Luna Rossa Youth team gains two sailors at Naples training

Luna Rossa's Youth & Women team has completed its scheduled July training session in the Gulf of Naples. The work focused on maneuvers, race strategy and crew preparation, with sailors rotating on board and new candidates under evaluation.

Federico Figlia di Granara and Lorenzo Sirena have joined the youth crew. The scouting process, the team said, is still ongoing.

Rocco Falcone and Guido Gallinaro, who combine sailing roles within the team with coaching the women's and youth crews, said they were satisfied with how the week went.

"Sailing with a single boat lets us focus on the group rather than the individual, and build a well-integrated crew," Gallinaro said. "During this phase, for example, we rotated people on board several times a day, pairing experienced sailors with newcomers and trying different combinations to see which worked best. Each day, based on feedback from the sailors and from us as coaches, we set a schedule that alternates start simulations, maneuvers, wind analysis and other activities. On average we spend almost five hours a day on the water, so everyone gets the chance to try different roles and get to know the boat thoroughly. Seeing young sailors join the team feels good, and it takes us back a few years, to when we were the young ones. Today we all work together to build a winning team, with great mutual respect: they learn from us, just as we keep learning from the more experienced coaches working alongside us. It's a strong example of teamwork."

"We are working to build the youth and women's crews, both for the preliminary regattas in September and for next year's Youth and Women's America's Cup," Falcone said. "When we sail with two boats we focus more on match racing; with one, we work mainly on basic maneuvers, such as starts and mark roundings, while also defining roles on board and integrating the new arrivals. I'm very pleased with the two sailors who joined the youth squad: they're very young, but already well prepared. Both have experience on foiling boats and pick up what's required quickly. I remember well the excitement I felt when I joined Luna Rossa as a Youth sailor a few years ago, and I'm sure they feel the same."

Max Sirena, Luna Rossa's chief executive, commented on the session with Boat 1: "The Y&W crews made the most of every useful moment to train, get familiar with the Gulf of Naples and try out different maneuvers and race tactics. The session also served to assess new talent to bring into the sailing team, and at the end we selected two sailors who will strengthen the youth crew. They are among the youngest sailors we have ever chosen, but both have a strong record on foiling boats, and we are confident they will make an important contribution not only to the Youth program but to Luna Rossa's whole campaign. Scouting will continue in the coming months, including to identify new female talent."

Sirena added that training will resume in a few days, involving both the Youth & Women team and the Senior team, working with two boats between Naples and Cagliari: "Running the AC40 and AC75 programs in parallel, between Naples and Cagliari, is demanding. I'm proud of the effort made at every level to keep to the schedule we set for ourselves."

©PressMare - All rights reserved