With three race wins and a 12-point lead over second place, three-time Opti World Champion and Rolex World Sailor of the Year Marco Gradoni and his team confirmed their role as favourites at the start of the Youth America's Cup. "I'm proud of the boys because it was really difficult. It was crazy to sail through the waves, especially with the wind," said the Luna Rossa skipper after yesterday's two races.
After a long period of waiting due to weak winds below the required limit of 7.5 knots, the first race could only be started at 6 pm. But then the pressure came from the south-east as a dark cloud cover gathered and created gusty 14-18 knots. With a wave of over one metre building up, even the large J1 jib that had been raised from the calm caused major problems.
Luna Rossa dominant, Orient Express and American Magic slowed down
Harry Melges, skipper of American Magic, said: "The conditions were pretty difficult, we were in survival mode." However, he and his team seemed to be coping well. The Americans sailed to the finish in second and first place, putting them level on points with the Italians at the top of the table after day one.
Technical problems with your AC40-However, foiling prevented Melges' team from matching this performance today. The young crew had to return to the harbour without even starting. Only the French were hit even harder. They had already failed to finish a race yesterday. A serious setback, even though the organisers have so far compensated all affected teams with four points. A cooling pump had failed, causing the systems to overheat. Unlike the large AC75 Cuppers, the AC40s manage without a cyclist, but have to rely on batteries.
In gusty 8 to 14 knots of wind and almost one metre of waves from the previous day, only four teams crossed the start line in each of the two races today. Apart from a minor infringement of the rules in a leeward/leeward situation at the first windward gate and the resulting penalty, the Italian sailors did not allow themselves any major mistakes and secured victory in both races with a clear lead.
Youth America's Cup: German team challenged for the first time the day after tomorrow
Behind them are the Americans, who complete the top three after half of the planned races with the British Cup stars of tomorrow behind them. They will progress to the semi-finals after four more races. The same applies to the second group, which will be sent out onto the course for four fleet races for the first time after a day's break the day after tomorrow (20 September from 14:00).
The so-called invited nations competing include Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, as well as Germany. AC Team Germany, which has been labelled as one of the underdogs, is initially relying on coxswains Maru Scheel and Paul Farien as well as trimmers Tom Heinrich and Jesse Lindstädt.
As both groups are sailing on the same six AC40s, the Swiss team from Alinghi Red Bull Racing's performance today, which at least from a technical point of view appears to have been superior, should also have reassured the German youngsters. They share the boat with the number four, which also dropped out of a race on the first day. However, as the Youth America's Cup is suspended tomorrow anyway, all the other AC40s should be ready for action again on Friday.
