Luna Rossa’s perfect three days in the America’s Cup preliminary races

Dominant! In the organisation’s official press release, it is even described as ‘sublime’. Adjectives that are, to say the least, unusual for describing a sailing boat. But Luna Rossa is a boat that flies, something that has revolutionised the perception of sailing; many baby-boomers turn up their noses at it, but young people are enthusiastic about these boats capable of reaching 100 per hour: they travel three times faster than the wind propelling them. Over three days at the village—which, for a week, cleared the cars from the Caracciolo seafront—a staggering 250,000 people came to watch the regattas, with one eye on the sea and the other on the six-degree screens strategically positioned around the area.

Luna Rossa won, hands down, the America’s Cup preliminary regattas which concluded yesterday in Naples, against a backdrop of Vesuvius, Castel dell’Ovo and Ischia: an enchanting setting. This success mirrors that achieved in Cagliari last May, once again securing victory in the final match race (just two boats competing head-to-head) between the top two crews in the standings following eight fleet races. Before decisively beating the New Zealanders, Luna Rossa had won four of those eight races.

The teams will not now compete against each other again until 22 May 2027, when the Louis Vuitton Cup qualifiers begin, which will determine who will be the official challenger seeking to wrest the America’s Cup from Emirates Team New Zealand. The Kiwis have held the ‘Auld Mug’ without interruption since 2019, having previously been the Defenders from 1995 to 2003.

Will Luna Rossa be the team to reach the ‘Match’, which is also set to take place in Naples between 10 and 18 July 2027? The crew that wins seven races will claim the ‘Vecchia Brocca’. Predictions in sailing are more complicated than in other sports, because it is often the wind that decides the outcome. Back in 2024 in Barcelona, the boat that today flies the flag of the Circolo della Vela e del Remo di Napoli – but which had previously been affiliated with the Yacht Club Punta Ala, the Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa and the Circolo della Vela Sicilia – was considered the favourite to win the Louis Vuitton Cup and go on to challenge the New Zealanders, but was overtaken by the British team from Ineos, who were let down by a few flaws in the mechatronics (the high-tech heart of these cutting-edge boats). Now Luna Rossa has a trump card to play: his name is Peter Burling, he is New Zealand-born and has won the America’s Cup three times with his home country’s team, but he was won over by the Italian challenge and a millionaire’s contract. If the Italian boat has won in both Cagliari and Naples, it is undoubtedly down to him; the rest of the crew has changed: replacing Ruggero Tita as second helmsman is Marco Gradoni, a talent of unquestionable and crystal-clear calibre; Maria Giubilei, the team’s ‘philosopher’ with her degree of which she is so proud, has taken the place of Vittorio Bissaro; and Luigi Ugolini, who, alongside Maria and as a world champion in the Nacra 17 flying catamaran, has replaced Umberto Molineris.

The preliminary races are contested using identical 12-metre boats; next year, however, the competition will switch to 22-metre AC75s, which will have a crew of five plus one guest, with a requirement for at least one woman on board. Under the regulations, no new boats may be built; instead, the boats used in Barcelona must be utilised, with substantial modifications planned to the electronics (the power for certain manoeuvres will no longer come from cyclists but from batteries) and to the hydrofoils that enable the boats to fly. The designers are, of course, working to avoid the mistakes of 2024, and Peter Burling’s contribution is fundamental in this regard too.

Luna Rossa was the only team to have already chosen, back in Naples, to include a woman in its main crew; Maria Giubilei is certainly now in a strong position for next year as well. The rest of the crew is yet to be decided; the rotation between Cagliari and Naples was planned, and Burling’s choice – together with that of the big boss, Max Sirena – will certainly be a key factor here too, as there is certainly no shortage of talent, as has been demonstrated.