ACWS Luxury Yacht Charter & Superyacht News

Today, April 21, saw Luna Rossa Swordfish, led by helmsman Francesco Bruni, win the overall championship of the America’s Cup World Series Naples.

Luna Rossa Swordfish wins Naples ACWS 2013© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

Bruni posted a thrilling win in the fleet racing finale, coming from behind on the final run in a race that saw the lead change hands three times.

The win was cathartic for the emotional Italian helmsman. Earlier in the day Luna Rossa Swordfish lost the match racing championship to ORACLE TEAM USA SLINGSBY. Bruni was critical of his performance in the loss after leading the match early on.

“This win was the only way to forget our mistake in the match racing,” said Bruni, who will be the tactician aboard Luna Rossa Challenge’s AC72 in the upcoming Louis Vuitton Cup, America’s Cup Challenger Series (July 4-Aug. 30).

“The fleet race win really means a lot to me. We had an opportunity for the double win, but just missed out. I can’t thank my crew enough, Paul Campbell-James, Max Sirena, Xabi Fernandez and Manuel Modena. They did a great job today.”

America's Cup World Series Naples 2013 - Final Race Day - ORACLE TEAM USA© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

Slingsby delivered on his stated goal: to secure the overall 2012-2013 America’s Cup World Series season championship for ORACLE TEAM USA, the defense team in the upcoming 34th America’s Cup (Sept. 7-21). He wrapped up that championship yesterday and today added the match racing title as well.

“I’m really proud to be getting the America’s Cup World Series trophy for ORACLE TEAM USA,” said Slingsby. ORACLE TEAM USA also won last year’s championship. “Jimmy Spithill and his team set it up for us. We just had to come here, do our best and luckily he gave us enough of a lead to take home the trophy.”

The second America’s Cup World Series Naples surpassed last year’s event in terms of spectators. Local event officials estimate that more than 1 million people have turned out along the Naples waterfront and in the Race Village to enjoy the week-long event.

The crowds began coming out in force last Sunday with some 100,000 people estimated to have lined the shores of the Bay of Naples for the informal coastal race. The fans kept returning, lured by close racing yards from the shoreline and nightly entertainment at the Race Village.

America's Cup World Series Naples 2013 - Final Race Day - Luna Rossa and ORACLE TEAM USA© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

Slingsby won the match racing championship by overtaking Bruni on the second upwind leg. After trailing by 22 seconds at the leeward gate, Slingsby showed the moves that have earned him the nickname “the wind whisperer” due to his ability to sniff out wind shifts and puffs.

“It was so shifty that I honestly thought we had a good chance,” said Slingsby. “I knew if we could get them out of phase on the shifts and we were in phase, huge gains could be made. We said we could catch them and I’m so glad that we did.”

Slingsby passed Bruni when the Italian failed to cover. Until that moment, Bruni had sailed a brilliant match. He showed great patience in the pre-start, stuffing Slingsby and holding him off the course.

“We did everything perfectly until that moment,” said Bruni. “We made a couple of big mistakes on the last upwind leg. The wind was shifting a lot and we had a couple of bad tacks where boat completely stopped.”

Second place in the America’s Cup World Series season championship went to Chris Draper and Luna Rossa Piranha. The defending champions at America’s Cup World Series Naples placed fourth overall this year.

21/04/2013 - Napoli (ITA) - America's Cup World Series Naples 2013 - Final Race Day© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

“I think we were going so well just before event, we probably got a little bit expectant and ahead of ourselves,” said Draper, the helmsman of Luna Rossa’s AC72. “But we’re pleased to place second overall in the series. There are a lot of good teams out here.”

America’s Cup World Series Naples wraps up the 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series season. The focus now shifts to the “Summer of Racing” planned for San Francisco. It begins in July with the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America’s Cup Challenger Series, and concludes in September with the America’s Cup Finals.

