Luna Rossa has done it again.
After winning the first Preliminary Regatta in Cagliari in May, the Italian team has now won the second event in Naples, defeating Emirates Team New Zealand once again in the decisive match race.
This time, however, the victory carries an extra layer of meaning.
The race was held in the Bay of Naples, the very waters that will host the 38th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup in 2027.
Luna Rossa finished the fleet-racing stage first with 71 points out of a possible 80, winning four of the eight fleet races. New Zealand finished second with 56 points, securing its place in the final alongside the Italian team.
The final was then decided in a direct match race.
The two AC40s stayed close during the opening section, but Luna Rossa gradually built a lead and controlled the race. After six legs, the Italian boat crossed the finish line 17 seconds ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand.
It was another victory over the reigning Defender.
And that is probably the most interesting part of the story.
Luna Rossa is not simply collecting trophies in preliminary events. It is repeatedly testing itself against the team that will defend the America's Cup next year.

A strong weekend from Luna Rossa

The final result was built over several days rather than produced by one perfect race.
Luna Rossa won four fleet races, finished second twice, third once and sixth once.
The sixth-place result came after a mistake involving a double manoeuvre at a mark, but the team recovered immediately.
On the final day, Luna Rossa won both fleet races before entering the match race final.
That consistency matters.
The conditions in Naples were not always easy. Light wind affected the opening day, while stronger conditions later in the regatta produced faster and more competitive racing.

Burling and Gradoni

The Italian boat was steered by Peter Burling and Marco Gradoni, with Maria Giubilei and Gianluigi Ugolini handling the trimming.
The combination is particularly interesting.
Burling brings enormous America's Cup experience. Gradoni represents a much younger generation of Italian sailing talent.
The result suggests that Luna Rossa has several possible combinations available as the team continues to prepare for the much larger and more demanding AC75 campaign.
But it would be premature to say that the final 2027 crew has already been selected.
The Preliminary Regattas are precisely where teams can test sailors and combinations.
Max Sirena said after the victory that the new crew formations had worked as planned and highlighted the depth and interchangeability of the Luna Rossa group.

Cagliari was the first warning

Naples was not an isolated success.
In May, Luna Rossa won the first Preliminary Regatta in Cagliari, again defeating Emirates Team New Zealand in the final match race.
Two preliminary events.
Two finals against the Defender.
Two victories for Luna Rossa.
That is a remarkably strong beginning to the 2027 campaign.
It does not guarantee anything for next summer, but it certainly changes the conversation around the Italian team.

The AC40 is not the AC75

There is an important technical distinction here.
The Preliminary Regattas are sailed on AC40 one-design foiling boats.
The actual America's Cup Match in 2027 will be raced on AC75s.
The AC75 is larger, more complex and designed specifically for the Cup campaign. Each team is allowed to build one new boat, and the crew will consist of five sailors.
So the results in Cagliari and Naples are significant indicators, but they are not a final ranking of the teams that will compete for the trophy.
Boat design, foils, reliability, systems, aerodynamics and the ability to develop the AC75 will become decisive.
That is where the real battle will begin.

Naples already feels like an America's Cup city

The crowds along the Naples waterfront added another dimension to the victory.
Thousands of people gathered around the Race Village and Lungomare Caracciolo, turning a preliminary event into something that looked and felt much bigger.
Sirena even joked that the support from Naples gave Luna Rossa “a few extra knots.”
The city will have an even bigger role next year.
For the first time in its 176-year history, the America's Cup will be sailed in Italy.
Naples previously hosted America's Cup World Series events in 2012 and 2013, but 2027 will be different. The Louis Vuitton Cup and the America's Cup Match will both take place in Italy.

Luna Rossa's long history

Luna Rossa was founded in 1997.
Its first America's Cup campaign came in 2000, when the Italian team won the Challenger Selection Series and reached the final in Auckland.
The team returned to the final stage in 2003 and 2007, won the Prada Cup in 2021 and reached the Challenger Selection Series Final again in 2024.
The 2027 campaign is the team's seventh challenge.
This time, the America's Cup will finally arrive in Italian waters.
And Luna Rossa will race at home.

Who should be considered the favourite?

It is still too early to give one team that label.
Emirates Team New Zealand remains the Defender and has won the last three America's Cups.
Luna Rossa has now won two preliminary events in a row.
INEOS Britannia reached the America's Cup Match in 2024.
Other teams, including La Roche-Posay Racing Team and ARC Team USA, have shown different levels of competitiveness in Naples.
But the AC75s are still the great unknown.
The safest conclusion is therefore not that one team has already established superiority, but that Luna Rossa has produced some of the clearest early signals of competitiveness.

The road to July 2027

The real competition will become increasingly intense during 2027.
The Louis Vuitton Cup will determine which challenger earns the right to face Emirates Team New Zealand.
The America's Cup Match is scheduled to begin in Naples on July 10, 2027.
That is when the preliminary victories will stop mattering.
Until then, they are information.
They are tests.
They are confidence builders.
And for Luna Rossa, they are also proof that the project is moving in the right direction.
Cagliari was the first statement.
Naples made it louder.
Now the Italian team has several months to turn those signals into something much more difficult:
a boat capable of winning the America's Cup itself.

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