America’s Cup 1980 (1980)
Limited edition silkscreen
While visiting Sweden in the late 70ties Franco got friends with Pelle Pettersson who invited him out sailing to show him how sails really looked like. Franco made this image for the Swedish Challenge for the America’s Cup 1980, but when showing it at the art fair in New York, the NYYC asked him if it could be the official image for the race. For Sverige he made the “Swedish Challenge” and together with “24thDefense” these three images became the first official works for the America’s Cup1980. Since then he has been nominated many times to be the official artist for this sailing event, which brought him fame and invitations to do other sailing- and sport events as well. (America’s Cup, Whitbread, Volvo Ocean Race, Champagne Mumm, YCMC )