America’s Cup World Series Naples Championship Standings
1. Luna Rossa Swordfish (Francesco Bruni) – 80 points
2. ORACLE TEAM USA (Tom Slingsby) – 80
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) – 71
4. Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper) – 70
5. J.P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie) – 65
6. Energy Team (Yann Guichard) – 58
7. Artemis Racing White (Charlie Ekberg) – 40
8. HS Racing (R. Hagara/H.S. Steinacher) – 36
9. China Team (Mitch Booth) – 30

America’s Cup World Series Naples Match Racing Championship
1. ORACLE TEAM USA SLINGSBY, 2. Luna Rossa Swordfish, 3. J.P. Morgan BAR, 4. Luna Rossa Piranha, 5. Emirates Team New Zealand, 6. Artemis Racing White, 7. Energy Team, 8. HS Racing, 9. China Team

2012-2013 America’s Cup World Series Season Championship
1. ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL/SLINGSBY – 245 points
2. Luna Rossa Piranha – 191
3. J.P. Morgan BAR – 181
4. Emirates Team New Zealand – 171
5. Energy Team – 160
6. Artemis Racing White – 160
7. Luna Rossa Swordfish – 151
8. Team Korea – 105
9. ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS – 98
10. Artemis Racing Red – 90
11. China Team – 73
12. HS Racing – 36

2012-2013 America’s Cup World Series Match Racing Championship
1. ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL/SLINGSBY 29 points, 2. Emirates Team New Zealand – 22, 3. Artemis Racing White – 21, 4. ORACLE TEAM USA COUTTS – 16, 5. J.P. Morgan BAR – 15, 6. Energy Team – 15, 7. Luna Rossa Swordfish – 14, 8. Luna Rossa Piranha – 13, 9. Artemis Racing Red – 8, 10. China Team – 5, 11. Team Korea – 5, 12. HS Racing – 3

The second day of the Naples America’s Cup World Series 2013 was marked by strong performances of ORACLE TEAM USA SLINGSBY and Energy Team, as well as a jarring collision between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge.

America's Cup World Series Naples 2013 - Race Day Two - ORACLE TEAM USA© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

Helmsman Tom Slingsby led ORACLE TEAM USA into the top spot in the standings with finishes of 1-2 in today’s two fleet races. Slingsby, filling in for team skipper Jimmy Spithill, also won his first competitive match race, a 34-second victory over HS Racing led by co-skippers Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher.

“It was an ideal day for us, we’re really happy,” said Slingsby, the 28-year-old Australian who won the Gold medal in the Laser class at last year’s Olympic Regatta.

“The wind was a bit steadier today so you just had to worry about getting a good start, boathandling and positioning,” Slingsby continued. “You didn’t have to read into watching the wind and everything it did. It was a beautiful seabreeze with small shifts and made things a bit easier.”

America's Cup World Series Naples 2013 - Race Day Two - Energy Team and Luna Rossa© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

Slingsby’s performance impressed even the U.S. Ambassador to Italy, David Thorne, who was guest racer aboard ORACLE TEAM USA.

“Looking at the racing, it’s really spectacular,” said Thorne. “Being in it, doing it, it’s so much fun to get engaged in something like this. These are not really sailboats, they’re airplanes. It’s a spectacular feeling of speed and movement. It’s completely thrilling.”

Led by skipper Yann Guichard, France’s Energy Team posted a 2-1. They were overtaken by Slingsby on the second upwind leg in the first fleet race, but rebounded for a 26-second win in the second race.

“Yesterday was difficult to understand the race course, it was very shifty. Today the wind was very steady so I could really focus on the speed of the boat, especially on the start,” said Guichard, who led Energy Team to 4th place at last year’s AC World Series Naples.

“It will all come down to Sunday, but it’s really important to do well day after day so we can be confident going into the last day,” Guichard said.

While the fleet races were tame in terms of boats banging off each other, the same cannot be said of the day’s first match race between Luna Rossa Swordfish and Emirates Team New Zealand.

America's Cup World Series Naples 2013 - Race Day Two© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

The rival crews who spent the winter training on AC72s in New Zealand were involved in a collision at the windward mark that flattened the starboard bow of Luna Rossa Swordfish and damaged the port stern scoop of Emirates Team New Zealand.

Dean Barker got Emirates Team New Zealand off to a good start when he forced Francesco Bruni and Luna Rossa Swordfish over the start line early. Barker led by 5 seconds around the leeward mark but Bruni steadily chipped away at that lead upwind.

As the two crews aimed to round the left side windward mark, Barker approached on starboard with Bruni on port. Video replays show that Bruni got to the three-boatlength circle a split second before Barker, which gave Bruni rights to round the mark free of interference from Barker.

Barker, however, continued sailing straight to the mark and Bruni crashed into him as he started to tack towards the mark. Barker was penalized on the ensuing run and Bruni won the match.

