Luna Rossa stays with 4 points on the leaderboard after Day 3 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals
by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 17 Sep 01:00 HKT
16 September 2024
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs. New York Yacht Club American Magic on Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals Day 3 - 16th September 2024 © Ricardo Pinto / America's Cup
Luna Rossa misses opportunity to score the match point, losing Race #5 against American Magic in the only match raced today.
The lack of breeze on the racecourse in fact was such that the Committee didn't start the last two matches scheduled for the day. The Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals will resume on Wednesday, September 18.
MATCH #05 - USA vs ITA
It was an extremely challenging regatta, that was started in the borderline weather conditions for the AC75 boats of a meagre 7/8 knots and patchy wind across the whole racecourse. With a good start on her opponents, Luna Rossa was ahead of the American boat and stretched the lead halfway down the first upwind leg, rounding the mark with a 17-second lead, maintained until the next mark.
During the second upwind leg however, after a series of very close crosses that cost the Italian boat 2 penalties, the situation reversed, and American Magic switched lead. The gap was minimal, and both boats raced the next downwind gate almost side by side.
Luna Rossa made a call to round the same mark as the Americans, engaging on the inside with just a one-second of difference, but then fell off the foils. From that point onwards it became impossible for the Italian boat to lift back on the foils and upturn the result.
Winner: USA (+1)
Luna Rossa's crew today featured Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni at the helm, with Umberto Molineris and Andrea Tesei as trimmers. The cyclors on board were Enrico Voltolini, Bruno Rosetti, Cesare Gabbia and Emanuele Liuzzi.