Friday 19 April 2013

America's Cup : Luna Rossa Start Well in Naples

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi


Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

by Luna Rossa media


A perfect day for sailing in the Gulf of Naples: sun, 12 knots south-westerly breeze and a flat sea.

Match Race

Luna Rossa Piranha sailed the match race quarter finals against Artemis Racing White. Luna Rossa Piranha won the start by closing the gate to the Swedish team and rounded the first mark in front.  On the first downwind leg team Artemis chooses to sail towards the open sea whereas Luna Rossa Piranha goes straight to the mark but is slowed down by a sudden lull. As a consequence the Swedes take the lead of the race and stay there all the way to the windward mark. After rounding the mark, in a crossing, Luna Rossa Piranha, on starboard, inflicts a penalty on Artemis and keeps the up to the finish, thus qualifying for the semi-finals.

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Fleet Race 1

Luna Rossa Piranha and Luna Rossa Swordfish choose two opposite starting positions: Luna Rossa Piranha at the pin end whereas Luna Rossa Swordfish chooses the Committee boat, disturbed by China team who closes the gate. At the reaching mark Oracle tacks in front, followed by Luna Rossa Piranha and Emirates Team New Zealand.  On the beat the positions at the front of the fleet remain unchanged. During the first downwind leg, Emirates Team New Zealand takes the lead and holds this position up to the finish line. On the second upwind leg the leaders choose to sail towards the land whereas Ben Ainslie sails offshore where he is favored by a wind shift and moves into third place. The ranking remains unchanged up to the finish line, with Luna Rossa Piranha finishing 4th and Swordfish taking a 5th after gaining the inside to Artemis at the rounding of the final mark.

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Fleet Race 2

In the second fleet race both Luna Rossa start at the pin end, sailing to leeward of the fleet and rounding the first mark together with Emirates Team New Zealand. In proximity of the reaching mark the wind dies and the fleet is very compact.  The first teams to catch fresh wind are Energy, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Piranha but at the downwind mark Ben Ainslie Racing takes the lead and moves in front of Luna Rossa Piranha and Energy, whereas Luna Rossa Swordfish lies 7th. On the first upwind leg these positions are unchanged, whereas on the downwind leg Luna Rossa Swordfish catches up with Artemis and China and overtakes them, finishing the race in 5th place. Despite several shifts in wind direction, these positions remain unchanged and the two Luna Rossa close the race respectively in 2nd (Piranha) and 5th place (Swordfish).

Image copyright Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Ranking
1.  J.P. Morgan BAR                       p. 21
2.  Emirates Team New Zealand    p. 20
3.  Luna Rossa Piranha                  p. 18
4.  Oracle Team USA Slingsby       p. 16
5.  Energy Team                             p. 14
6.  Luna Rossa Swordfish              p. 14
7.  Artemis Racing White                p. 11
8.  China Team                               p. 7
9.  HS Racing                                 p. 7

Luna Rossa
America's Cup