America's Cup: Luna Rossa lead after stuttering but spectacular Day 1
by Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZ 25 Sep 09:09 PDT
Luna Rossa - Day 1 - Louis Vuitton America's Cup - Preliminary Regatta Naples - September 25, 2026 © Ian Roman/ America's Cup
Luna Rossa, the home team and dominant team in yesterday's Practice racing, led the overnight points table in the second America's Cup Preliminary Regatta after just two races were sailed on the Bay of Naples on Friday.
However, the Italians did not have it all their own way, with the newly minted ARC USA team starting their 2027 America's Cup campaign with an end-to-end win in the first race. They couldn't continue their run of form in the second race, finishing seventh and lying third overall, tied on 14pts with Emirates Team New Zealand.
The day started slowly, with a fickle breeze refusing to solidify across the course, and four attempts were made to start racing before the breeze swung and settled at 12-16 kts, providing ideal conditions for racing in the One Design AC40s.
Two races started and made it to the top mark before being abandoned.
In both, the lead boat foiled into the left-hand corner of the course after rounding the first mark, only to have the breeze crumple out. The following pack enjoyed a similar fate, leaving the race officials no option but to pull the pin and abandon the race on Leg 2.
When Race 1 finally got away, Harry Melges stamped his authority on the fleet, taking over the lead midway up the first leg and was never headed. Behind the US team there was some jostling for position with Emirates Team NZ's Youth and Womens team in second place around Mark 1, but dropped back to 7th by the race finish. GB1 took up the running for the next two legs, before they were passed by Luna Rossa, and like the Kiwis, dropped to the tail of the fleet. GB2, the British Youth and Womens team, hung in to finish 3rd.
The breeze stayed in for
Race 2, which began in dramatic fashion, when La Roche-Posay Racing Team nosedived while returning to start and capsized, as the fleet scattered.
This time the Peter Burling skippered Luna Rossa, like ARC USA before them, staged an end-to-end win, with the Swiss Tudor Alinghi making amends for their last place in Race 1, and hung onto the Italian's coat-tails, finishing 21secs behind in second place. Behind them there was some serious racing in the peloton, with the Emirates Team NZ Youth and Womens holding third place for much of the race before conceding to their senior team, skippered by Nathan Outteridge, who staged a much-needed fightback from being fifth at Mark 1 to be third at the finish, just 1sec behind the Swiss and 49 secs behind the Italians, with ETNZ's Women and Youth 1sec back in fourth.
After the racing, it emerged that GB1 had lost a side panel from their foil arm and raced at least one race - probably a significant factor in the beleaguered team's results.
While Luna Rossa hold a handy 5pt overall lead, behind them 3pts cover six teams, and if the breeze performs as expected, then fast, tight racing is likely, with no one able to claim superiority at this stage of the event.
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