Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli at the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup – Day 1
by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 17 Sep 11:12 PDT
17-22 September 2024
UniCredit Youth America’s Cup, Race Day 1 – Group A – Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Youth Team – 17th September 2024 © Ian Roman / America’s Cup
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli delivered an outstanding performance. With a first and second-place finish today, the LRPP Youth team accumulated 17 points in the provisional standings of Group A, which is designated for the America’s Cup’s youth teams.
The inaugural day of the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup faced extreme weather, prompting the Race Committee to first postpone the start until 5:00 PM due to insufficient wind, and subsequently to shorten the course for Race #2 because of strong gusts and substantial waves. Only two of the originally planned races were completed.
RACE #01
After more than three hours of waiting for wind on the course, the regatta finally commenced in approximately 7 knots of wind, which later escalated to 13 knots. Luna Rossa crossed the start line perfectly timed, distancing themselves from the other boats, and made an exceptional start by taking the lead immediately on the left side of the course. The large waves and increasing wind made it extremely challenging to keep the AC40s on their foils. Despite several sharp crashes, the crew, led by Marco Gradoni and “Gigi” Ugolini, expertly controlled the boat and rounded the first mark with a 28-second lead over their competitors. From that moment on, gliding on their foils at speeds exceeding 35 knots, they maintained their lead for the entire race, finishing over a minute ahead of the second-place boat.
Luna Rossa: 1st place (+10 points).
RACE #02
For the second race of the day, only four teams were positioned at the starting line, under even stronger wind and wave conditions than the first race. Luna Rossa lined up with NZL and USA on the left side of the course, rounding the first mark in second place behind NZL. On the downwind leg, flying at 40 knots, Luna Rossa overtook the Kiwi team (who later lost their foils) and took the lead, rounding the second gate with a 15-second advantage. The second beat nearly turned into a match race with the American boat, which succeeded in getting ahead. On the second downwind leg, both boats remained close, with numerous lead changes, but keeping the AC40s stable on the waves increasingly proved difficult. With gusts reaching 18 knots and rising sea conditions, the committee opted to shorten the course by placing the finish line at the downwind gate. At that time, it was impossible for Luna Rossa to regain the lead. The Italian boat finished second behind the American Magic team.
Luna Rossa: 2nd place (+ 7 points).
The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli crew included: Marco Gradoni and Gianluigi Ugolini (helmsmen), Federico Colaninno and Rocco Falcone (trimmers).
