America's Cup: Luna Rossa wins all three practice races in Naples
by America's Cup Media 25 Sep 07:22 BST
Luna Rossa crosses Emirates Team NZ - Practice Racing - Day 2 - Louis Vuitton America's Cup - Preliminary Regatta Naples - September 24, 2026 © Ricardo Pinto / America's Cup
While sailors often treat practice races with superstition — frequently avoiding a win — the Luna Rossa Principal team took a different approach, winning all three races with leads extending up to 500 metres.
Steered by Peter Burling on the starboard pod and co-helm Marco Gradoni, with trimmers Maria Giubilei and Gigi Ugolini, the crew made conservative starts before working through the fleet into the lead. They favored the right-hand side of the course looking upwind, working the starboard boundary and managing the wind shifts as the southerly breeze trended south-west during the afternoon.
Luna Rossa coach Simone Salva assessed the performance of both squads: “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.”
While several AC40 crews showed competitive boat speed at times, ARC Team USA stood out by finishing second overall in the non-scoring practice racing after recent joint preparations in Pensacola and Naples. Helms Harry Melges IV and Lucas Calabrese handled manoeuvres cleanly, including a double gybe at the leeward gate in Race 2.
Lucas Calabrese put the result into perspective: “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.”
Emirates Team New Zealand had a mixed outing. Nathan Outteridge and Seb Menzies faced issues off the starting line that left them working through traffic, though a solid second race helped secure third overall on the day. Trimmer Iain Jensen noted: “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 also considered a port-tack start in Race 2 before electing to duck at the line. Jensen explained: “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 crew, led by skipper Margherita Porro and co-helm Max Antoniazzi, improved across the day and frequently raced near the front.
Porro reviewed their outing: “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 finished level on practice points with Luna Rossa Women & Youth after dropping off the foils following an apparent communication error. Dylan Fletcher commented: “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 Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth team, skippered by Jake Pye, opened with a second place before slipping into the middle of the fleet due to tactical errors. Pye said: “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.”
Tudor Team Alinghi and La Roche-Posay Racing Team dealt with boat issues, starting errors, and penalties. Alinghi trimmer Pietro Sibello stated: “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 it was also 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.”
La Roche-Posay co-helm Diego Botín noted their lack of recent time in the boat: “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 quickly. 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.”
GB2 skipper Hannah Mills OBE pointed out the narrow margins on the course: “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.”
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