‘CRAZY’ DAY ON THE BAY OF ANGELS FOR LUNA ROSSA
‘Crazy’ was how Marco Gradoni, the current Youth America’s Cup champion, described an eventful two-boat training session for Luna Rossa out on the waters where the first Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta will take place. It’s now a little under 80 days to the start so the importance of sailing across a range of conditions is paramount for the home favourites who will be looking to score a crucial momentum-inducing win on the first stop on the ‘Road to Naples.’
The breeze forecast was solid with 12-14 knots from the south-east but what the Bay brought today was a vicious metre-high swell for the two AC40s who started with long straight lines to get a feel for the conditions alongside some rapid-fire tacking practice in the waves.
Keeping well in range of each other, the two teams performed close quarters tacking manoeuvres (with a couple of epic nosedives caught from the drone camera) and then continued their duels downwind on low angles.
Speaking afterwards Umberto Molineris alluded to the goals for the day saying that it was all about getting the Youth & Women team up to speed in the conditions. The settled ‘primary’ team consisted of Marco Gradoni and Ruggi Tita on co-helm duties supported by Gigi Ugolini and Umberto Molineris.
The Youth & Women’s team saw plenty of rotation to give vital time on the AC40 to new rising talent within Luna Rossa. Josh Junior helmed throughout the day from the starboard pod and was joined by Margherita Porro, the winning co-helm in the Women’s America’s Cup in 2024. Margherita had switched in for Vittorio Bissaro, the highly experienced trimmer, before Maria Giubilei came onboard alongside the triallist Giovanni Santi (not confirmed as part of the team just yet), and Massimiliano Antoniazzi, the decorated and highly promising Italian ILCA sailor.
This was day 12 of Luna Rossa’s AC40 programme as confirmed by the team. Each team has a maximum number of permitted days of two-boat AC40 training as outlined in the Protocol governing the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup which states under clause 24.3c: “the number of sailing days where Competitors have two AC40s on the water will be limited to 35 days from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 and a further 35 days from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.”
For Luna Rossa, overall this was a very valuable full-on day on the beautiful and testing waters of Cagliari, Sardinia.
Magnus Wheatley