Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli at the UniCredit Youth America's Cup - Day 2
by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 18 Sep 05:25 PDT
17-22 September 2024
Fans of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Youth Team - UniCredit Youth America's Cup, Race Day 2 - Group A © Ian Roman / America's Cup
A memorable day for Gianluigi Ugolini, port-side helmsman on Luna Rossa's AC40, as he celebrated his birthday with two consecutive wins in the UniCredit Youth America's Cup.
The Race Committee decided to reschedule Race #3 and #4 of the UniCredit Youth America's Cup for today, between 10:30 AM and 1:00 PM, after these had been postponed yesterday due to unfavorable weather conditions. So as the AC75 Luna Rossa was leaving the dock to compete in the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals, the youth team led by Marco Gradoni and Gianluigi Ugolini celebrated two important victories.
RACE 3
Another solid win for the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli youth team. With a strong start, the Italian boat was the first to tack and to optimize on a favourable wind shift as she took the lead in front of the fleet. Halfway through the first beat, the gap narrowed and the Italians approached the first mark with the Kiwi and British boats in close pursuit. The British team protested and obtained a penalty.
On the first downwind leg, Luna Rossa closed the gap and overtook the New Zealand team which had fallen off the foils after a poor gybe. From that moment, with faultless navigation and optimizing on the frequent wind shifts—that oscillated between 14 and 8 knots—and with good handling in the big swell and waves, the team led by Marco Gradoni and Gianluigi Ugolini stayed at the head of the fleet, rounding the marks first and stretching further into a first-place finish.
Luna Rossa: 1st place (+10 points).
RACE 4
Luna Rossa started fast in the middle of the fleet and quickly moved to the left, gaining a 7-second lead at the first mark over ETNZ. The next downwind leg resulted in a match race between the two boats. Here the Italian crew optimized on good boat handling and tactical decisions, always staying on the favored side of the course.
After leading for the entire race, Luna Rossa crossed the finish line first, with almost a minute over the British boat.
Luna Rossa: 1st place (+10 points).
The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli crew featured: Marco Gradoni and Gianluigi Ugolini (helmsmen), Federico Colaninno e Rocco Falcone (trimmer).
Watch the races live on www.americascup.com