Under the spotlight of the world’s media, between the first two races of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli has won the inaugural edition of the Puig Women’s America’s Cup with a demonstration of calm and serenity.
It was a titanic struggle between the two top boats in a super-competitive qualifying and semi-final series that signalled the future of the America’s Cup. The final was shaping up to be a classic, with Great Britain’s Athena Pathway coming in with momentum, while Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli knew it had the inherent speed if it could hold its nerve and perform when it needed to.
A nervous start by the Italians, however, meant they were late for the box and Athena Pathway had to decide on starboard tack whether to go aggressive or gybe and take the lead. The Brits opted for the latter and prepared for their final approach to windward, hoping to regain the speed advantage they had enjoyed in previous races.
From the start, however, it was Giulia Conti, skipper of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and starboard helmsman, who gained a few crucial meters from the start line, to tack on the left hand side and take initial control. From then on, she and her Italian crew (co-skipper Margherita Porro and trimmers Maria Giubilei and Giulia Fava) remained calm despite the intense pressure from the British and did not relinquish the lead for the next six legs.
Athena Pathway, led by Britain’s most decorated Olympic sailor Hannah Mills, along with Tash Bryant and trimmers Saskia Clark and Hannah Diamond, was a constant threat as they refused to give up and kept very tight times throughout the course. At times they closed, but the Italians covered tenaciously and, despite splitting tactics all over the course to disengage from their rivals, Athena Pathway had no passing lanes and no chance of exploiting any advantage.
On the final downwind leg, the Italian team was sailing at high speed after Conti called for calm on the previous downwind leg, where the sailing height in the rising waves briefly got out of control and caused the boat to go through a wave. With a steady 11 knots of wind, the Italian team was able to sail conservatively, choose their roles and sail to the finish with a 19-second lead.
Athena Pathway didn’t give up and attacked the leaders hard on the last leg to the finish line. But a clever gybe on the port layline took Luna Rossa across the line and secured an eight-second victory and a place in the history books as the first winners of the Puig Women’s America’s Cup.
Aboard the Italian AC40 and ashore, the Italian team was enthusiastically celebrating adding the Puig Women’s America’s Cup to the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup won earlier by the Luna Rossa youth team.
To celebrate this Italian sailing milestone, the winning youth team, led by skipper Marco Gradoni, came aboard to join the celebrations while Juvé & Camps cava was spread with abandon.
Later, on shore, Maria Giubilei, trimmer aboard Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, confessed that she was having a hard time assimilating the women’s achievement: “I don’t know how to describe what I feel. I’m super happy and proud of the team, it’s just a wonderful feeling. I’m not sure we can understand it yet. Maybe in the next few days we will understand that what we have done is something really big and how important it is for girls all over the world. I hope this inspires people to follow their dreams and live the life they want.”
Asked if this is the first step towards women sailing aboard AC75s in future editions of the America’s Cup, she said, “I hope so. I think it would be good, especially because one day I want to get on Luna Rossa. I think it would be great for the women if at some point there wasn’t just a race for us, but if we were mixed in with the other sailors.
Hannah Mills, skipper of Athena Pathway, was understandably disappointed: “It was tough, we couldn’t catch the Italians. They did a great job of defending and on the last downwind leg it was close, but we couldn’t get past them.”
“Overall, Ben and I created this program, Athena Pathway, to inspire young girls coming into the sport of sailing or wanting to try it, to show them that there are so many more opportunities, whether it’s on the water, racing, or off the water, in shore positions, and we’ve done that with what we’ve created here, so for me that’s everything. I’m very proud of everyone on this team and the team in general for helping us achieve that.”
In a stunning victory, and a sign of their excellent present and future intentions, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli took on a great challenger, Athena Pathway, and were crowned champions of the inaugural Puig Women’s America’s Cup.
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