The Luna Rossa AC75 is a machine built for a very specific purpose. It is designed to fly over water on foils, operating at speeds that defy the traditional physics of sailing. These boats exist on a knife’s edge, a delicate balance of aerodynamic lift, hydrodynamic force, and human input. Sometimes, that balance is tested to its absolute limit.

On the Bay of Angels, the Italian team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli recently experienced one of those days. It was a training session, one of hundreds in the lead-up to the America's Cup, but it was far from routine. The team was pushing their boat hard, searching for the outer boundaries of its performance envelope. These are the days that don't make the highlight reels, but they often define a campaign.

The Human Element

For all its advanced technology, the AC75 remains a vessel guided by human hands and minds. The real story of a day like this is about the crew. It is about their ability to react, to communicate without words, and to hold their nerve when the machine beneath them threatens to break free.

The Luna Rossa AC75 seen from a distance on the Bay of Angels.

The Bay of Angels provides a poetic, almost ironic, setting for such intense work. The name suggests tranquility, but for the Luna Rossa team, it became an arena. The day served as a potent reminder that the path to victory is paved with moments of controlled chaos. Winning is not just about being the fastest. It is about being the team that has been to the edge most often and knows the way back.

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Luna Rossa Team \| Giulia Caponnetto | Luna Rossa Team \| Giulia Caponnetto
Keeping well in range of each other, the two teams performed close quarters tacking manoeuvres (with a couple of epic nosedives caught from the drone camera) and then continued their duels downwind on low angles. | Luna Rossa Team \| Giulia Caponnetto
Cup in 2024. Margherita had switched in for Vittorio Bissaro, the highly experienced trimmer, before Maria Giubilei came onboard alongside the triallist Giovanni Santi (not confirmed as part of the team just yet), and Massimiliano Antoniazzi, the decorated and highly promising Italian ILCA sailor. | Luna Rossa Team \| Giulia Caponnetto
8th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta will take place. It’s now a little under 80 days to the start so the importance of sailing across a range of conditions is paramount for the home favourites who will be looking to score a crucial momentum-inducing win on the first stop on the ‘Road to Naples.’ | Luna Rossa Team \| Giulia Caponnetto
Speaking afterwards Umberto Molineris alluded to the goals for the day saying that it was all about getting the Youth & Women team up to speed in the conditions. The settled ‘primary’ team consisted of Marco Gradoni and Ruggi Tita on co-helm duties supported by Gigi Ugolini and Umberto Molineris. | Luna Rossa Team \| Giulia Caponnetto