Desafío Español 2007 announce their plans for their second new boat, whose construction starts next week.

Agustín Zulueta, general manager, announced the syndicate has finalized 7 hull desings and today, tomorrow and on Wednesday, the design and technical teams will hold intensive meetings in order to take the final decision that will be sent to the boatyard as soon as possible so that next Monday, July 10, construction of the hull can begin at full speed.

Entering further in the details of the project, Zulueta mentioned that if all goes according to plan, the new boat will have her sail number assigned in the first week of October. The plan calls for the end of hull construction in mid January of 2007.

At that time the hull will be transported to the base in Port America's Cup where the technical team of the Spanish challenger will be in charge of fitting the yacht, making her ready to sail during the first week of February.

One of the key persons in this decision-making process during the next three days will be the team meteorologist, given the influence of weather conditions in the design process of such high-caliber yachts.

According to Zulueta, Desafío Español has made a correct decision to optimize their current new boat, ESP 88, for an average speed of 13 knots. Since that was also the average wind speed in Louis Vuitton Act 12, the Spanish boat performed well, except during days with lighter air.

Concerning ESP 88, Zulueta considers they sail at 90% of its capacity and considering the fact they could achieve 110% of its design capabilities, one option for the second boat would be an "extreme design", without explaining what he meant with that phrase.

Finally, Desafío Español is about to finish the design of its new mast. By mid July its construction will start in New Zealand and will be ready to be fitted on the new boat in February next year. This will be the third mast of the Spanish America's Cup challenger, while the fourth, and last, will be a simple copy of it.