Luna Rossa in Prada Cup final, swept away by American Magic

No concession to the opponent, no wavering. Luna Rossa had to be cynical, ruthless, and it was. American Magic checks out at the hotel, packs up the boat, packs up and heads home. The America’s Cup is a cruel game, and this semifinal was the ultimate demonstration of that. On the one hand, a steadily growing crew, Luna Rossa, both in speed and in confidence with the craft and understanding on board. On the other side a crew that seemed to be on a downward parabola beyond the capsize, almost overwhelmed by the medium, in the end the team in better shape and probably the fastest boat won.

For Luna Rossa it now opens the way to the final against Ineos Team UK, a best-of-13 races total challenge against Ben Ainslie’s men. It starts on Feb. 13, closes on the 22nd, with two races a day.

RACE 3

Dean Barker tries to be more aggressive than yesterday and tries to take the leeward to Luna Rossa. James Spithill and Checco Bruni seem to be opting for the right side of the field, in fact Luna Rossa remains quite high and hemmed in defensively, with the lateral distance that has been created American Magic is unable to stop the Italians from downwind and Luna Rossa starts at speed and upwind, with the starboard tack advantage at the first cross. On the first tack near the edge of the course, Luna Rossa gybes at the same time as American Magic, and immediately closes the side distance forcing the Americans to tack again. From here on, darkness falls for the Americans, and Luna Rossa replicates yesterday’s performance, always on the rise, despite the Americans remaining all in all in the race until the last side. Bruni and Spithill go into the cut with a 35-second lead.

RACE 4

Spithill and Bruni came back very aggressively in the water and wanted to close the issue by getting the fourth point of the series. They again block the opponent from downwind and start in total control. American Magic, however, “plummets,” at every tack the foil movement is not smooth, the boat accuses of obvious technical problems, and Dean Barker ends up several times out of bounds taking penalties. The regatta effectively ends there, the sequel is a slow drag on American Magic into the undoubtedly most dramatic day of its campaign. The final gap of 3:51 minutes is far too severe for Therry Hutchinson and his team, who return home with a stinging defeat at the end of a campaign that proved unsuccessful.

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If you would like to review the regatta on a delayed basis with commentary from The Cup Newspaper here is the video with our live nightly coverage, within which you will also find some simple directions (from minute 33) on how to coordinate our commentary with the official images from the America’s Cup channel on Youtube. The Cup Newspaper looks forward to seeing you at the Prada Cup final, be sure to keep an eye on our socials in the coming days to learn about our programming.