We don’t know if the release of this video really pleased the Luna Rossa team. The always well-informed Sailing Sardinia has in fact released a very interesting video of Team Prada training in Cagliari waters in strong winds. Apparently this is the first public video of Luna Rossa not edited by the team itself, and generally the first video of an AC 75 in high winds that has not been released by the defender or one of the challengers.
Extremely interesting images even though they are of low quality and taken very far away. We don’t have the perfect foiling of the official videos but anything but: a much more difficult gait, with frequent “splashes” in the water due to a wave motion that we imagine to be substantial and difficult to handle. In fact, the video was shot on a day of Sirocco, a wind that raises significant swell in the Cagliari area. It is noticeable how Luna Rossa’s crew handles the wave with frequent changes in flight height due to the adjustment of the appendage flaps to avoid impact with the water. A very difficult exercise, which is alternated with the more classic heave/hover in search of the right power on the sails to keep the flight stable.
Many are speculating about difficulties on Luna Rossa’s part, but actually what we are seeing is a normal process of learning to navigate in certain conditions. Difficulties that certainly have happened to all teams before but were not caught on camera. If the video was authentic, as it seems, if anything, Luna Rossa’s problem is the hole in terms of “intelligence” that made public something that should not have been shown. But the beauty of the months leading up to the start of the Cup after all is just that.
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