Luna Rossa defeat the defenders at the AC38 venue

Luna Rossa have taken the Naples title, beating Emirates Team New Zealand by 17 seconds in the match race final – a show of strength from the home team on the very waters that will host the 2027 America’s Cup.

For Peter Burling, there was the added satisfaction of putting one over his old team. Heading into the last day, though, only Luna Rossa were all but guaranteed their place in the final – the question was who would join them.

Six fleet races had produced four different winners, but consistency was what counted. Never finishing lower than sixth, the Italians had banked 51 points, eight clear of ETNZ on 43.

Tudor Team Alinghi sat third on 38, five points behind the Kiwis and still very much in the hunt. The rest of the fleet needed something special, including La Roche-Posay, who had won two races but sat down in seventh after a DNS and a retirement.

With two fleet races and 20 points left on the table, Alinghi needed the defenders to stumble. The Kiwis needed to make sure they didn’t.

Luna Rossa led down the opening stretch with Nathan Outteridge’s Emirates Team New Zealand in hot pursuit. On the next leg La Roche-Posay, rounding third, split away to the other side of the course. The French had a clean lane, and when the boats crossed, France passed just behind Luna Rossa to take second.

The order shuffled again on leg three. The French found better speed on the right-hand side, but sticking there meant more manoeuvres, and Outteridge made them pay, tacking right on top of them and leaving them in dirty air. Back to third they went, behind the Italians and Kiwis.

By the third gate Luna Rossa had stretched to an 18-second lead over ETNZ, with the French three seconds behind the Kiwis. On that next leg, Delapierre and Botín kept looking for a way past, but Outteridge covered every attempt.

Meanwhile, the Italians were 350 metres clear of the rest, and Burling’s crew simply sailed away to take the win. On the final leg the French lost a lot of ground after the Kiwis nailed the layline into the top gate. That left ETNZ an easy second, with La Roche-Posay finishing third ahead of GB1.

“The last couple of days haven’t been the norm here – this is more like it,” Outteridge after after. “The sea breeze, when it comes in, it’s a beautiful wind direction. There’s plenty of opportunities on the course with some shifts around, and as it tracks right like it is now, it’s starting to come over that hill. As you probably saw on that last lap, there’s plenty of opportunities to make some big gains and losses.”

Looking ahead to the final fleet race, Delapierre said: “We had a few mistakes through the weekend, but this last race is kind of the last chance for us to show what we can do and what we can achieve. We’re fully focused to execute the plan and be fast.”

Alinghi finished down in eighth, not helped by an umpire penalty after an incident with the Kiwis at the top of the second beat. With ETNZ in second, the Swiss chances of reaching the final evaporated. The Kiwis were through to the final with a race to spare, and a Cagliari rematch with Luna Rossa was on.

Fleet race 7 results

1. Luna Rossa 19:33
2. Emirates Team New Zealand +0:13
3. La Roche-Posay Racing Team +0:44
4. GB1 +0:54
5. ETNZ W&Y +1:03
6. Cobham-Ultra GB2 +1:12
7. Luna Rossa W&Y +1:18
8. Tudor Team Alinghi +1:49
9. ARC Team USA +1:57

Emirates Team New Zealand’s place in the final was already safe, but their race eight got off to a shocker. Pushed up towards the line by Luna Rossa, the Kiwis tacked too early and were half a boat length OCS at the gun. The penalty sent them to the back of the fleet from the get-go.

Down the opening stretch every team opted for the right-hand side, seemingly seeing more pressure, and it was Alinghi and Luna Rossa vying for the top spot. The pair traded the lead heading into the first gate, where the Swiss trailed by ten seconds.

On the second leg La Roche-Posay swiped second from Alinghi, but GB1 soon jumped past them into second. While everyone scrapped behind, Luna Rossa streaked off to a 300-metre lead by the second gate. It was a race Luna Rossa didn’t need to win, but they were clearly in no mood to ease off.

By the end of leg three the French had wrestled second back from the British, with ARC Team USA up to third. Delapierre and Botín kept pushing, nearly too hard at the leeward mark where the trimmers only just saved it, and opened a 29-second gap on the Americans going into the final leg.

Luna Rossa took yet another commanding win, almost 400 metres ahead of La Roche-Posay in second, who crossed 29 seconds later. Remarkably, despite only scoring six of their eight races, the French finished third overall in the standings.