But the damage to the boats was done and later Luna Rossa Swordfish retired from the second fleet race due to the damage despite finishing 3rd in the first fleet race.

“We are happy with our win over Team New Zealand because they are one of the best teams on the water so to beat them is a nice thing to do,” said Luna Rossa Challenge skipper Max Sirena, a trimmer aboard Swordfish.

“In the second race we broke the headstay bracket on the bowsprit, it dragged back 10 centimeters. We think it’s because of the damage in the collision,” Sirena said.

Barker was upset that Luna Rossa Swordfish didn’t do more to avoid the collision.

“Normally, even if you’re in the right you avoid collisions resulting in serious damage and it doesn’t seem like they did a lot,” said Barker, a past match racing world champion. “I think it’s pretty poor to be honest. But the umpires see it the way they see it and our guys have a long night to fix the boat.”

Both boats were hauled from the water for their shore teams to affect repairs.

Racing resumes tomorrow at 14:00 local time (CEST) and will be streamed live on YouTube worldwide (subject to territorial rights agreements).

America’s Cup World Series Naples Championship Standings
(Provisional, after 4 of 7 scheduled races)
1. ORACLE TEAM USA (Tom Slingsby) – 38 points
2. Energy Team (Yann Guichard) – 36
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker) – 36
4. J.P. Morgan BAR (Ben Ainslie) – 35
5. Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper) – 33
6. Luna Rossa Swordfish (Francesco Bruni) – 23
7. Artemis Racing White (Charlie Ekberg) – 21
8. HS Racing (R. Hagara/H.S. Steinacher) – 17
9. China Team (Mitch Booth) – 14

Saturday’s Match Racing Schedule
Semifinal 1: Luna Rossa Piranha vs. Luna Rossa Swordfish
Semifinal 2: ORACLE TEAM USA SLINGSBY vs. J.P. Morgan BAR

Wednesday afternoon on the Bay of Naples saw nine teams participate in the official practice session, ahead of the first day of championship racing in the America’s Cup World Series, due to start this afternoon, on April 18, 2013.

America's Cup World Series Naples 2013 - The public meet the skippers© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

This is the final event of the 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series. ORACLE TEAM USA is leading the standings and has tasked Tom Slingsby with protecting a lead built up in the first events by team skipper Jimmy Spithill. Slingsby jokes that Spithill has told him not to ‘stuff it up’, and although he considers himself an underdog in making his AC World Series debut as skipper, he’s confident his team can earn good results.

“I think we’ve got a good young team that could surprise some people,” he said. “Our boat handling looks pretty good so we just need to get our race experience up.”

Another team making their inaugural AC World Series appearance is HS Racing, led by double Olympic gold medalist Roman Hagara, who says he’s hoping to challenge some of the more experienced AC45 teams over the course of the week.

“I want to see us improve a little bit from race to race and hopefully get some finishes near the top,” he said. “The other teams have many more hours on the water than we do, but I think there’s a chance we could surprise some people.”

America's Cup World Series Naples 2013 - Official Training Day© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

Following today’s training session the nine skippers took to the stage to meet the public in the Race Village. A vocal and enthusiastic crowd was on hand to ask questions and celebrate the sailors. Fans have been lining the foreshore to watch the teams practicing since last weekend when the Race Village opened and the crowds are only expected to grow as the week progresses.

Racing from Thursday to Sunday will be streamed live on YouTube worldwide (subject to territorial rights agreements) beginning at 1400 local time (CEST) on Thursday.

Current 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series Championship leaderboard
(Teams participating in Naples – skipper – points)
ORACLE TEAM USA (Slingsby) – 165
Luna Rossa Piranha (Draper) – 121
Artemis Racing White (Ekberg) – 120
J.P. Morgan BAR – 116
Energy Team – 102
Emirates Team New Zealand – 100
Luna Rossa Swordfish – 71
China Team – 43
HS Racing – 0

Tuesday morning in Naples, Italy, saw the nine skippers of the America’s Cup World Series meet with an enthusiastic and large pool of media at the skippers’ media opportunity.

The skippers with the ACWS trophy© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

All of the talk was on the excitement of getting back to racing following a long break after the last event in San Francisco.

“The big thing this week is for the team to practice going racing,” said Luna Rossa Piranha helmsman Chris Draper. “We’ve put a lot of work in over the last six months so we’re keen to see where we stack up.”

His comment was echoed by Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker who noted that with all the testing the team has been doing on for its AC72 program, this week would be a great opportunity for the crew to sharpen their race skills.

