Alinghi Red Bull Racing officially presented its race yacht, BoatOne, with a Christening ceremony at dockside that featured a human tower from local Castellers. The milestone marks a significant shift to the final competition phase of the campaign with the official opening of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup a little more than four months away.
16 April 2024
Barcelona – An America’s Cup campaign is like a Swiss watch full of many distinct and fine-tuned moving pieces that make up the sum of the whole. Today, all those various team parts who have worked for the last two years on the new boat came together as one.
It was a day marked by collective pride, a moment to celebrate the introduction of BoatOne with her formal Christening at the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Base. The special honors were performed by Chiara Bertarelli, who cracked the bottle of Champagne across the bow at 14:00. The racing machine was then craned into the water for her first contact with the sea and some initial systems checks.
“Having BoatOne in the water is the celebration of an achievement, it’s a special moment that triggers a new phase,” said Adolfo Carrau, Design Coordinator. “Today crystalized the contribution of so many different people into our race yacht. It is the first boat the group has designed and built together. It is now time for commissioning and testing.”
During the boat presentation, the human tower constructed by the traditional Castellers is the perfect example of individuals working together towards one goal. The local performers were joined by members of Alinghi Red Bull Racing to help support the tower’s base.
“You spend three years seeing the boat evolve on the computer. Then you see it full size, and it’s like magic,” said Principal Designer Marcelino Botin.
“But you realise it is actually no magic. It’s the result of many people bringing their skills, their expertise, their passion to reach a result which reflects the team’s expectation. This is the most amazing thing with a
boat like this.”
While it was a day for the team to soak in pride, there was also the acknowledgement that there is much work ahead.
“We had the chance to see and discover a lot of BoatOne on the simulator, it’s ultimately much more impressive in real life,” said Skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis. “Launching the boat marks the next stage for us, finally sailing BoatOne. The Sailing team will now have to keep up the amazing work done by the designers and boat builders.”
After these celebrations, it is now time to focus on the next step: her maiden sail in the 37th America’s Cup waters.
More quotes below
Marcelino Botin, Principal Designer
“This boat evolved a lot since the beginning of the project. The first target was to make a boat that is fast for the conditions that we have here. And our final boat is as we’ve imagined her. Designing a boat like this is the most amazing thing you can do in yacht design. It’s so complex, and the fact that you work with a group of individuals, who are the absolutely best in the industry with the top-class tools and everything you need to succeed. We had everything we could ask for during this boat build.”
Adolfo Carrau, Design Coordinator
“What I am most proud of is how the team has embraced our desire and vision to aim for excellence in all areas. Everyone bought into it and put their heart into this to make it happen. Everything about this boat is special. Our goal was to design a boat to be strong in these Barcelona conditions, which means anything. That was the biggest challenge. That’s why it was so challenging and interesting. This milestone is only the start of the next phase, we still have a long way to get the most performance out of it.”
Arnaud Psarofaghis, Skipper
“Last Friday at the Boat Unveiling, it was an emotional moment when she came out of the shed and we presented her to the public. It all became very real. Everyone has put so much energy into getting to this point. I’m now looking forward to being able to make the first tacks on the boat and attack this next phase. We will have to get the most out of this boat and push the performance to continue to develop the boat. It’s up to us to enter the mix and make our contribution by giving the best feedback to make the most of her potential.”