“To be honest, I don’t think this one’s going to be over till the end,” Burling said. “It started to get quite shifty and dynamic that last race. Obviously, the start is important, but I’m sure it’ll be a battle to the end.”

The Kiwi senior boat, meanwhile, had splashed down at the leeward mark and finished seventh. They’d need far more control in the final if they were going to beat the Italians.

“It’s going to be a pretty exciting race,” Outteridge said. “It’s been a couple of months since we’ve had this opportunity to have another match race against Peter and the Luna Rossa guys. As he was saying before, it’s pretty shifty out here and quite dynamic, so I don’t think it’s going to be over ‘til it’s over, but we’re really excited for it.”

Fleet race 8 results

1. Luna Rossa 19:20
2. La Roche-Posay Racing Team +0:29
3. ARC Team USA +1:01
4. GB1 +1:07
5. ETNZ W&Y +1:29
6. Luna Rossa W&Y +1:42
7. Emirates Team New Zealand +1:42
8. Tudor Team Alinghi +1:54
9. Cobham-Ultra GB2 +2:06

As top qualifiers, Luna Rossa got to choose their entry, and Burling took port, leaving Emirates Team New Zealand to come in on starboard.

The pre-start was aggressive, and for most of it the Kiwis had the upper hand. Outteridge got onto Luna Rossa’s tail and chased the Italians high in the box, with one near-miss that Burling felt should have earned ETNZ a penalty. Having pushed Luna Rossa towards the left-hand end of the line, the Kiwis peeled away to the right. They left it slightly late, though, and came off the line slow.

It was a split start with clear air for both, but the first cross exposed the damage. ETNZ had right of way, but a slow tack in the gust let Luna Rossa slip in front, and the Kiwis were forced to tack away again in search of clear air. Having been too early at the start in Cagliari, this time they had handed over the lead with a different unforced error. From there Burling took control, forcing Outteridge onto the right-hand side, up against the boundary and into more manoeuvres. With so little room before the boundary, the Italians gained in every tack.

By the first gate the Italians held a ten-second lead, and Outteridge opted to follow down the next leg. By the next gate Luna Rossa had opened up 150 metres, but ETNZ had the pace and on the following leg closed the gap to just 30 metres. Outteridge tried everything, but tack after tack Burling kept shutting the door, parking the Kiwis in the dirty air coming off Luna Rossa’s AC40.

Into the final upwind the Italians led by 14 seconds, stretching to 25 by the next gate, and things were looking dire for the Kiwis. The Italian crew were already celebrating on board as they headed towards the finish. Emirates Team New Zealand crossed a full 17 seconds behind.

“We’re going to race here next year, so this was the important one,” said Marco Gradoni on the water. “Even under pressure, we did it when we needed to do it.”

“I’m very happy to share this moment with these boys, especially with Marco after Cagliari,” added Maria Giubilei, who stepped up to the senior boat alongside Gradoni for Naples. “So it’s a great emotion for me, and I’m very, very happy. I can’t believe it.”

Match Race Final result

1. Luna Rossa
2. Emirates Team New Zealand +0:17

It’s easy to read too much into a preliminary regatta, especially one sailed in one-design AC40s, when the Cup will be won as much in the design office as on the water. But the message from Luna Rossa, a year out from racing for the Cup on these same waters, is hard to ignore.

The Italians were a cut above throughout, executing every manoeuvre cleanly and using that precision to keep the fleet firmly under control. They did it with a much-changed crew too, which suggests the squad’s depth goes well beyond its first-choice line-up.

Emirates Team New Zealand had the pace to close in during the final, but never found a way past. For the Kiwis, the bigger concern is their starts: too early in Cagliari, OCS in race eight and late in the final.

Behind them, the standout story belongs to La Roche-Posay, who have race-winning speed and a crew that’s clearly gelling, but their race five capsize cost them a place in the final. Whether the French have the budget to turn that talent into a fast AC75 is another question.

The midfleet was desperately tight, with four boats level on 44 points and ETNZ W&Y ranked ahead of Luna Rossa W&Y, reversing the Italians’ W&Y win in Cagliari. GB1’s eighth will sting, although it’s worth remembering the British struggled in the AC40s last cycle and still reached the Match.

As for Naples, the venue delivered on its promise, with a sea breeze tricky enough to punish every error and 2,800 spectator boats giving a taste of the crowds to come in 2027.