GOODBYE CAGLIARI. BARCELONA, HERE WE COME
With the closing of training sessions in Sardinia, the team is ready to move to Spain
One month after the launch of the AC75, the long-awaited moment has come for the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team to move to Spain and literally dive into the last phase of this America's Cup campaign.
Having finished its training and testing sessions in Cagliari, the AC75 will soon be transported to the Catalan city to start sailing on the racecourse of the 37th America's Cup.
It will take a direct confrontation with opponents on the racecourse to assess the performance of the foiling monohull, but initial impressions after the first sailing sessions are very positive, says Skipper and Team Director Max Sirena: «We have completed our sea trial in Cagliari and it has been a very intense period: first the excitement of the launch, then the first sailing, and finally, the tests with the new wing, which we were looking forward to. We've been sailing in all kinds of weather, from flat sea to deep wave, to simulate some of the predominant conditions we will find in Barcelona, and I would say that the first feedback is really good».
«The months of sailing in Cagliari were fruitful in many ways», explains the skipper, «and they allowed us to also train the sailing team with rotations on board and varying roles that didn’t compromise the boat's performance. This will help us a lot for when we have to choose the starting crew that will race when the competitions begin».
On one hand the session ends with a smile, on the other hand it is hard to say goodbye to Sardinia: «It is sad to leave Cagliari, but now the most important and exciting part of this adventure begins. When we are in Barcelona we will enter the regatta 'mood' to prepare for the first races at the end of August, and above all it will be nice to sail in the same stretch of water with the other teams and test the boat's performance. Ours is a goodbye, because surely the goal is to return to Cagliari, maybe with something important».