EMOTIONAL REUNION FOR LUNA ROSSA
Over twenty years ago, on Sunday 20th October 2002, the Amerigo Vespucci, regarded as one of the most beautiful sailing craft of all time, sailed into Auckland Harbour for the 2003 America’s Cup and was memorably greeted in the Hauraki Gulf by the Luna Rossa IACC boat with Francesco de Angelis steering. The images from that day became iconic Italian representations and record of the old and the new in the sailing world.
Today (Saturday) out on a perfect Bay of Cagliari, the Amerigo Vespucci, the three-masted naval training vessel whose home port is La Spezia in southern Italy revisited Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli who buzzed the bow and stern of the famous vessel in the team’s LEQ12 to create lasting imagery with the vessel built in 1930 looking fabulous in the early summer sun of Cagliari.
Max Sirena, Team Principal of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli was onboard the Tall Ship and described the feeling saying: “It was different to see Luna Rossa, the LEQ12 prototype, from the deck of the Amerigo Vespucci and when it was going by the bow or the stern of the boat it was quite emotional to see the faces of the people or the young guys onboard the Amerigo Vespucci - so it was quite a unique moment which doesn't happen often in life. I mean at the moment I think the Amerigo Vespucci is worldwide known as one of the most beautiful sailing school (boats) of the Italian Navy. Luna Rossa is becoming more and more popular and thanks to you guys (the recon team) as well and so I think seeing let's say two famous Italian flagships in the same space of water in front of the City of Cagliari was beautiful.”
Max further covers the important decisions that are being made with regards the new AC75 and speaks about his firm desire for a fast boat to try and win the America’s Cup from Emirates Team New Zealand. Max gives an interesting assessment of how tough it’s going to be to come through the Challenger Selection Series with all the teams looking strong and certain to innovate. A must-watch video after what was an emotional and rewarding day for the Italian team.
INTERVIEW: MAX SIRENA, TEAM PRINCIPAL, LUNA ROSSA PRADA PIRELLI
On Water Recon Unit Notes: The Italian LEQ12 rolled out at 11:00 and the yacht was craned in by 11:20, the usual protocol checks followed and dock-out was scheduled at 12:15 to catch some afternoon sea-breeze, looking promising considering the hot summer temperatures. On this day the team planned an emotional reunion at sea with the Amerigo Vespucci, the renowned training ship of the Italian navy.
When the prototype was being towed out of the harbour, the sea-breeze was filling in nicely and the RU anemometer displayed 11-13kn southerly sea-breeze. The mainsail M1 was hoisted with the J2, and the yacht was all set by 12:45. The LEQ12 was boarded by 6 sailors at first which then swapped occasionally, hosting several guests on the joyride seats during the session.
Similar to routine sailing day, the Italian LEQ12 was up and foiling on portside tack after a smooth self-take-off with a light initial pull by Chase2. At first, the prototype sailed mostly straight line for testing with a minimal number of manoeuvres towards Sarroch before bearing away towards Cagliari and coming to a stop.
On an upwind course, perhaps close reach/hauled, boat speeds of 34-36kn were recorded while after the quick bear away, the recon unit’s chase couldn’t keep up with 39-41kn on broad reach.
Within this break, the sailors debriefed and had lunch before sitting back in the pods and being towed up by Chase2. Once up and foiling, the LEQ12 tacked and bore-away and headed towards the Amerigo Vespucci for several flybys followed by the helicopter. Several guests from the Amerigo Vespucci boarded Chase1 and some had the chance to board the joyride seats for some sailing.
Afterwards the pods hosted only sailors and the LEQ12 performed some more straight-line, several manoeuvres, two boards time and aggressive bear-aways before trimming back up.
Then the team called it a day as the prototype sailed near the harbour and came to a stop at 15:30. For the day, a total foiling time of 91 out of 205 minutes with 12 tacks, 10 gybes [Michele Melis AC Recon].
Dock out: 1215 Dock-in: 1540
Conditions: 12:35 S 11-13kn / 13:15 SSE 9-12kn / 15:05 S 12-14kn
Weather AM: 28°c @ 1200, sunny.
Weather PM: 24°C @ 1400, sunny.
Sea State: 12:30 approx. flat / 13:30 chop Beaufort 4
Onboard Today:
Helms: Jimmy Spithill / Marco Gradoni / Francesco Bruni
Crew: Umberto Molineris / Andrea Tesei
Onboard (Joyride seats): Giulio Bertelli, Luigi Romagnoli - Commander Amerigo Vespucci
Sails Used:
Mainsail M1 (MN1-1S): 3 hours 15 minutes
J2 (J2-1-B): 2 hours 50 minutes
Total Tacks: 12 - 9 foil-to-foil, 2 touch & go, 1 touchdown.
Total Gybes: 10 – 8 foil-to-foil, 2 touch & go, 0 touchdowns.