand, though similarities are obvious, we don’t need to comply with AC75 class rules – for example, on the foil arm move- ment and wing regulation systems, for which again we are breaking new ground; while from the other side we have different needs due to the use of this boat in offshore racing and compliance with Cat 3 Offshore Special Regulations. We also wish to have the possibility of upgrading to Cat 2 in the future to compete in the Middle Sea and Fastnet Race. In parallel, given the fewer constraints we are working under, our experiments are also proving of interest to America’s Cup teams… SH:When you say AC teams are you referring to Prada or other teams as well? RL: If we can be useful in something we will favour Luna Rossa, because we are both
Italian teams plus the sincere friendship that binds me to skipper Max Sirena and his whole team – from which we have had collaboration, good advice and encourage- ment in moving forward with this project. We share many suppliers and we have other points in common, but the Flying- Nikka project is really something ‘beyond’. Just today one of the electronics technicians told me how excited he feels to be part of such an experimental pro- gramme; this reminds us of the importance of having some owners who dare to go beyond the usual and try new things. Having said that, let’s remain humble
and focused on the work ahead… when we start to discover if the prediction soft- ware proves to be as accurate as we hope! But we remain aware of the scale of the unknowns we face – and with no real input available from another foiling boat. SH: Surely you also anticipate reliability problems? RL: I don’t think so in the mechatronics – we have invested a lot in this area and we are comforted by positive feedback from people with experience gained during the last America’s Cup cycle. The bigger question is the application of
this technology in offshore races. The problem for us will not be the intensity of the wind, we have the ability to quickly reduce sail, but the sea state which is the black beast of all the foiling boats. This has been our biggest area of focus – the result is that we have different and more advanced foil and control systems than you saw on the AC75s in New Zealand. SH: Then once you are sailing you will have no direct opponents to race against… RL:We are only too aware of that! This is a project that for now is rather exclusive. Initially our only opponent will be time – which is fine as we built this boat to win line honours. But this will not last long because
ILLUSTRATIONS CARLO BORLENGHI AND MILLS DESIGN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112
