Luna Rossa’s leader arrives in New Zealand: we’re rooting for him

Here is the first photo of Max Sirena in a Kiwi uniform since his announcement on Oct. 6 that he has joined the court of Grant Dalton and Emirates Team New Zealand. It is actually a fine photoshopping job by our graphic designer Micaela Volpe! Instead, we do not pretend when we claim that we are rooting for Max even though he has changed his jersey, and we explain why.

THERE IS LITTLE TO INVENT ABOUT AC48
“I was given the okay by Patrizio Bertelli (Prada’s boss, ed.),” Sirena said to reassure everyone that he had been given the green light by the Italian Luna Rossa team. Then, he explained that he is going with the New Zealanders with the goal of winning the Cup and-but that’s saying it to us-to take back his place with Luna Rossa, which would resoundingly return for edition number 38. With new rules especially, because, Sirena continued, with these rules applied to the AC 48 flying supercatamarans with which the 2017 edition will be contested, there is little to invent. “You can only intervene,” he explained “on the drifts, appendages, wings and adjustments.”

MONOTYPE DOES NOT GET ALONG WITH THE CUP
Here is the crux that distorts the spirit of the America’s Cup. The boats will all be more or less the same, limited in design by the regulations that the Americans at Oracle twisted on the run in mid-2015, under the – false – pretext of limiting costs. Think about it, it’s as if Moto GP is raced with bikes that are all the same, where freedom of modification is limited to tires and tuning. Or, it is as if in Formula One motor racing, Mercedes and Ferrari have the same chassis and the same engine. In sailing it is called “monotypy,” and it has a very good raison d’être in Olympic sailing and in classes such as the successful boat of the moment, the J 70. But not in the America’s Cup where the spirit is to push human ingenuity to the extreme to design the fastest boat compared to others. All of this gave rise in the history of sailing to major innovations that were later applied to recreational boats. Sail plans, rigging, hull lines…in short, everything that makes a boat go better pushed by the wind we owe in large part to the freedom of design that the America’s Cup has had until now. That is why we are rooting for New Zealand and are with Max Sirena. Because we are certain that if the New Zealanders win the America’s Cup in 2017, Luna Rossa and its boss Patrizio Bertelli will be back in the game.

ACWS ACT 3
Speaking of the America’s Cup: to the Swedes of Artemis went ACT 3 of the America’s Cup World Series in Bermuda: the AC45 of Iain Percy and Nathan Outteridge beat Emirates Team NZL and Oracle Team USA. Fourth place for Land Rover BAR, fifth Softbank Team Japan and last Groupama Team France. There is not much more to tell.

DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW THE CUP, EVEN IF I WANTED TO
At least according to our Eugenio Ruocco: “I downloaded the free AC+ app (available for both iOS and Android devices) and it was a real disappointment. The quality of the application, in my opinion, is inadequate compared to the scale of the event, which is followed live: some complain that in the overall ranking, once the teams have reached 100 points, they all appear again at 1 point resetting the ranking to zero. Personally, before opening the app, my Samsung Galaxy takes so long (“retrieving location,” it tells me. But it’s not my smartphone’s problem, it happens to others too). To follow the live races you have to pay (and quite steeply too: the Bermuda event cost up to £5.99), otherwise you have to wait a few hours for the video summary. No wonder the event is hardly followed in Italy: let alone after the release of Luna Rossa. But I read so many bad reviews even from English users….”

LOUIS VUITTON’S AMERICA’S CUP WORLD SERIES (RANKING AFTER 3 EVENTS)
1. Emirates Team New Zealand 122
2. ORACLE TEAM USA 112
3. Land Rover BAR 109
4. Artemis Racing 105
5. SoftBank Team Japan 100
6. Groupama Team France 82