Luna Rossa Women and Youth win twice to lead AC38 prelims in Cagliari

Three fleet races on the Bay of Angels off Cagliari, Sardinia opened the Louis Vuitton AC38 Preliminary Regatta, and one crew made the opening day entirely their own. By the time the fleet came ashore, Luna Rossa's Women and Youth crew had banked two wins and a second place, sitting nine points clear of a four-way tie behind them.

The quartet of Margherita Porro, Marco Gradoni, Maria Giubilei, and Giovanni Santi brought genuine local knowledge to these waters. The Italian squad has been based in Cagliari for the better part of a decade, and three of the four were Barcelona Cup winners. That combination of familiarity and pedigree announced itself from the opening gun and never really went away.

Before a single boat crossed the start line, one crew's day was already over. A technical problem surfaced in GB1's final preparation window, leaving Dylan Fletcher and Ben Cornish's crew with no choice but to call on their one permitted delay card. Tools, wrenches, and laptops came out, outside assistance was called in, and GB1 sat out the first race entirely.

With GB1 absent, Luna Rossa's Women and Youth crew seized the initiative from the first moments, building a 40-metre cushion over the fleet in a 13 to 18 knot Sardinian sea breeze. The race was settled almost before it had begun. La Roche-Posay Racing Team crossed second, Tudor Team Alinghi third, and Emirates Team New Zealand fourth.

The senior Luna Rossa boat endured a difficult afternoon. Peter Burling and Ruggero Tita misjudged a lay line at the top mark, were forced into two extra gybes, and then carried penalties on top of the lost ground. They finished seventh.

Conditions sharpened for Race 2, with gusts touching 21 knots and a short, steep chop building across the bay. GB1's technical troubles remained unresolved and they retired for the second consecutive race. Athena Pathway capsized on the final downwind run when a gust loaded the boat before the mainsail could be trimmed, ending their race at Gate 5.

Emirates Team New Zealand read a left shift in the dying seconds before the start, crossed the fleet on port tack, and hit the pin end clean. Nathan Outteridge, Seb Menzies, Andy Maloney, and Iain Jensen led at every gate from there. The race was no procession, though. Luna Rossa's Women and Youth crew pushed hard through the opening upwind while Burling and Tita worked the opposite side of the course, the two Luna Rossa entries hunting from either flank. On the final run, a sharp mark rounding pushed the Women and Youth boat wide, and an untidy gybe from the Luna Rossa principal crew cost them ground at the critical moment. Outteridge held his gap to the finish.

La Roche-Posay had a punishing episode of their own. A hard splashdown at speed sent the whole crew underwater, with Diego Botín surfacing minus his goggles. They recovered and finished sixth. Tudor Team Alinghi collected two penalties and finished fifth, over three minutes back.

Race 3 was messy from the gun. Multiple boats were over the start line early, with Athena Pathway worst affected, forced to sail all the way back and re-cross from scratch. La Roche-Posay and GB1 were also recalled. The senior Luna Rossa crew crossed early as well and then picked up a boat-on-boat penalty, leaving Burling and Tita carrying two punishments before the race had found any kind of rhythm.

GB1 turned the chaos to their advantage, composing themselves after the start line drama to lead at the top gate for the first time in the regatta. Emirates Team New Zealand worked through into the lead as the race moved into its final stages, building a gap that looked solid on the shortened course. The ETNZ Women and Youth crew were sitting fourth, their best result of the day within reach.

Then, with two gybes left on the final downwind run, it fell apart. The bow drove under, the foils lost their rhythm, and a boat travelling above 40 knots came to a sudden stop. The rest of the fleet flew past, and Emirates Team New Zealand crossed in eighth.

Luna Rossa's Women and Youth crew claimed their second win of the day. Gradoni was gracious in his comments to media afterwards, telling them that New Zealand had deserved to win the race. GB1, against the backdrop of two earlier retirements, finished second.

Three races in, Giubilei, Gradoni, Porro, and Santi have shown both the speed to win and the composure not to give those wins away. Four teams sit level on 20 points behind them: the Luna Rossa principal boat, Emirates Team NZ Women and Youth, Tudor Team Alinghi, and Emirates Team New Zealand. La Roche-Posay are a single point further back on 19. Four more fleet races are scheduled on the Bay of Angels tomorrow.

Full race-by-race coverage:

Race 1

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Race 2

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Race 3