LUNA ROSSA 1 SENSATIONALLY SET THE EARLY PACE IN THE OFFICIAL PRACTICE RACING

Practice races in sailing are full of superstition with many racers doing everything they can not to win them. However, for the Luna Rossa Principal team, they failed to read the superstitious script and put down a marker from the get-go, coming out and smoking the fleet by enormous margins – up to 500 metres at times – to win all three races.

Quite simply it was a masterclass of pace, precision and patience from the new-look Luna Rossa team led by Peter Burling in the starboard pod, with co-helm Marco Gradoni and trimmers Maria Giubilei and Gigi Ugolini. In all three starts they were conservative by their standards but were able to wriggle through the fleet, seize the lead and streak off into the distance. Luna Rossa read the wind to perfection and predominantly played the right-hand side of the course (looking upwind), bouncing off the starboard boundary and reading the wind bends at the top of the course in the southerly conditions that shifted to south-west as the afternoon wore on.

Luna Rossa Team coach Simone Salva was pleased with what both his teams showed today, saying: “For sure, both teams managed the day very well. I think it was amazing to see the second race with a one and two, and amazing how Margherita and Max pulled out from a couple of tough situations, both in the start and also around the course.”

There was little answer from the rest of the fleet of AC40’s although several teams showed flashes of boatspeed to get into podium positions. The most remarkable performance of the day came from ARC Team USA who proved to be on the pace having come together in training out of Pensacola, Florida and in Naples over recent weeks. Harry Melges IV and Lucas Calabrese were showing a smooth style to their tacks and gybes – even making a double gybe look easy at the leeward gate in race two – and they finished second overall after the Practice Racing that does not count towards the regatta overall.

Lucas Calabrese, co-helm with Harry Melges IV, was pleased with the day but kept everything in perspective saying: “We’re all pretty happy with how the day went. Obviously, we’d be kidding ourselves if we think this is it, right? The regatta hasn’t been started yet, and it’s a long way to the Cup next year. We’re really just focusing on being the best we can be, trying to be good teammates with each other, helping each other, learning to work together, and today showed that it’s working pretty well so far. So we’ve just got to keep on the same track.”

Elsewhere it was a tricky day, particularly for Emirates Team New Zealand with Nathan Outteridge and Seb Menzies having some start-line gremlins that kept them fighting out of the pack. A good race in the second flight of the day will give the team encouragement and they will de-brief hard. Finishing the day in third overall Iain Jensen, trimmer for Emirates Team New Zealand and one of the very pinnacle sailors in the world, reflected on the racing saying: “Once or twice we didn’t get out of the start very well and then you are dictated to a little bit. So, you’re trying to get on the lifting tack, you’re trying to get to the right, but your options are very limited as well. So, it’s kind of a bit like gold dust when you find a good opportunity to get back into the race and you’re always sort of hunting for it.”

Emirates Team New Zealand very nearly pulled off the move of the day with a port tack start in race two where they wisely ducked out at the last moment. Jensen described it, saying: “We were pretty close, but maybe not something you try to do on the practice day, I guess. I think they probably would’ve still got at our diamonds (the virtual border around the AC40 yachts), so I think the duck was the right call, but we definitely thought about it for a moment!”

The Luna Rossa Women & Youth team, skippered by Margherita Porro and with Max Antoniazzi on co-helm, had a day that got better as the afternoon unfolded, regularly at the front of the fleet and pushing the Principal team hard. By the third race of the day, they were looking polished and composed and will be a coming force for the regatta ahead.

Margherita was happy with progress, saying: “It was a good day out there, especially for our senior team. For us, in the first race, we looked good in the first part, but we had some problems with the boat. But we did nice starts in all the three races. I’m very happy about that. But in the first, unfortunately, we couldn’t finish it. Our clew got stuck at the pre-start so we couldn’t move it, and the mainsail basically was inverting upwind because of the cunningham, and it was hard to sail, but also dangerous for the battens to break, so we preferred to not finish it. But overall, we did some good starts and there was good communication between me and Max (Antoniazzi). Max did a very good job. It was his first day out there racing, so really nice job. Tomorrow, I think super different and hard conditions, so we will see.”

Challenger of Record, GB1, were well in the hunt all afternoon and finished tied on (non-counting) points with Luna Rossa Women & Youth and were ruing some mis-steps that would have seen them finish higher. A fall off the foils on what looked like a mis-communication was the lowlight but there were plenty of positives to take away from the day as Dylan reflected: “I think we were pretty rusty today. It showed that we haven’t done much sailing compared to some of the others but for us, it was a fantastic opportunity to see what the racecourse was like in that direction. Sort of the direction we expect to be racing in next year. So, it was really interesting. I need to learn how to start on port! Looking forward to the rest of the week and racing.”

The Jake Pye-led Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth team had an up and down day that started very positively with a second place in the first race but then faded mid-pack as the afternoon wore on, more through positional errors than anything fundamental. When they got into the leading group, there was a real composure in the young team. The Kiwis are fast and skipper Jake Pye reflected on a day of learnings, saying: “It was a really good start to the day. Had a great first race and just leading on into the rest of the day, we had a good understanding of what was out there on the course. But yeah, we just found ourselves with a few hiccups and getting stuck a bit in the back...We know we’ve got more to offer on the table, so we’re trying to dig into that for tomorrow and the weekend.”

For Tudor Team Alinghi and La Roche-Posay Racing Team it was a tough day in the office with errors, penalties and boat issues creeping into their scorelines. Pietro Sibello, trimmer on Tudor Team Alinghi was realistic about the day saying: “For sure it was not the best day for us on the water, but it was great to have a bit of training with the full fleet today. We had some bad starts. A couple of extra penalties that we should have avoided and also it was tough at times to keep the lanes, compared to the other boats. So there is a lot, going on now, right now to get the improvements for tomorrow.”

Diego Botín, co-helm on La Roche-Posay Racing Team equally felt there was a lot left on the table performance-wise for the French team saying: “We have some good feelings in some areas and I think we feel confident that we can do good races, and at the same time we didn’t sail the AC40 as much because we didn’t touch the boat since the last AC regatta in Cagliari. So, we are learning quick. Today was a big learning day for us and look, we don’t know where we’re going to finish honestly, but we are looking forward to it. We are confident we can do good races, as I said, and if we can find this consistency around the weekend, we can be fighting at the top.”

Hannah Mills OBE, skipper of GB2 echoed the technicality on the course saying: “It was a tough day in terms of the results, but in terms of what we were trying to work on with the starts, we actually had some really strong starts, it was good. Just a bit slow into certain things on the racecourse and, honestly, one tiny mistake at the top marks or wherever, and that top mark is so tight that if you get a cross wrong or tack in a bit of a bad lane, then you’re just sucked to the back.”

It’s all to play for tomorrow with three races scheduled starting from 2pm CEST and with the weather looking tricky, it could be one of those days where you can’t win the regatta, but you can certainly lose it. The Bay of Naples could well be at its trickiest.

Magnus Wheatley