Luna Rossa 1 won the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Naples, Italy, on Sunday, defeating Emirates Team New Zealand in the Match Race final. The regatta ran from Sept. 25–27.

Luna Rossa led the fleet-racing standings heading into Sunday’s final day after a dramatic second day marked by multiple lead changes, penalties, and a capsize involving La Roche-Posay Racing Team.

“Today was a big day for our team, and I think we managed to finish the job that we started since the practice racing, and many months ago when we started this journey with Pete, Maria, and Gigi,” said Luna Rossa helmsman Marco Gradoni. “In the final we did the perfect start, we did the perfect race, and we won.”

Luna Rossa won the opening fleet race, and La Roche-Posay Racing Team took two victories on an eventful Saturday. Emirates Team New Zealand’s Women & Youth team also claimed a win after the French team capsized while leading on the final leg of Race 5.

Luna Rossa further consolidated its position at the top of the standings ahead of the Match Race final. Emirates Team New Zealand secured its place in the final after finishing second in the first fleet race on Sunday, holding off La Roche-Posay Racing Team in a close battle. The French team finished third overall.

For Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Nathan Outteridge, the decisive moment came in the pre-start. “I think you always feel disappointed when you come up a little bit short,” he said. “We actually were pretty happy with how our final position was going into the start; we really wanted to go to the right as we thought the right was going to be quite strong, and we needed to tack earlier.”

He added that Luna Rossa had executed the details of the opening exchange better.

“Pete (Burling) and the Luna Rossa guys did a good job of dragging the game quite low,” Outteridge said. “And when you drag it low, time disappears quite quickly, and by the time we tacked, we were late for the boat.”

The event also decided the Women & Youth title, with Emirates Team New Zealand taking the honors. Skipper Jake Pye and co-helm Erica Dawson finished ahead of Luna Rossa 2, led by Margherita Porro and Max Antoniazzi, in the final fleet race to secure the title.

“It was all in, to the end,” Pye said. “So definitely, I am looking to the future for the Youth America’s Cup, but also, I’m going to be there to try and play my part and push these guys (the senior team) as hard as I can into the America’s Cup.”

La Roche-Posay Racing Team finished third overall after a weekend that included two fleet-race victories. The French team led Race 5 by a substantial margin before capsizing on the final gybe and recovered to win Race 6 later that day.

ARC Team USA finished the regatta with what co-helm Lucas Calabrese described as an inconsistent but encouraging performance.

“It kind of felt like a rollercoaster to me,” Calabrese said. “We were a little bit inconsistent, and a lot of it was self-inflicted, which is a good thing because that means if we clean up a few things, we can be up there with the top teams.”

The Preliminary Regatta brought together the AC40 fleets that will form the basis of the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup competitions in 2027, while also giving the senior America’s Cup teams an opportunity to race in the one-design boats.

Photo: America’s Cup © Ian Roman