Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Prototype Day 11 Summary

It was a big day in the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli LEQ12 programme with big mistral breeze combining with an offshore swell that gave the sailors their most thorough sailing test to date. The Italians passed the test with flying colours however, as they literally rocketed around the Bay of Angels in the 17-20 knot breeze in the morning that saw the LEQ12 staffed with six crew and the smallest J4 jib up front. As the weather eased into the early afternoon, the crew went down to four – two on each side – with Jimmy Spithill and Ruggero Tita at the controls in the respective pods. From a sailing perspective, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli were exercising long runs in the Bay and Vittorio Bissaro, the Flight Controller onboard gave a fascinating insight into sailing these boats in the upper wind ranges. When asked about manual control versus flight control, he said: Well, the biggest difference between the auto-pilot and me, and every foil trimmer, is that so far the auto-pilot is a lot better than humans. Section 41. Reconnaissance a) As a campaign cost reduction measure, COR/D has mutually agreed to cooperatively implement a centralised reconnaissance programme for all teams for the reconnaissance of all Competitors’ AC75 Yachts, AC40 Yachts and LEQ12 yachts including both on-land and on-water imagery (the “Joint Recon Programme”). b) Each team is assigned a two-person Recon Unit to follow their every on-water move, but it's not that simple. The cameras are supplied and identical for all Recon Units. Drones are not allowed, and they can't get that close, plus following a boat and keeping a camera steady at 45 knots isn't that easy to begin with. c) A three minute interview follows each on water day, and teams must answer the Recon Unit's questions while trying not to give too much away. It's a raw, unedited view of the never before seen behind-the-scenes development of a team and their boat to win the oldest trophy in international sports. #AC37Recon #AmericasCup #Barcelona2024