Luna Rossa Women and Youth lead the way in Cagliari on the first day of preliminary regattas for the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup, ahead of the 2027 challenge in Naples. Luna Rossa Senior, with Peter Burling at the helm, follows closely behind. The Italian boat, led by Marco Gradoni and Margherita Porro, with Maria Giubilei and Giovanni Santi, has won two of the three races and leads the standings. The senior team is in second place thanks to two third-place finishes.
Five teams and eight boats in the water: the home team Luna Rossa, GB One with Athena Pathway, and Emirates Team New Zealand with two AC40s (one design, the same for everyone) each, because there is also a Women's and Youth category in the water. Plus the Swiss team Alinghi and the French team La Roche-Posay Racing Team. The Luna Rossa youth and women's teams clearly won the first race, leaving the French team La Roche-Posay Racing Team behind by 36 seconds.
Luna Rossa's youth and women's teams also narrowly missed out on victory in the second heat. They ultimately secured an excellent second place behind defender New Zealand. The other Italian AC40 finally made it into the race, finishing third: in the first session, Peter Burling and his teammates were betrayed by a bad maneuver. Their third start was complicated by the wind. But New Zealand, leading until the final stages, misplaced a maneuver. And Luna Rossa capitalized on the champions' mistake, winning the third race and climbing to the top of the standings. Luna Rossa's senior team finished third in the third heat.
(Unioneonline)
