Red Moon Rising
Luna Rossa were among the hot favourites for AC37 but crashed out in the challenger final. Now, with lessons learned and a restructured team, Italy’s Red Moon is rising fast in the run up to AC38.
The most disappointed team at the 37th America’s Cup was, without a doubt, the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli syndicate. Devastated is probably a better word to describe the team when they lost the Louis Vuitton Cup final against the British Ineos Britannia crew. Shell-shocked is another apt way of describing the mood in the Italian base on that day.
This was a team that the vast majority had earmarked as a shoo-in to win the challenger series comfortably and set up a rematch of the 36th America’s Cup final series against their age-old rivals Emirates Team New Zealand. There was an air of confidence – some might say arrogance – about the Italians when they arrived in Barcelona in the lead up to AC37. Max Sirena’s team knew they were everyone’s favourites to face the Kiwis – and they also felt the mantle was justified.
They had spe…