Prada Cup: Italy pounces again

Published on February 13th, 2021

Auckland, New Zealand (February 14, 2021) – With four wins on the scoreboard, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have stamped their authority in the Prada Cup Final, and with the first to seven going to the America’s Cup Match, INEOS TEAM UK path gets steeper and steeper.

In today’s opening race, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INEOS TEAM UK displayed perfect one-on-one duels of tacks and tactics, with the second race showcasing another British team pre start mistake which left them chasing the Italians for their fourth defeat.

With the boats performance looking pretty even, the start becomes a defining moment. The Italians simply sailed better and dictated both races to the British.

The races were held today on ‘the back paddock’ – as the Race Course E is commonly called – with a north-easterly breeze up to 16-20 knots with the roughest water of the series.

Final Series, Race 3
Following INEOS TEAM UK entry from the port end, both boats entered the pre-start area at a blistering 46 knots ahead of the pre-start duel. With wind in the teens, the pair remained close as Luna Rossa chased INEOS TEAM UK out towards the right hand extreme of the pre-start area.

As the pair came back towards the start, INEOS TEAM UK trailed and tried to gain an advantage to leeward by getting a ‘hook’, but the Brits mistimeed the distance back to the line and their gamble failed to deliver. The result was that Luna Rossa stayed ahead to dominate the start.

Both boats needed to tack onto port to cross the start line, but it was Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli that controlled the game up the first upwind leg. Although there were just seconds between the pair, the Italians seemed confident to play their own game, covering their opponent but also splitting to play the wind. At the first gate Luna Rossa rounded 9 seconds ahead.

By gate 2 at the bottom of the first downwind leg the margin was down to 6 seconds. Both went around the right-hand mark, but INEOS TEAM UK turned around and tacked immediately, an impressive move, but not the fastest decision.

Meanwhile, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli headed out towards the right-hand side of the course, apparently happy to allow the British to split from them. Once again, another demonstration of the confidence aboard the Italian boat.

The on board comms suggested that Bruni and Spithill preferred the right hand side of the course. To protect it they came back at the British on starboard and tacked in front of them, forcing INEOS TEAM UK to tack back onto starboard and take the left hand side of the course. Next time they came back together, the same thing happened, classic match racing tactics, the Italians protecting their position and the favored side of the course.

By gate 3 at the top of the second beat Luna Rossa had increased their lead to 18 seconds. The next leg saw the British haul some distance back, rounding the right hand gate 4 mark 11 seconds behind. Another tacking duel was in store for the last windward leg and by gate 5 the margin had reduced by one more second to 10 seconds.

With just one leg left, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli needed to protect, INEOS TEAM UK had to attack but the options for the British were running out. A third of the way down the final leg a split occurred as INEOS TEAM UK gybed away and Luna Rossa didn’t follow. But when they came back together the Italians had gained, the right hand side of the course had paid once again.

A few seconds later and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli crossed the line to take their third win in a row.

Wind: 16kn 050 degrees
Winner: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli beat INEOS TEAM UK by 0:13

Final Series, Race 4
On their pre-start port entry, Luna Rossa headed out to the right-hand side of the zone while INEOS TEAM UK chased. When they came together the British crossed Luna Rossa before gybing to leeward, but in doing so the British lost control and wheelied the boat. One mistake that gave the start to the Italians, but not by as much as it could have been.

The Italians were early which allowed the British to recover some of the lost distance, and just like the first race of the day, another tacking duel began as the pair headed up the right-hand side of the first beat, the Italians controlling the match as they covered their opponents.

At the first gate Luna Rossa rounded the left-hand mark 12 seconds ahead. INEOS TEAM UK took the same mark but gybed immediately to try to force a split. Once again, the dialogue on Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli was cool, calm and confident, taking their time before gybing to cover the British move.

Coming into gate 2 at the bottom of the first downwind leg, both teams went around the right-hand mark but INEOS TEAM UK chose to roll straight into an immediate tack as they discussed preferring the left hand side of the course. Meanwhile, the Italians believed the right was the better side, but were happy to tack and cover the British.

As INEOS TEAM UK headed out to the left-hand side of the course they incurred a penalty as they infringed the boundary. Giving 50m away was not what the British wanted or needed. For the Italians, the unforced error was a bonus in this tightly contested match.

By gate 3 Luna Rossa was now 21 seconds ahead as they rounded the left-hand mark. By the bottom of the downwind leg they had taken another second. The breeze had swung more to the right and being the lead boat, the Italians were in a better position to benefit from it.

Meanwhile the British, while they knew the right might be better, were forced to split from the Italians. Following rarely works if your boat is no faster than your opponents and the British knew it, they had to try something different.

But up the last beat the better conditions continued to be on the right-hand side of the course. Luna Rossa had played this leg perfectly, just as they had with the entire race so far. Passing through the last gate with just one leg to go Luna Rossa were leading by the biggest margin all day, 37 seconds and with the breeze shifted to the right there were few options for the British to overtake.

Barring disaster, a fourth win was in the bag for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Minutes later it was theirs. Four in a row, the Italians were now over halfway to the Prada Cup.

Wind: 13-14kts
Winner: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli beat INEOS TEAM UK by 0:37

QUOTES FROM THE RACE COURSE

FRANCESCO BRUNI – Helmsman Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
“Obviously we are super happy. The British are not easy to beat; even with the bad start they had, they were very close and they wouldn’t give up. In these situations tacking on your competitor or giving them space, is a very hard decision, but if you want to keep the game very close and to squeeze the opponent into a corner, you need to keep tacking. This is something the grinders don’t like, they don’t like this play, but today I think it was the way to do it. INEOS TEAM UK were pretty much in phase all the time and we had to stay with them.”

On now being just three wins away from winning the Prada Cup, Bruni was obviously pleased. “We are happy but the focus must remain high. We must use tomorrow and Tuesday to improve, we have to keep improving. We can feel the Italians cheering for us. The support we receive is amazing. People think that Italy is all about football, but sailing is having a good fight at the moment.”

SIR BEN AINSLIE – Team Principal and Skipper INEOS TEAM UK
“In the first race we made a mess of the start but after that we had a good race. They did a great job keeping it tight, two pretty even boats, two great teams. We came out of the wrong side and we are not happy about it, although it was a good race. The grinders with so many tacks (17) are on the limit as they were really pushing hard. Checco is right they don’t like tacking like that, but this is what they train for, they do all the hours in gym for this. They say they don’t love it, but secretly they probably do.”

“(However), Tough day we are not happy with it, because we can sail a lot better than that, and we need to. We gave away two races to these guys; we were bad enough at the start line. Credit to Luna Rossa, they sailed very well and they didn’t give us really a chance to get back into it. At this level you can’t afford to make any mistakes and we made too many. So we have to go away and regroup and really get ready for Wednesday and come out swinging.”

Prada Cup Final Scoreboard (wins-losses)
INEOS Team UK (GBR): 0-4
Luna Rossa (ITA): 4-0


The PRADA Cup is a series of four round robins (Jan. 15-17 and Jan. 22-24), with the winner of the series qualifying for the PRADA Cup Final and the remaining two Challengers going into a Semi-Final Series (Jan. 29-Feb. 2) for the right to join the Round Robin winner in the Final (Feb. 13–22). The first team in the Final to win seven races earns entry to face the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, in the America’s Cup Match beginning March 6.

More information:
• Prada Cup format, standings, and how to watch online: click here.
• Complete America’s Cup coverage: click here
• Additional America’s Cup information: click here

Source: Prada Cup, Scuttlebutt

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