America's Cup: Peter Burling reflects on Italian progress
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 29 Aug 04:13 BST
Peter Burling (centre) with trimmer Vittorio Bissaro under the cockpit canopy, and a simulator engineer in the aftermost cockpit. The pole carries a LIDAR unit to record sail shape - Luna Rossa (ITA) - Day 19 - August 28, 2026 - Cagliari, Sardinia © Ivo Rovira / America's Cup Recon
Italian America's Cup Challenger Luna Rossa returned to test sail their AC75 on Friday in blisteringly hot temperatures of 41°C.
Friday was the team's 19th sailing day of their 49 day Protocol-permitted quota for 2026. They are now just one day behind the Defenders, Emirates Team New Zealand.
The session was cut short by light weather. Afterwards, skipper Peter Burling reflected on where the Italians were up to at this stage of the campaign.
The three-time America's Cup winner was happy with the progress, given that they are still working with legacy gear first used from the 2024 America's Cup in Barcelona. Some of the components have been modified to an extent which is limited under the rules which govern the next America's Cup, which gets underway in mid-May in Naples.
"It's been an awesome month sailing here so far. It feels like the level in our understanding of the boat is growing very, very quickly.
"Today we tried to chase some light air, and we got a good hour of sailing. But unfortunately, it got a little bit too light towards the end, so it wasn't to be."
"But it's been a really productive period."
Burling says the repurposed AC75's have improved from 2024.
"They've got a lot lighter (500kg) since the last America's Cup, which really makes them so much better in the light air. Today was obviously super hot. It's really humid and sticky, so it made life on board not the most comfortable of conditions.
"We've had some really fun sailing throughout the month in some stronger conditions as well, like on Monday. I think it's been really good all round, and we're just learning a lot across the board."
Much of the recon and fan focus has been on a new rudder and the take-offs and nosedives that have taken place on the last few sessions - which appear to be more related to flight control issues, with the crews being put under more time pressure to get up to race pace in the AC75.
Qualified naval architect, Michele Melis of the AC38 Recon team, is on his second Cup Recon cycle following the Luna Rossa. He's has been following the Italian team since launch date and quizzed Burling on the rudder, saying that recent mods on the rudder resulted in it being at least 150mm shorter compared to the initial iteration - with more area on top of the blade.
"What's the compromise there? Would you would you rather prefer more control or less area? Melis asked"
"The compromise is always how much control you have versus how much drag you take," Burling replied.
"For us, it's been challenging to find ways to really improve the boats this cycle. We're using exactly the same package as in the last America's Cup, with very limited things to play with. It's been great for the team's understanding of a few particular components to get some early iterations in. With things like the sails and a few things on the appendages. There's been big upgrades obviously in the control systems. It's been amazing to see how quickly the boats continue to develop, even with something that's very well refined."
Burling gave an evasive answer to a question from Melis as to how much more gains there were to be made on the rudder.
"On the rudder in particular, probably not a heap."
"I think all the teams kind of converge into about the same place. But you'll have to wait and see."
Luna Rossa - Sailing Day 19, August 28, 2026 - Cagliari, Sardinia
Crew List:
- Port Helm: Marco Gradoni (ITA)
- Starboard Helm: Peter Burling (NZL)
- Port Trimmer: Umberto Molinaris(ITA)
- Starboard Trimmer:Vittorio Bissaro (ITA)
- P5: Maria Giubilei (Port) P6: Tommaso Polato (Simulator engineer) (S'bd)
Wind & Sea Conditions:
- Sunny all day
- Wind: @12:30 5-6.5kts 140°, @13:00 3.5- 5kts 140°,
- Sea State: Flat, Chop 0.5m SE
Times and Tacks
- Dock Out: 1130hrs
- Dock In: 1430hrs
- Time sailed: 2hr 45min
- Foiling time: 32mins
- Tacks: 11 - 3 Touch & Go; Gybes: 12 - 4 Touch & Go
Recon Unit Report: Luna Rossa - Sailing Day 19, August 28, 2026 - Cagliari, Sardinia
LR rolled out their boat at 10:15. Hottest day of the summer, partially covered sky, high humidity percentage and bottom-end breeze range.
Wings were still equipped with slim camera poles on the pressure sides at mid-span.
Several shots of new rudder iteration R05-E have been taken from a different perspective, revealing the sharp leading edge. With a closer look at measurements, the rudder appears much shorter compared to the initial version R05-C, launched June 26, 2026 (Sailing Day 5).
Dockout was scheduled for 11:30. The legacy mainsail M1-8 was hoisted and paired with the J2-9 before being towed foilborne. The starting crew consisted of Marco Gradoni (helm), Umberto Molineris (trim), and Maria Giubilei (5th) on port, and Peter Burling (helm), Vittorio Bissaro (trim), and Tommaso Polato, sim engineer (6th) on starboard.
The boat was towed towards Sarroch, where the team found some profitable pressure, bottom-end range with 4.5-6.5 kts from 145°, with remaining swell from SE.
The boat commenced this session with a longer board on port tack and proceeded with a first bear-away. Gybes looked successfully executed, board drops happened earlier before changing tack and, higher angles on exits considering the breeze.
After a port tack roundup, the Italian AC75 practised some tacks, with lots of pitch adjustments between entry, transition, and exit, and very few mistakes. The next bear-away and roundup were executed on stbd tack; two additional upwind and downwind were sailed alternating tacks for practice. After 32 minutes foilborne in the lightest air the team has seen so far, the boat decelerated to debrief. Overall, 23 manoeuvres were executed: 11 tacks and 12 gybes. Besides three touch-and-go for tacks and four for gybes, the manoeuvring consistency appeared solid in the light air.
Pressure decreased further to 3.5-5.5 kts from 140° (SE), J2-9 was lowered to hoist the J1-1.
Two tow-ups followed. However, pressure was just too marginal to stay alive foilborne. On the third tow, the boat managed to sail a shorter time upwind before falling hullborne on the first tack.
On the next tow, a minor issue seemed to have stopped the team; mainskins were opening on the leech.
The boat was then towed back towards the harbour for a last unsuccessful tow-to-foil. The team decided to wait a short while for any profitable puffs but ended up calling it a day and docked in.