The first day of the Prada Cup semi-finals could not have gone better for Luna Rossa. The Italian team won both races against American Magic. The two helmsmen of the "Red Moon", Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni, made two perfect starts against their opponent Dean Barker on the American boat. This was followed by two consistent, clean races in which they further extended their lead over the Americans.
The repetition of both races
The wind was blowing up to 22 knots at times, and American Magic set a speed record for the 75-foot squidfoilers of 53.31 knots in the first race.
However, this could not hide the fact that skipper Terry Hutchinson's team had obviously lost its slight superiority in strong winds after the spectacular capsize in the Round Robin and the subsequent costly repairs. With a smaller mainsail and tiny genoa, the resistance was apparently reduced so much that the speed record could be set, but the boat was unstable compared to the Italians.
Patriot" fell off the foils several times on the downwind leg, which should not happen in this wind strength. The manoeuvres and roundings of the buoys also looked more wobbly than those of the Italians, who finished both races quite relaxed and unchallenged from the lead.
Luna Rossa helmsman Francesco Bruni was very pleased: "We are not coming off a great time as we were not up to the standard we wanted, so there was a bit of tension. In the past, the boat wasn't the fastest in strong winds. But we knew we had made some big performance improvements, we saw very good numbers, and today we felt the difference on the water as well."
Terry Hutchinson was obviously pleased to have made it back into the race in the first place: "Twelve days ago, I wouldn't have thought this would be possible. It's a short series, but we still have some meat on the bone to keep working on ourselves."
For the next two races, starting tonight at 3.00 am, 15 knots with stronger gusts are forecast off Auckland. If the Americans do not manage to fight back decisively and Luna Rossa takes two more victories, this Cup will be over for "Pariot" and the Italians will join Ineos Team UK in the final of the Prada Cup.
All races will be broadcast live free of charge and can be viewed on the Cup website , on Youtube and Facebook to track. No extra app is required for mobile devices. Replays will be made available on these channels immediately after the end of each race.
