Luna Rossa beats Ineos and flies to America's Cup 'final'

Luna Rossa won the Prada Cup, beating the British Ineos crew twice in the Auckland harbour and taking an Italian boat to the America's Cup final after 21 years.

With two overnight victories, the Italian boat closed out the challenge against Ineos at 7-1. From March 6th to 15th, the crew led by Max Sirena will challenge Team New Zealand to decide who will win the most difficult and oldest trophy in international sport. For the second time in its six attempts, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli joins the exclusive list of just 36 contenders that have made up the 170-year history of the America's Cup. As it did 21 years ago, Defender Emirates Team New Zealand will face the Italian crew in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf.

"We are Italians," helmsman Checco Bruni commented immediately after the triumph.

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This is the third time an Italian boat has won the challenger selection, now called the Prada Cup: the first was in 1992 with Gardini and Cayard's Modo di Venezia, the second in 2000 with another Luna Rossa, Francesco De Angelis's. It took 21 years and five failed attempts to bring the Italian flag back into the America's Cup challenge. The star of the show was skipper Max Sirena, who in the meantime had won two America's Cups with New Zealand in 2017 and Oracle USA in 2010. The challenge with Emirates Team New Zealand promises to be extremely difficult, but the last two regattas won with Ineso have also confirmed Luna Rossa's strength.

In the first, the Italian boat needed only two tacks to get underway and ultimately finished with a lead of one minute and 45 seconds. In the second, Luna Rossa won the start but was slightly ahead of the line and therefore received a penalty, leaving the English boat with a 50-meter advantage, but then managed to recover and win anyway.