Yachting: Prada plump for second boat in final Cup round

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Prada will pull the second silver bullet from their belt for the last qualifying round of the America's Cup challenger series.

The blazing ITA44, with just one loss from 20 races in the Louis Vuitton Cup, will be stood down for round three starting on Thursday - to make way for sister ITA48.

Why? Because Prada can.

The Italians have decided to give their second Luna Rossa a whirl, with their place in the January 1 semifinals virtually assured.

The first Luna Rossa has earned a rest. No other challenger yacht came close to the first Luna Rossa's 19-1 record after two round robins.

But Prada designer Doug Peterson said it made sense to introduce the second boat to the racing fray.

"Why not? We would hate to have it and not use it," he said. "The crew have to get used to racing a different boat. And if you don't actually race it, you'll never know how fast it really is."

The Prada crew should, in fact, have a pretty fair idea of how speedy ITA48 truly is. The two boats sailed alongside each other every day for four months in Punta Ala, Italy, before being shipped to New Zealand to continue testing.

Peterson described ITA48 as being a little narrower than its predecessor.

"But it is not a light-airs boat. Both of the boats have been built to sail in all-round conditions," he said.

During the break between rounds, Prada have worked solidly on tweaking the two boats. They have sailed two out of every three days.

Other two-boat syndicates have yet to make the call on which boat they will front up in.

The Hawaiians could well opt for their distinctly different USA50, which now sports a bowsprit. Skipper John Kolius has had both boats out trialling for the past 10 days.

AmericaOne skipper Paul Cayard has said it's doubtful that his new boat USA61 will make its debut after less than two weeks in the water; and Young America, of course, have the question answered for them - although USA53, rebuilt after almost sinking, should be back on their base next week.