Louis Vuitton Cup, Luna Rossa flies 4-0 over American Magic

Luna Rossa dominates on the second day of racing in the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The Italian boat also won the fourth challenge against American Magic and thus takes a 4-0 lead: a sprint finish with only two seconds ahead of the Americans. She had earlier taken a 3-0 lead against in the best-of-nine series. The Italian boat corrected the imperfections seen yesterday at the start and led the race from the first to the last metre without conceding any chances to its opponents.

In the final, with all expectations, the opponent will be Ineos Britannia.

Before the race with the Americans it was thought that the situation would be reversed: crew in trouble due to the absence of Paul Goodison at the helm replaced by Lucas Calabrese and boat dangerously fast. "They are two precious points," said Checco Bruni, "the boat can express higher speeds and we have not always achieved them. The starts have to be carefully reviewed and analysed, we made small mistakes and in these days we have also seen that half a second can be decisive. The positive thing is that we were always in the race without ever giving ourselves away, even when we were chasing.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli battles American Magic, a clash that becomes a sort of rematch of their match that ended in Auckland, right for the semifinals, 4 to 0 for Luna Rossa. But things were a little different then: American Magic was considered very fast but had just come back from the disaster that had seen her practically sink. She had been rebuilt, having suffered damage to her hull and electrical and electronic systems. On board were both the skipper Terry Hutchinsonc, who had risked his life by becoming entangled underwater, and the helmsman Dean Barker, on whom responsibility had ended. Actually partial: he was at the helm, but of a very difficult boat to steer, which ended up under a strong gust. Now Dean is with Alinghi as coach. But there is something wrong with the Americans again. The helmsman skipper Paul Goodison fell into a pass and hurt himself, some say ribs some say shoulder, with the result that he has been replaced by Lucas Calabrese, a young, not very good champion who could be the surprise.

Paul Goodison is the skipper of the boat and his role has passed to Tom Slingsby who is certainly experienced but does not have the Cup on the 36 behind him and less experience on the AC75. In short, on paper it should be a weakness for the American boat and an advantage for Luna Rossa.