America's Cup: Luna Rossa dings AC75 in training after Lidar post breaks
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 7 Oct 07:46 PDT
Luna Rossa - October 6, 2026 - Cagliari © Ivo Rovira / America's Cup Recon
After a month off the water, the Luna Rossa team rolled out the boat at 9:15hrs preceded by the mast at 9:05hrs.
On the appendages: at first sight rudder seemed to match the previous iteration R05-E, yet to be confirmed by measurements and crane in/out shots.
Both wings were equipped with usual slim cameras at midspan, while the port wing had two additional GoPros pointing towards the bulb, with repainted strips along the span.
Planform shots were taken in the water when board raised to double-check any change in flap/wing areas. On deck the newest mainsheet system was positions suggesting the usage of M2-1 paired to two new jibs J2-1 and J4-1 for the day.
Considering the covered sky and the absence of any gradient, dockout was postponed to 11:30 while some maintenance below the main track fairing was carried out with Vaseline.
Similar to previous sailing day the rig was equipped with several cameras, on mast head port side and spreaders. The starting crew consisted of Marco Gradoni (helm), Umberto Molineris (trim), and Maria Giubilei (5th) on port, and Peter Burling (helm), Gigi Ugolini (trim), and an engineer (6th) on starboard. Later in the day, Ruggero Tita replaced Marco Gradoni, Vittorio Bissaro replaced Umberto Molineris, and several engineers rotated through position 6.
M2-1 was hoisted at 11:50 and paired to the new J2-1 at 12:00. The boat was then towed out looking for pressure but the team opted to standby for the sky to clear and the seabreeze to overcome the offshore Maestrale.
Sea-state offered 0.5m of short chop which challenged the chaseboats to keep up with the 75 on this day. As the sea-breeze filled in at 13:55, it had reached 11-13kts from 140° quite gusty and shifty. The first foiling stint began with a short board leading to the first bear-away of the day.
The boat sailed shorter boards and looked slightly unbalanced, especially downwind. As the team had warmed up, some aggressive bear-aways to roundups were sailed on port tack before tacking and switching to longer boards. In the manoeuvres which followed, the boat appeared consistent, besides a touch-down hitting a wave in tack, perhaps due to a ventilated wing during entry.
An additional upwind and downwind followed before the team sailed back to the harbour, considering a larger rain and thunder system closing in. As the boat stopped at 1440hrs sails were lowered for a short while standing by for a second session. As the system had passed, sails were quickly rehoisted for a second run.
Once the tow line was spiked at 15:30, the boat sailed some shorter boards, executing a series of tacks, the majority of which were successfully executed. The sea breeze had dropped slightly reaching 9-11kts from 125°.
This stint was shortly interrupted as the boat decelerated for an unknown reason. Back foilborne at 15:40hrs by self take off, the training continued and additional tacks were executed.
Bulb-to-bulb times were counted at approximately 6 seconds during upwind manoeuvres, similar for downwind. After sailing some legs, the chaseboats had stopped, and the team ran through some pre-start routines, alternating tack on the starting line and practising full circles in each routine. The boat was stopped at 16:12.
Before the third session began, the sea breeze had stabilised at 9-11kts peaking 12kts from 120°. The newest J2-1 was lowered to hoist another new sail, J4-1, and proceeded with its commissioning. Crew and batteries were swapped and the boat was back foilborne at 1630.
For the next 10 minutes, straight-line sailing prevailed, while it was challenging to keep up with the boat in the stronger chop. After tacking to port tack, the team had a major crash with a wave that broke the Lidar pole, which slammed onto the stbd-side hull and made a hole.
Technicians spent some time checking below deck and jib track fairing. Once the little ding was fixed using tape, the boat was back foilborne on stbd tack and bore away straight away; some gybes were executed, and the day was called with approximately 106 minutes foilborne, 24 tacks and 23 gybes.
Luna Rossa - Sailing Day 21, October 6, 2026 - Cagliari, Sardinia
Crew List:
- Port Helm: Marco Gradoni (ITA)/Ruggero Tita (ITA)
- Starboard Helm: Peter Burling (NZL)
- Port Trimmer: Gigi Ugolini (ITA)/Vittorio Bissaro (ITA)
- Starboard Trimmer:Umberto Molinaris(ITA)
- P5: Maria Giubilei (Port) P6: Engineers (S'bd)
Wind & Sea Conditions:
- Morning: Cloudy and rainy 30°C Afternoon: Cloudy/sunny
- Wind: @14:00 11-12kts 145°, @14:35 11-13kts 130°, @15:30 9-11kts 125°, @16:15 9-11kts 120°,
- Sea State: Short swell 0.5m SE
Times and Tacks
- Dock Out: 1200hrs
- Dock In: 1700hrs
- Time sailed: 5hr
- Foiling time: 106mins (3hrs 35mins)
- Tacks: 24
- Gybes: 23