Luna Rossa’s next generation dominates in Cagliari on Day 1

Today was the opening day of the AC38 preliminary regatta in Cagliari, the first competitive action of the new America's Cup cycle and the first since the America's Cup Partnership came into being.

Three fleet races today, three more tomorrow, two on Sunday and then a match race final to settle who leaves Cagliari with the trophy. With pathway crews – Women's & Youth sailors from each syndicate – racing alongside the senior teams for the first time, the stakes feel decidely higher than in previous preliminary regattas.

16-21 knots of breeze powered the eight AC40s to speeds of nearly 50 knots, but the waves off Sardinia's coast turned every rounding into a test of nerve – and some of the sport's most experienced sailors didn't pass it.

Here’s how the first day of racing went down…

A tale of two Italian boats opened the preliminary regatta in Cagliari. Luna Rossa's ‘pathway’ crew stormed the fleet as their senior counterparts limped home in last.

It was the Women's & Youth boat, helmed by the Barcelona 2024 Women's & Youth America's Cup winners Margherita Porro and Marco Gradoni, who nailed the start while the Italian A-boat tangled with Tudor Team Alinghi for second. By the top gate Italy’s B-boat was eight seconds clear. On the second beat the fleet ripped back upwind at 40 knots, only 400 metres distance across the whole fleet. Emirates Team New Zealand's senior crew were already stuck at the back, unable to shake a boat-on-boat penalty.

A boundary penalty for Alinghi on leg four briefly promoted Luna Rossa's senior boat to second. Then the bottom-gate disaster: after misjudging the layline and being forced into two consecutive gybes, the Italians nosedived at the rounding, crew hanging off the side to stop the AC40 capsizing, allowing La Roche-Posay and Alinghi to sail straight past. Unable to recover quickly enough, Burling and co. eventually finished last.

Up front, the Luna Rossa Women & Youth boat kept stretching the lead – almost half a kilometre clear by the penultimate leg, 600 metres by the finish. Porro afterwards credited her trimmers Maria Giubilei and Giovanni Santi, who "made things easier" in the choppy conditions. Quentin Delapierre's revamped French squad, with new signings Diego Botín and Florian Trittel aboard, took second 36 seconds back, Alinghi just behind in third – a strong opener for the Swiss who have barely completed two weeks of training together in the AC40.

The two Kiwi boats finished a middling fourth and fifth. Athena GBR, sixth after an early-start penalty, finished just 14 seconds ahead of the chastened Italian seniors. GB1 never made the start, forced to retire with 90 seconds on the clock when a technical issue couldn't be fixed in time.

Race 1
1 Luna Rossa W & Y 19:11
2 La Roche-Posay +0.36
3 Tudor Team Alinghi +0.40
4 ETNZ +0.46
5 ETNZ W & Y +0.55
6 Athena Pathway W & Y +1:34
7 Luna Rossa +1:48
8 GB1 DNS

Redemption for the defenders. After a meek finish in race one, Emirates Team New Zealand's senior crew bounced back to take race two off Cagliari by eight seconds – and they did it on the back of a daring port-tack flyer at the gun.

The Italians had lined up on starboard at the other end; the Kiwis went the other way and were rewarded by a last-minute wind shift. GBR's B-boat Athena, meanwhile, dropped off the foils 45 seconds before the gun and crawled over the line a sitting duck. On the second leg Luna Rossa's Women's & Youth crew crossed ahead cleanly to take the lead, before the defenders clawed it back at gate two – just four seconds clear and flanked by both Italian boats.

The middle of the race became a three-way scrap at the front, with La Roche-Posay holding a comfortable fourth 200m behind – until they nosedived at 30 knots, dumping the bow underwater and sending Diego Botin's goggles into the sea. The French boat dropped to last, nearly two kilometres behind the leaders. At about the same moment the senior Kiwis briefly lost their own boat at 47 knots through gate four, but managed to hold on.

On the final leg the Italian boats split the course, giving the Kiwis a tricky tactical task of fending off both boats at the same time. ETNZ crossed the course to keep Italy’s Boat B at bay, coming in from the other side, and held their nerve to finish eight seconds clear of the chasing Italian boats. Nathan Outteridge afterwards said it was “really nice to get on the right end of one” after a tough start to the event, describing the sea state, not the breeze, as the toughest test, and relishing the chance for a bit of match racing.

GB1 retired again on leg one, gremlins unresolved. Athena's B boat capsized late on, a repeat of Wednesday's practice wipeout, joining their sister boat in the DNF column. New Zealand's B-boat took fourth, well over a minute behind their sister boat, Alinghi fifth after early boundary penalties, La Roche-Posay sixth.

Race 2
1 ETNZ 19:52
2 Luna Rossa W & Y +0.08
3 Luna Rossa +0.11
4 ETNZ W & Y +1.14
5 Tudor Team Alinghi +3.05
6 La Roche-Posay +5.01
7 Athena Pathway W & Y Gate 5
8 GB1 RTD

Two wins and a second. That's the opening-day score for Luna Rossa's Women & Youth crew, who closed out day one of AC38 racing off Cagliari with another victory – albeit one Marco Gradoni admitted came courtesy of a "present" from Emirates Team New Zealand's senior crew.

It was a messy start with three OCS boats – Luna Rossa's senior team, Athena GBR's B boat and La Roche-Posay – with Athena so far over the line they had to turn back and re-cross. GB1 surged into the lead on leg one, the Kiwi seniors and Luna Rossa B tucked in close, all within seconds at the top gate. In the chop at gate two GB1 dropped off their foils to surrender the lead and slip to third.

Going into the final leg, the ETNZ senior boat looked in control, eleven seconds clear of Luna Rossa B in second, when a gybe went wrong. Bow under, boat stopped, the defenders fought to get foiling again but the chasing pack streamed past, dropping them to last. Gradoni's crew seized their chance and took the race. The Kiwis had "deserved to win", he said afterwards – but in these conditions, you can't make mistakes.

GB1 took a much-needed second, just two seconds clear of Luna Rossa A in third – a redemption result for the British senior boat after a frustrating day off the racetrack. With only 30 seconds covering the top six, New Zealand's B boat finished fourth, Alinghi were fifth, and La Roche-Posay sixth. Athena, who had lagged almost a kilometre behind throughout, unable to recover from their poor start, came seventh. The chastened Kiwi seniors, despite getting back foiling quickly, finished last.

Race 3
1 Luna Rossa W & Y 15:58
2 GB1 +0.11
3 Luna Rossa +0.13
4 ETNZ W & Y +0.17
5 Tudor Team Alinghi +0.24
6 La Roche-Posay +0.34
7 Athena Pathway W & Y +1.34
8 ETNZ +2.03

Three fleet races down, five still to come, and the opening day belongs emphatically to Luna Rossa’s Women & Youth crew. Two wins and a second leave them nine points clear at the top of the standings, while behind them the fleet is compressed almost absurdly tight – just a single point separating second from sixth. The conditions today clearly tested the fleet in equal measure.

At the bottom of the table, Britain is already on the back foot. Technical failures, penalties and three retirements between them leave the British teams with work to do before racing resumes tomorrow.

Day 2 of the Cagliari Preliminary Regatta starts at 15:00 CEST. Catch the action here.

Standings at end of Day 1
1 Luna Rossa W & Y - 29
2 Luna Rossa - 20
3 ETNZ W & Y - 20
4 Tudor Team Alinghi - 20
5 ETNZ - 20
6 La Roche-Posay - 19
7 Athena Pathway W & Y - 10
8 GB1 - 9