“Never win the practice race” is a rule that many top sailors abide by at the elite level of competition, but for Marco Gradoni, he failed to read the memo and put on a masterclass of pace, power, racecraft and determination that belied his 22 years of age.
Sailing with Women’s America’s Cup winners Margherita Porro on co-helm, and Maria Giubilei on trim, with newcomer Giovanni Santi on trim, the Luna Rossa Women & Youth team were the story of the day. In short, they were sensational. The speed they could generate and hold left the rest of the fleet reeling in conditions that were near perfect for racing – 12 knots and a mild sea state.
The opening race was a wire-to-wire win for Luna Rossa 1 who started cleanly, established a lead and then stretched to what looked like an unassailable early delta. Jeopardy abounded however, and a poor rounding of the first leeward mark where there looked to be a slow board raise on starboard side, saw Luna Rossa 1 splash down momentarily with La Roche-Posay Racing Team closing in fast behind.
However, it was coolness personified on the young Italian team, and Marco bore away to build speed and get foiling again. The distance was cut but the determination to succeed was all. Luna Rossa rose and just stretched away. By the end of the race, the delta was out to 26 seconds, a remarkable distance in one-design foiling racing, from La Roche-Posay Racing Team with Emirates Team New Zealand senior team in third.
Come race two and the startline was a busy place with everyone nailing their time-on-distance and hitting at around 32 knots of boatspeed. Initially two packs emerged as the boats split to either side of the course, and Luna Rossa 1 found themselves penalised and sailing up the middle of the course after expunging their penalty (get back 75 metres). As the first windward leg unfolded and the pack started to bunch mid-course, Gradoni and Porro went to the far boundary and came in with clear air to stun the fleet and their senior team led by three-time Cup winner Peter Burling, in the lead at the first gate.
The Luna Rossa boats looked a class apart and almost in their own private match-race over the next four legs until on the second upwind leg, they split. Burling and Ruggi Tita found a shift out to the left of the course whilst Gradoni and Porro struggled out to the right. Then came what can only be described as “the moment” with Gradoni just crossing Tita on starboard tack and calling for a slam-dunk tack, tacking directly on the wind of the senior team. It was an aggressive move, and it won the race ultimately. Team Director and CEO, Max Sirena, has a high-class problem with such talent on display and must have been watching on in wonder.
Gradoni and Porro stretched away and secured the second win of the day by a distance, some 20 seconds, but Burling was caught out on the final approaches to the finish line and lost a place to GB1 who snuck in at the far end of the finishing line with Dylan Fletcher and Ben Cornish sailing a remarkable final leg.
The final race of the day was an interesting display of early tactics. Luna Rossa 1 Women & Youth hung out to the far left of the starting line with seconds to go and came back across on port tack with Margherita Porro seeking clear air out on the right boundary. Nathan Outteridge and Seb Menzies in Emirates Team New Zealand followed suit but the big winner was GB1 with Dylan Fletcher absolutely acing the start and heading to the left boundary. With great pace, GB1 established a lead that they simply wouldn’t lose all race and with Peter Burling & Ruggi Tita scoring a boundary penalty and then subsequently getting disqualified for not taking the penalty in time, the race became very quickly a two-horse affair.
Over six legs, it was nip and tuck between GB1 and Luna Rossa 1 who stretched away from the pack with the British displaying incredible front-running composure. There was nothing that the speed of Gradoni and Porro could match as GB1 kept their tactics conservative, covered every move and sailed to a memorable 18 second victory, flying across the finish line and concluding the day in style.
Yes it was only practice racing, but today revealed the pecking order. Marco Gradoni and Margherita Porro are the team to beat. Luna Rossa 2 is fast with Peter Burling and Ruggi Tita but GB1 look right in the fight. Stay tuned as the first Preliminary Regatta starts in earnest tomorrow with three races starting at 15.13 local time.
Sardinia is stunning, the racing is electric. The fight for the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Prelim Regatta, Sardinia, is on.
