The shutters opened at the INEOS Britannia base just after 5am on Saturday, and out into the moonlight under floodlight came the boat that all British fans hope will have the best chance of winning the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in 173 years.
Codenamed RB3 for the past two-and-a-half years, the latest AC75 to be revealed is outlandishly stunning with an all-business paint job that accentuates the curvature of the hull form and tricks the eye.
Detailing aplenty, it’s a subtly different approach from what we’ve seen so far and represents the very best of design and build.
The most obvious talking point is the hull form. What the British have gone for is a step-on from their prototype boat ‘T6’ with a voluminous, integrated bustle in the bow with a small chine leading back along the keel-line to a razor-sharp edged lower bustle that stops a few feet from the stern.
