Luna rossa confirm star billing in Youth America’s Cup

Remember the names of Marco Gradoni and Gianluigi Ugolini, two nailed-on future stars of the America’s Cup for sure, who today confirmed their top billing, scoring two straight wins for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on day two of the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup.

It was another very tricky day in Barcelona with a sea-state of almost a metre and a shifting, patchy breeze that ranged from 8 to 14 knots making the racing a real challenge for the sailors with manoeuvre consistency and big-fleet tactical acumen rewarded.

In the opening fleet race of the day, and the third in Group A, the America’s Cup team representatives division, both NYYC American Magic and Orient Express L’Oreal Racing Team were unable to compete.

The remaining four teams from Italy, Switzerland, New Zealand and Great Britain took flight and put on a heck of a display. A tight first beat was aced by Emirates Team New Zealand at the first turning gate, with the British Athena Pathway crew and the Italians giving chase close behind. Italy, parallelling on port tack, were given a boat boundary penalty on the final approaches into the first gate for getting too close to the British as they both ducked to avoid a collision with the right-of-way, starboard tack, Kiwis.

On the first downwind, however, having expunged their penalty Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli capitalised on gybe errors from the Kiwis and British to seize a lead that they would never lose over the next four legs. Crossing the finish line at 30 knots some 500 metres ahead, Gradoni and Ugolini consolidated their lead in the series whilst Athena Pathway scored a vital second and Emirates Team New Zealand finished third. The race is well and truly on now for that vital top three spot.

All eyes were set on race two of the day and number four of the series, but it was a familiar story with Luna Rossa powering off the start line with pace and height to really put the pressure on the fleet. Initial competition came from Emirates Team New Zealand, but their challenge faded after manoeuvre errors down the first run that allowed the Italians to extend and never be headed.

The story of the race though was for second and third, with Athena Pathway and Alinghi Red Bull Racing duking it out tack-for-tack and gybe-for-gybe all the way to the finish. The British squeezed ahead on the final gybe to secure their second runners-up place of the day and move themselves up the points table.

Luna Rossa's two victories today sees them extend their lead at the top of the Group A leaderboard to 12 points ahead of NYYC American Magic in second and Great Britain’s Athena Pathway in third.

Luna Rossa trimmer Rocco Falcone confirmed the team had enjoyed what he described as ‘a great day on the water’.

“It was tricky again, big waves and good breeze that came in, it was super dynamic, super shifty and puffy. The boys sailed well and we had two great races where we made great starts and after that just kept it simple and kept it fast.”

Meanwhile, Luna Rossa helmsman Gianluigi Ugolini gave an insight into the team's approach for the coming races saying: “We are sailing well, but we are just focusing on our next races. The team is working to do our best and we’re happy with the performance but just focussing on the next few days and we just talk about improving our sailing skills."

“We haven’t done much sailing in these big conditions, so we are just focusing on our boat-handling, and we are not talking about the points at the moment. For sure it would be a beautiful thing to win the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup, but at the moment we cannot think that far ahead, we are just thinking about qualifying for the semi-final.”

Four more races are to come for the America's Cup teams of Group A, but tomorrow all eyes will be on the UniCredit Youth America's Cup Group B Invited Teams who are scheduled to start racing tomorrow.

The UniCredit Youth America’s Cup is delivering top-class racing from the sport’s coming superstars in the perfect pathway yacht for the next generation to shine – the AC40.