America's Cup: Luna Rossa to take a holiday break before switching into race mode
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 13 Aug 13:43 BST
Luna Rossa (ITA) - Day 14 - August 4, 2026 - Cagliari, Sardinia © Ivo Rovira
Italy's America's Cup Challenger, Luna Rossa, has come to the end of a two-month testing phase and will take a holiday break before shifting their focus to the second three-day Preliminary Regatta in Naples, starting on September 24.
After the end of Wednesday's session, Team Director, Max Sirena who has been with the team since its inception in 1996, reviewed their progress to date, and particularly what has been achieved since they moved out of the commissioning phase.
"I think it's been great,' Sirena told the Recon unit assigned to cover Luna Rossa. "We've been lucky, because we had wind basically every day we went out in the water, which is great for us and for the amount of work we had to do.
"Today was the last sailing day of this period, and we're gonna have a long week off. I think the team did an incredible job by sailing here in Cagliari and at the same time in Naples with the AC40, so I think we all deserve a few days off before coming back in August and switching on a little bit more in racing mode for the coming event in Naples with the AC40."
At the first Preliminary Event on Luna Rossa's home waters off Cagliari, Luna Rossa won the regatta, and but for a couple of start line issues on the final day, would have had two crews in the two-boat Final.
Sirena said he was happy with the team's progress and where they were positioned in their development program, "but in reality, you're never happy because you want to achieve more and more every time. But I think so far, we are happy with the plan and the program. Obviously, there is still a lot to do. Some of the important key decisions are going to come up soon in the coming month.
"So I think it's great. It's great to see the boat in the water and being able to go around the race course. There are a lot of things you cannot see just by eye."
"I'm happy. I'm happy so far," he reiterated.
The team sailed four days in August, and has used 35% of their allowed 49-day AC75 sailing quota for 2026.
They have momentum in their program, and are tipped by most as the leading Challenger, given that of the six Challengers, only the French are sailing an AC75, and have resumed their program after losing almost a month following their capsize and battery fire.
"Time is short, and we have just less than one year to the beginning of the first race [in the America's Cup Match].
"So we need to be focused, stay focused, and make sure we are taking the right decision at the right moment."