Showdown in Neaple: Luna Rossa vs New Zealand - Rivalry Part 2
Luna Rossa’s new recruit Pete Burling beat former teammate Nathan Outteridge again, as Luna Rossa made it 2:0 against Team New Zealand on home waters.
Luna Rossa won Naples. Three days of racing also showed where the teams chasing the America’s Cup in 2027 currently stand on communication, execution and time on the water.
Three days of AC40 racing delivered light-air delays, 25-knot blasts, capsizes, penalties, breakdowns and boats travelling above 47 knots.
Then Luna Rossa took control.
Peter Burling, Marco Gradoni, Maria Giubilei and Gianluigi “Gigi” Ugolini won both fleet races on Sunday before beating Emirates Team New Zealand in the Match Race Final. They were never behind at a mark all day.
The final scoreboard was clear at the front: Luna Rossa finished on 71 points, ETNZ on 56 and La Roche-Posay Racing Team on 48. Behind them, ARC Team USA, ETNZ Women & Youth, Luna Rossa 2 and Tudor Team Alinghi all finished on 44.
The AC40 is a one-design boat sailed by four people. The 2027 America’s Cup will be raced in the larger, five-person AC75, where teams develop their own boats.
But Naples offered the first sustained racing pressure of this campaign — and a useful look at the teams operating them.
THE LOWDOWN
Luna Rossa combined a huge amount of AC40 experience with a new senior crew that already appears comfortable sharing decisions.
ETNZ reached the final but lost crucial seconds in the pre-start.
France finished third despite two capsizes. ARC Team USA showed front-running speed but gave away points through mistakes. Alinghi reached the final race with a chance of making the Match Race Final before a poor gybe cost them.
Britain arrived with a different priority. GB1 had concentrated on its AC75 programme and only returned its AC40 to one-design configuration shortly before Naples.
“At times you’ve got to trust the guy on the other side of the boat.”
Pete Burling
LUNA ROSSA: TRUST AT 40 KNOTS
An AC40 divides its four sailors between opposite sides of the boat. Nobody has a complete view of the racecourse, so information has to move quickly between them.
Burling credited Gradoni, Giubilei and Ugolini for feeding information into that decision-making process.
The combination is new, but the crew brings considerable experience.
Burling joined Luna Rossa in 2025 after winning three consecutive America’s Cups with Emirates Team New Zealand. Gradoni skippered Luna Rossa to the 2024 Youth America’s Cup. Giubilei was part of the victorious 2024 Women’s America’s Cup team, while she and Ugolini are the 2026 Nacra 17 world champions.
Giubilei described racing with Burling in the stronger conditions as feeling “safe and easy.”
For four sailors operating at more than 40 knots, knowing what information is coming — and trusting it — matters.
“Knowing that we beat Team New Zealand maybe is a message that we are sending to the world. But the big one is next year.”
Marco Gradoni
LUNA ROSSA HAVE THE AC40 HOURS
Luna Rossa’s Final Day was comprehensive. They won both fleet races and then controlled ETNZ in the Match Race Final, finishing 17 seconds ahead.
It continued their strong start to the AC38 cycle after victory at the opening Preliminary Regatta in Sardinia.
They also have significant time in the AC40.
Dylan Fletcher estimated that Luna Rossa’s two AC40 programmes have accumulated around 200 days on the water.
That experience includes both senior and pathway sailors and the previous Youth and Women’s America’s Cup programmes.
Naples showed the value of those repetitions. The question is how much carries into the AC75.
“The strategy was right and it just came down to the split-second execution.” — Nathan Outteridge
NEW ZEALAND: THE RIGHT PLAN, TOO LATE
ETNZ wanted the right-hand side in the Match Race Final and believed the pressure would favour it. The problem came in the final seconds before the start.
Luna Rossa pushed the pre-start deep. ETNZ needed to tack earlier, but Outteridge was managing the clock, software, boat positioning and opposition simultaneously. By the time New Zealand made the move, Luna Rossa had control.
Outteridge also pointed out that he and Sebastian Kempe have raced only two match races together against another team.
“It’s never nice to lose. In the Cup, you’re always trying to win and nothing else is really good enough.” — Andy Maloney
ETNZ finished comfortably second overall. Naples also gave its new combinations a clear list of details to sharpen.
“We learned that our structure can be good and, if we stick to the plan, we can perform.” — Quentin Delapierre
FRANCE: TWO CAPSIZES, STILL THIRD
France produced one of the more unusual results of the weekend.
La Roche-Posay Racing Team capsized twice. One came in a violent nosedive on Friday. Another arrived on Saturday while the French were in a strong racing position.
They still finished third overall.
For Delapierre, the podium provided evidence that the team’s new structure can produce competitive performance.
That matters for a relatively young group preparing to move into the AC75.
Naples also showed where the work remains: France had enough speed to race at the front, but two major incidents made the weekend considerably harder than it needed to be.
“A lot of it was self-inflicted.”
Lucas Calabrese
ARC TEAM USA: SPEED, THEN MISTAKES
The Americans began Naples by winning the opening race.
Harry Melges and Lucas Calabrese found clear air and built a lead approaching 250 metres. Calabrese also described the onboard structure as deliberately collaborative, with Michael Menninger and Hans Henken feeding information into the helms.
But ARC Team USA struggled to repeat that execution consistently.
Calabrese identified “so many unforced errors” across the weekend.
They finished on 44 points, level with three other teams.
The speed was there. Naples showed how quickly it can be wasted.
“We were one gybe away from a good result.”
Paul Goodison
ALINGHI: ONE MANOEUVRE, FOUR PLACES
Alinghi entered the final fleet race with a chance of reaching the Match Race Final.
They were second around the top mark.
Then came a poor gybe, a touchdown and the fleet went through.
Goodison felt Alinghi had made significant progress since Cagliari, particularly in stronger conditions. The sailing group is relatively new, communication has improved and changes from the shore team have increased reliability.
But in Naples, one mistake was enough to undo the final race.
“I’m a bit pissed off.” — Paul Goodison
Sometimes the technical analysis can wait.
“The teams that have done the most amount of time here ended up in the final.” Dylan Fletcher
GB1: THE 200-DAY QUESTION
Fletcher’s assessment of the finalists was straightforward: they had done more AC40 sailing.
He estimated Luna Rossa’s two programmes had accumulated around 200 days on the water.
GB1 had made a different choice.
Between Sardinia and Naples, the British team prioritised its AC75 programme and used its AC40 outside normal one-design configuration. It only returned the boat to one-design mode around the time the team arrived in Naples.
That left GB1 short of AC40 preparation.
The calculation is understandable. Teams have limited AC75 sailing time during this phase of the campaign, and the Cup itself will be decided in the larger boat.
“If we win the America’s Cup next year, this regatta will feel pretty irrelevant.” — Dylan Fletcher
Naples showed the immediate cost of that choice. Whether it pays off will only become clear in 2027.
“It’s tiny margins. The racing’s so tight.”
Ellie Aldridge
FOUR TEAMS, 44 POINTS
The middle of the final table backed Aldridge’s point.
ARC Team USA, ETNZ Women & Youth, Luna Rossa 2 and Tudor Team Alinghi all finished on 44 points. GB1 was only two points behind on 42.
A start, penalty, touchdown or poor rounding could move a boat several positions.
Aldridge’s GB2 finished on 36 points, but she left Naples considerably more confident in her ability to race the AC40 competitively.
The overall gaps were small. Luna Rossa were the exception.
