Luna Rossa unveils line-ups for the Naples Preliminary Regatta

With this article, PressMare begins a collaboration with Ganga Bruni, a sailor who needs no introduction and a coach with the Olympic Nacra 17 squad. In his coaching role, he has worked with many of Luna Rossa's sailors. Here is his analysis of the line-ups just announced by the Italian team.

Luna Rossa has confirmed its line-ups for the Naples Preliminary Regatta, with new combinations of sailors who have already proved themselves at the highest level. The pairings aboard the two Italian AC40s have changed since Cagliari, while the team's direction remains clear: blend experience with the new generation, developing a group in which the traditional distinctions between Senior and Youth & Women are becoming increasingly blurred.

On Boat 1, the Senior team, Peter Burling and Marco Gradoni will share helming duties, with Maria Giubilei and Gianluigi Ugolini as trimmers. On Boat 2, the Women & Youth team, Margherita Porro and Massimiliano Antoniazzi will helm, with Maria Vittoria Marchesini and Giovanni Santi as trimmers. The difference from last May's Preliminary Regatta in Cagliari is significant. In Sardinia, Luna Rossa fielded two clearly defined crews throughout the racing: Burling and Ruggero Tita with Vittorio Bissaro and Umberto Molineris in the Senior team, which went on to win the event overall; Gradoni and Porro with Giubilei and Santi in the Y&W team, first in their category after leading the overall standings for much of the event.

In Naples, those two units are broken up. Burling will be paired with Gradoni, who in Barcelona in 2024 won the Youth America's Cup together with Gianluigi Ugolini, then his co-helm, Federico Colaninno and Rocco Falcone. Giubilei, meanwhile, had won the Women's America's Cup as a trimmer, with Margherita Porro on the helm.

Particularly interesting is the presence of Giubilei and Ugolini together on Boat 1. The pair have sailed Nacra 17 together for years and in 2026 won the class world title. Their understanding therefore predates the AC40: Luna Rossa is transferring to a different context a sporting partnership built over years of top-level racing. Ugolini, who had been one of the two helmsmen in the Youth America's Cup in Barcelona, is now part of the Senior team's group of trimmers.

Boat 2 also reflects careful management of the squad. Margherita Porro is now an established presence, a winner in Barcelona in 2024 and in the Y&W category in Cagliari in 2026; Santi was with her aboard the AC40 that won the category in Sardinia. Marchesini was part of the Women's team that won in Barcelona, while Antoniazzi had been selected for the Cagliari Preliminary but did not make the race line-up. Naples therefore represents a particularly significant step for him within the team.

The Naples line-up therefore appears to confirm something already apparent in Cagliari: Luna Rossa is building an interchangeable group with 2027 in mind. Naples will also show how quickly new combinations can work among sailors who now have extensive AC40 experience, ahead of their potential use aboard the AC75. In this respect, it seems clear that Marco Gradoni is being developed as Peter Burling's port-side helmsman, potentially leaving Ruggero Tita in the reserve role on the AC75. The same reasoning could apply to Vittorio Bissaro among the trimmers, although he retains an important liaison role between the design team and sailing team in the development of the updated Luna Rossa AC75.

Ganga Bruni

Luna Rossa Boat 1 – Senior
Peter Burling - helm
Marco Gradoni - helm
Maria Giubilei - trimmer
Gianluigi Ugolini - trimmer

Luna Rossa Boat 2 – Y&W
Margherita Porro - helm
Massimiliano Antoniazzi - helm
Maria Vittoria Marchesini - trimmer
Giovanni Santi - trimmer

 

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