“It’s easy to get rusty,” he said. “We’re looking forward to getting race ready again.”

After meeting the media in the morning, most of the teams then took to the Bay of Naples in moderate wind conditions on a bright Tuesday afternoon to get more training in ahead of the first racing on Thursday.

America's Cup World Series Naples 2013 - Free training Day 2© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

Quotes from the skippers:

Charlie Ekberg, Artemis Racing: It’s the best possible way for us to prepare for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. Getting used to the boats has been a challenge. It will be exciting to see if we can manage the boat as well as the others do. There are some great sailors out here. It might be a good thing I don’t know too much about all of them!

Ben Ainslie, J.P. Morgan BAR: The lighter air sailing is something that’s quite new for us. But we want to be up at the top of the fleet like we were last time. We’d like to be fighting it out with the leaders. We had a really good day of training yesterday and we’ll make the most of our time before racing starts to get ready.

Mitch Booth, China Team: We’ve had a few weeks of training in Sanya, China, sailing 28-foot catamarans. That doesn’t necessarily prepare you for racing an AC45 against the best sailors in the world, but it allows you to practice on your communication skills on board. Most of our guys haven’t raced at anything like this level. The loads are higher and the intensity is much greater, so it’s going to be a great learning experience.

Dean Barker, Emirates Team New Zealand: We’ve spent the last 10 months focused on testing the AC72 and unless you get into racing the small boats again, it’s easy to get rusty. So we’re looking forward to getting race ready again.

Yann Guichard, Energy Team: Naples is a fantastic place for racing. It’s really a stadium racing arena, because you can sail so close to the shore. Last weekend we were sailing along the shoreline for the Coast Race and it was really, really nice.

Chris Draper, Luna Rossa Piranha: The match racing is something we’d like to do well in but obviously if you make just one mistake there you’re out. So the big thing this week is for the team to practice going racing. We’ve put a lot of work in the last six months so we’re keen to see where we stack up.

Francesco Bruni, Luna Rossa Swordfish: I’m really happy to be in Naples again. The public is warm and passionate and I’m sure that Luna Rossa will enjoy a lot of support. I think it will be tough but also a lot of fun.

Roman Hagara, HS Racing: We are looking for some good racing here. We need to work on our maneuvers as it’s a little bit different to the Extreme 40s we’ve been sailing on but our crew is good and we’ll be ready.

Tom Slingsby, ORACLE TEAM USA Slingsby: I think we’re a bit of the underdogs as it’s our first event and some of the other skippers didn’t do that great in their debuts. But I think we’ve got a good young team that could surprise some people. Our boat handling looks pretty good so we just need to get our race experience up.

Austrians Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher, double Olympic Gold medalists in the Tornado catamaran, have entered the next America’s Cup World Series Naples, set to run from May 16 to 21.

Hans-Peter Steinacher and Roman Hagara© Red Bull Content Pool

The duo will sail under the banner HS Racing and race under the US flag in partnership with ORACLE TEAM USA.

HS Racing is one of nine crews entered in the regatta, which will also feature America’s Cup World Series leader ORACLE TEAM USA, second-placed Luna Rossa Piranha, third-placed Artemis Racing White, J.P. Morgan BAR, Energy Team, Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa Swordfish and China Team.

“It is a dream come true for us,” said Hagara, 46, whose aim, along with tactician Steinacher and their crew is a top placing at the final event of the 2012-13 AC World Series season.

“We trained on the AC45 back in February in San Francisco and felt very good from the start,” said Steinacher, 44. “The boat is extremely difficult to handle at strong winds and it develops unbelievable forces, but we are happy to take on the challenge.”

Hagara and Steinacher were Gold medalists at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics. They are also the sports directors for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, scheduled Sept. 1-4 in San Francisco.

“It’s great to have Roman and Hans-Peter involved,” said ORACLE TEAM USA CEO Russell Coutts. “They aim to be serious competitors and this is a great platform to launch their America’s Cup aspirations.”

America's Cup World Series Naples 2012 - Final day© ACEA 2013/ Photo Gilles Martin-Raget

Familiar names are lining up for the final AC World Series event, with sailors such as Dean Barker of Emirates Team New Zealand, Francesco Bruni and Chris Draper of Luna Rossa, Yann Guichard of Energy Team and Tom Slingsby of ORACLE TEAM USA scheduled to compete. Sweden’s Artemis Racing will be helmed by 23-year-old Charlie Ekberg, Sweden’s top 49er sailor and skipper of Artemis Racing/Swedish Youth Challenge for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. The Naples event will also feature the return of Mitch Booth to the helm of China Team, while Ben Ainslie will skipper his J.P. Morgan BAR team.

