Saturday morning in Auckland was another open-house, free-for-all moment at the Luna Rossa base. As we said yesterday, this is unprecedented in the America’s Cup, used to decades of absolute control and secretism and undoubtedly, Patrizio Bertelli made a bold move. However, if you think about it, given the vicinity of so many private boats around the Luna Rossa AC72 yacht, we are sure that the Artemis and Oracle Team “observers” have been lurking for days now, snapping hundreds of closeup shots. As a result, Bertelli’s move might not be so stupid after all. If your adversaries have already studied the smallest details of your boat, why not let the media have the same access and the same opportunity to see the boat from so close? It will certainly do no harm!

Under the watchful eyes of French multihull guru Franck Cammas and a couple of Emirates Team New Zealand technicians, the Luna Rossa crew was busy carrying out the final load tests on their brand new AC72. If all goes according to plan and barring any unexpected problems, the team will take Sunday off and then embark on a busy week that will see the Italian yacht taken for her maiden sail on Thursday.

Luna Rossa carry out load tests on their brand new AC72 yacht. Auckland, 27 October 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Luna Rossa carry out load tests on their brand new AC72 yacht. Auckland, 27 October 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Luna Rossa carry out load tests on their brand new AC72 yacht. Auckland, 27 October 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Luna Rossa carry out load tests on their brand new AC72 yacht. Auckland, 27 October 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Luna Rossa carry out load tests on their brand new AC72 yacht. Auckland, 27 October 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Luna Rossa carry out load tests on their brand new AC72 yacht. Auckland, 27 October 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Luna Rossa carry out load tests on their brand new AC72 yacht. Auckland, 27 October 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info