FEELS LIKE SUMMER
With experience coursing through every department at Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, it’s no surprise to see the team performing on their LEQ12 prototype straight out of the box. With many observers making the Italians, finalist at AC36, the favourite among the challengers to advance to the Match, they showed today not only their on-water skills but the remarkable talent they have within the team at their disposal.
Onboard the LEQ12 was multiple Cup winner Jimmy Spithill supported by Nacra 17 Olympic Gold Medallist Ruggero Tita and in the desperately light late summer breeze off Cagliari, they towed up on the foils and put in some blistering runs with stable flight and balance the hallmark of the session. Top speeds were in the high 20 knot range but with less than 3 knots of breeze it was a day of just 2-3 minute rides post being towed up on the foils.
The Italian LEQ12 is full of detail and the on-water recon units reported that they believe Luna Rossa to be linking mast rotation with the traveller system whilst also noting an increased mainsail clew area low down by the traveller masking the advanced boom clew mainsheet system (see photo). Clearly sail design and control will be a big area of development in this America’s Cup cycle and the Italians, once flying, certainly look to have systems that harness the lower third of the mainsail to produce enhanced drive low down.
Gilberto Nobili, Operations manager and mechatronics guru for LRPP confirmed the focus for the day saying: “we were very happy with our day, not a lot of wind so we did systems checks around the aero part (of the boat), we checked the mast and all the systems around it and the systems checks went well, all systems worked well. We are very happy.”
Forecasts for the next few days in Cagliari are fairly unpromising with light airs dominating the weather pattern, so it may be a few days before we see the Luna Rossa LEQ12 under its own flight and going through foil-to-foil manoeuvres. (Magnus Wheatley)
Crew: Jimmy Spithill, Ruggero Tita, Umberto Molineris, Andrea Tesei
Wind speed: 3 knots
Sails used: M1 (3hours 20 minutes) J1 (2 hours 10 minutes)
Dock out: 1.30pm Dock In: 6pm