LUNA ROSSA UP THE INTENSITY IN CAGLIARI ON SATURDAY
Many of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup teams will be in action in the coming week, either continuing their training or starting afresh but for Luna Rossa it was day thirteen of their two-boat AC40 training (out of a maximum of 35 days) on Saturday.
It has been a frustrating week for the Italians with inclement weather over Cagliari forcing a number of cancelled days in the programme, but finally on Saturday the Mediterranean sun broke the cloud cover and gave the team a perfect window for match-racing practice of the highest order on the Bay of Angels.
After a week of storms, the sea state left over built from calm in the early morning to challenging 1 metre period waves at 0.6 metre heights creating a short, sharp chop, but in 9-12 knots of breeze from the south-east, it was perfect foiling conditions and a great test of boat-handling.
Once again the talented helming duo of Ruggero Tita and Marco Gradoni joined forces on one AC40, whilst the other saw Margherita Porro again getting wheel time alongside team coach Josh Junior who is a renowned foiling sailor in the class. The recon report stated that: "Straight line runs were followed by tacking practice then four pre-starts and a race. Umberto Molineris jumped on for Giovanni Santi and some pre-start drills were performed before some more racing. At the end of the day Max Antoniazzi and Maria Vittoria jumped on replacing Junior and Maria Giubilei. Great day of sailing!"
Speaking from onboard the Luna Rossa chase boat, Unberto Molineris, one of the top Italian trimmers and flight controllers set out the day saying: “It was a very nice Saturday morning of sailing after a very bad week weather-wise, so we managed to have the boats in the water this Saturday morning and it’s going pretty well. We are trying to do a bit of (match racing) line-ups and a bit of sail testing to get ready for the Preliminary Regatta here in Cagliari.”
That date in the calendar of 21-24 May is fast approaching for all the teams as they head to Sardinia for the first chance to check-in on the competition and build momentum into their campaigns. In Sardinia we will see up to eleven fleet races before the top two boats are decided and go head-to-head in a winner-takes-all grand final match race. Luna Rossa will certainly be eyeing those coveted final slots and their approach in Cagliari is noticeably intensifying with plenty more to come in the following week – conditions permitting.
Magnus Wheatley