Team Korea, previously an America’s Cup World Series participant and Louis Vuitton Cup entrant, has withdrawn from further competition in the 34th America’s Cup. In a letter to the Golden Gate Yacht Club, the team indicated it has plans to enter the 35th America’s Cup.

Last year’s AC World Series Naples drew crowds estimated at 500,000, who were there in part to catch the debut of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013. Draper led his Luna Rossa Piranha crew to a thrilling win in the final fleet race. The victory kicked off celebrations among the tens of thousands of Italian America’s Cup fans lining the Naples waterfront to catch a glimpse of their heroes.

The conditions were as varied as any venue on the AC World Series. The fleet race finale was held in light wind and turned into a drifter at the finish. That occurred just two days after big wind and waves saw the AC45s powered up and leaping from the wave tops.

The city of Naples is currently preparing to play host to the grand finale of the 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series that will be held in April.

America's Cup World Series - Credit: ACEA 2013/Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget

On Friday, February 15, at a press conference in Milan, representatives of the consortium ACN, the local organizing authority, met to promote the event, including: President of the Campania Region, Stefano Caldoro; the Mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris; the President of the Province, Antonio Pentangelo; President of the Chamber of Commerce of Naples, Maurizio Maddaloni; and the CEO of ACN, Mario Hubler.

Tom Ehman, Vice-Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, was in attendance on behalf of the America’s Cup, and spoke of the warm reception the America’s Cup community received during the 2012 event.

“The races last year were among the best I’ve seen in 33 years of involvement with the America’s Cup,” he said. “The race village in Naples was the busiest among the AC World Series events and the spectacular opening ceremony was one that all of us will remember for a very long time.”

Naples Presentation in Milan

President Caldoro confirmed the success of the 2012 event, noting: “Participation in Naples has exceeded that of all other places where there was the same competition… The real challenge is to showcase our territory, and we will do our best to achieve this objective.”

Mayor de Magistris also emphasized the importance the America’s Cup has had on the image of Naples: “This event is a driving force in changing the image of our city. Where there is sport, there is economy, there are young people, and there is work.”

Tom Ehman and Luigi de Magistris

The America’s Cup World Series Naples runs from April 16-21, 2013 and is the final World Series event leading into the Summer of Racing in San Francisco, which includes the Louis Vuitton Cup (America’s Cup Challenger Series), Red Bull Youth America’s Cup and America’s Cup Finals.

Naples in Italy will once again host the best sailors in the world for the first America’s Cup World Series event of 2013 that will take place from April 16-21.

Naples ACWS 2012© 2012 ACEA/ Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget

Naples originally hosted the America’s Cup World Series in April 2012, drawing over 500,000 spectators on site, with the racing on the water highlighted by a spectacular debut from the Italian Luna Rossa Challenge team, who won the fleet racing and finished in second place in the match racing.

“We are very happy to be returning to Naples for our only event in Europe in 2013,” said Stephen Barclay, the CEO of the 34th America’s Cup. “The people of Naples turned out in force to celebrate the America’s Cup and the Luna Rossa team in 2012 and we anticipate even more enthusiasm for the 2013 edition.”

Luna Rossa Team during the Naples ACWS 2012© Guilain GRENIER / ORACLE TEAM USA

“We have worked hard alongside our partners to ensure the city will host the America’s Cup World Series again,” said Mario Hubler, the CEO of ACN, the administrative body charged with securing and running the event. “Now we have to roll up our sleeves and, in collaboration with the America’s Cup organizers, ensure that the races of 2013 will be an even greater success than those of last April.”

The America’s Cup World Series features up to 11 of the top sailing teams in the world, racing on cutting-edge, wingsail catamarans that demand the best from the crews. The competition takes place extremely close to shore, on short, confined racecourses, making for dramatic race action for spectators and sailors alike.

ORACLE TEAM USA, the home team in the United States, charged with defending the America’s Cup in 2013, is currently leading the 2012-13 series.

Following the April event in Naples, Italy, the 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series will culminate with two events in the USA at the end of May. Full details of the American events will be released shortly.