Women’s America’s Cup, Luna Rossa’s terrible girls are already in the lead

The Woman Puig America’s Cup, the AC40 racing series reserved for women’s crews, has kicked off in Barcelona.
Bursting right away was the debut of Luna Rossa’s girls, who sailed well and led the standings, with a fourth place and two victories that bode well for the way ahead.

Luna Rossa women – the crew

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s Italian crew includes Giulia Conti and Margherita Porro at the helm, Giulia Fava and Maria Giubilei as trimmers.
Maria Vittoria Marchesini, Alice Linussi and Giovanna Micol are at the dock for possible rotations.

The Format is the same as what we have seen for the youth regattas.
Six AC40s are involved, which will be used alternately by Group 1 crews (i.e., those referring to the six teams that participated in the Vuitton Cup selections) and Group 2 crews (i.e., those from the invited nations).
There are four women aboard each of the AC40s, one at the helm and one in the role of trimmer on each of the two sides of the boat. For Group 1 are competing: Italy, Switzerland, France, Great Britain, the United States and New Zealand.
For Group 2, on the other hand: Spain, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Canada and Australia. These are fleet races, which are extremely spectacular, on a six-sided club course (and then windward and leeward).
These boats, nearly 12 meters long with foil-equipped arms, have remarkable performance, so much so that they can reach speeds of up to 45 knots in the stern and around buoy turns.
Over 30 knots in the windward side.
The first round with 4 fleet races is scheduled for Group 1 on Oct. 5, for Group 2 on Oct. 6.
The second round, again with 4 fleet races, is scheduled for Group 1 on Oct. 8 and for Group 2 on Oct. 9.
The top three ranked boats in each of the two groups after the 8 races will meet in a new series of 4 fleet races on October 11.
The two crews that take the top two places in the rankings after these additional 4 races will meet against each other in a final match race on October 13.
Giulia Conti, Coni Gold Collar for Sporting Merit, and Margherita Porro, helmswoman of Nacra 17, are joined by two young but very talented female sailors.
Maria Giubilei is one of the stars in the Nacra 17 class while Alice Linussi and Maria Vittoria Marchesini are two up-and-coming hopefuls who have distinguished themselves well at the youth level in the 420 and then the 470.
Margherita Porro, is a specialist in flying boats, from Moths to Nacras, and her skills are perfect for racing on the AC40s. Giulia Conti, from Rome, at the starboard helm, is the Italian sailor with the most appearances in the Olympic Games after Alessandra Sensini: Athens and then Beijing and London on the 470 (paired with Giovanna Micol), and she then switched to the 49er in Rio 2016.
She finished the last three Olympics in 5th place.
With the Olympic run concluded, she embarked on a coaching career in the US, where she coaches the women’s 49er team and where she won the “National Coach of the Year” award in 2020. Margherita Porro, at the helm, from Brescia, has a degree in exercise science and is an athlete with the Fiamme Gialle.
She is also a mountain enthusiast and has dedicated herself to mountain rescue.
Her path passes from the 29er, where she won the World and European title with Sofia Leoni.
From 2017 she sails on the innovative Waszp, then arrives as helmswoman on the Nacra 17 and in this Class in 2022 she won the Italian Championship.

Maria Giubilei is starboard trimmer.
A graduate in Philosophy, she attended the conservatory and plays the guitar. After high school he embarked on the Olympic path on the Nacra 17 with Gianluigi Ugolini achieving notable European and world successes: double silver at the 2021 and 2022 World Championships, after three first places at the under-24 World Championships (2018, 2019 and 2021).
Finally, she is gold at the Paris 2024 Test Event. Giulia Fava of Civitavecchia, is port trimmer on the AC40 .
A graduate in Biological and Environmental Sciences, she achieved on the 420 two bronze medals at the Worlds and a silver at the European Championships before moving to the Nacra 15 with a world silver and a European silver.
In 2018 in Argentina, she competed on the Nacra 15 in the Youth Olympics.
She then switched to Olympic classes, first on the 49er and then on the Nacra 17, where she continues to race. Maria Vittoria Marchesini, reserve helm, attends the Faculty of Economics and Management, and in her spare time enjoys hiking in the mountains and skiing.
Initially a helmswoman on the 420s and 470s, in 2022 she switched to the 49er and stepped into the role of bowwoman.
In 2023, at the helm of the 69F, she won third place at the Woman Foiling Gold Cup. Alice Linussi, reserve trimmer, is from Trieste, a Communications major and avid alpine skier.
A bowman at 420, she switched to the Olympic 470 class.
In 2023 she won (in her division) the 2023 edition of La Barcolana, entered the world of foiling sailing and participated aboard a 69F in the Women Foiling Gold Cup finishing 3rd. Giovanna Micol is reserve trimmer. Born in Trieste, Italy, and an architecture graduate, she was between 2005 and 2012 at the top of the World Ranking List in the women’s 470 doubles and then placed 5th twice at the Olympics (Beijing 2008 and London 2012).
She participated on the Nacra 17, together with Lorenzo Bressani, in the Olympic campaign for Rio.
She is married to Trieste sailor Michele Paoletti and mother to Olivia and Mattia. Ida Castiglioni