The Persico FLY40 is a new one design class, which is the direct outcome of the Italian yard’s involvement in the last America’s Cup. It scales down the concept of a monohull with canting foil arms to a size that’s easy to transport to regattas and that can be managed by a crew of five. Yet the class offers the prospect of enticingly close racing, while sailing at up to three times the windspeed.

“In the last five months,” Marcello Persico, president of Persico Marine, says, “we have dedicated ourselves to… transferring our research and development of the 36th America’s Cup to the market. In an instant, on the day we saw our AC75s sail for the first time, all our previous accomplishments up to that moment became ‘the past’.”

Displacement of only 1,600kg, including a 400kg keel bulb for added stability, promises a new paradigm in performance. The boat is expected to fly in only 7.5 knots of true wind while the polars show speeds of 25 knots should be attainable, rising to close to 40 knots in 20 knots of breeze.

Naval architecture and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the project was led by Caponnetto Hueber, a collaborator with Luna Rossa, while structural engineering is by Pure Design & Engineering, which worked with Emirates Team New Zealand. Persico is setting up a circuit aimed at owner-sailors and will manage the logistics and support for teams.

Persico FLY40 specifications

LOA: 11.8m / 38ft 8in
Beam: 3.4m / 11ft 2in
Draught: 3.25m / 10ft 8in
Displacement: 1,600kg / 3,530lb
Price: POA
Builder: persicomarine.com

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