Burling, Luna Rossa beat Team NZ again to win second preliminary regatta

“That’s the million-dollar question, right – how do you beat Pete Burling?”

Leading into the second America’s Cup preliminary regatta in Naples, Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Nathan Outteridge summed up the narrative that would dictate the weekend.

At its conclusion, the question was left unanswered.

For the second straight event, three-time Cup winner and former Team NZ skipper Burling led Luna Rossa to victory against his former team in a one-off match race, after the teams emerged as the best of the nine boats in fleet racing.

“It’s a tough way to finish the regatta. Everyone in the team has high expectations, and we’re always been a very successful team,“ Outteridge said.

“When you don’t get the win in these events, I think it hurts everyone. At the end of the day, we’ve got a few things to improve on. We don’t want to come away thinking there is nothing to improve: there is always more we can do ahead of next year.”

Throughout the weekend, it almost felt like anything but seeing that rematch in the final would be a disservice.

Since it was confirmed that Burling had joined the Italian syndicate for the new cycle, the interest and comparisons between the two teams have made for a narrative that has been constantly revisited.

Fuel was added to that fire in May when Burling led the Luna Rossa America’s Cup crew to victory in the first preliminary regatta, in Cagliari, by beating Team NZ in the match race final.

And after eight fleet races in Naples – this time featuring nine boats instead of eight with ARC Team USA on the water – the fans, pundits and, by the sound of it, even those in the commentary booth got the final they had been hoping to see.

Luna Rossa were clearly the best team of the event in fleet racing, topping the standings with 71 points, with Team NZ second on 56, ahead of France’s La Roche Posay Racing Team third on 48. Team NZ’s women and youth team finished fifth overall, the best of the women and youth crews in the regatta.

The top two had confirmed their place in the regatta final with a race to spare; Luna Rossa dominant for most of the weekend, winning four of the eight fleet races, while Team NZ had five top-three finishes though never claiming a race win.

In the first preliminary regatta in Cagliari earlier in the year, it was really over before it began as Team NZ made an error in the pre-start and Luna Rossa shot off to an uncompetitive victory.

As the top-ranked team, Luna Rossa chose to enter the starting box from port and set up their race, with Team NZ entering from starboard a few seconds later.

After a duel in the starting box, the Kiwis opted to split at the starting line, but were a bit late in getting up to speed.

Throughout the early stages of the race, Team NZ tried to get themselves into clear air and find a way to gain on the Italians, but they were well covered by Luna Rossa who had positioned themselves nicely after the first exchange.

“We really wanted the right-hand side in the start. We fought hard for it but we were a little bit late with our final tack and trigger off the line,“ Outteridge said.

“If you give Pete [Burling] and the Luna Rossa crew just an inch, they’ll take a mile. And we paid the price for that.”

The result started to look inevitable on the penultimate leg as Luna Rossa pulled away, and Burling’s crew went on to claim a 17s win.

It was a strong way to finish for the Italians, who came into Naples with a rejigged line-up as Marco Gradoni (helm) and Maria Giubilei (trimmer) were promoted after sailing for the women and youth crew in Cagliari, while Gianluigi Ugolini got the opportunity in the other trimming role.

For the Team NZ crew, who went into the regatta with the same team of Outteridge, Seb Menzies, Andy Maloney and Iain Jensen, it was another opportunity to build, but they will be disappointed to come away from the weekend without a single win in nine races – 12 if you include practice racing.

And while the America’s Cup itself is not contested on one-design AC40s, there might be some concerns that they have been outsailed by the Italians in both preliminary regattas so far.

Final standings

Luna Rossa (Italy) – 71 points; won match race final

Team New Zealand – 56; lost match race final

La Roche Posay Racing Team (France) – 48

ARC Team USA – 44

Team NZ women and youth – 44

Luna Rossa women and youth (Italy) – 44

Tudor Team Alinghi (Switzerland) – 44

GB1 (Great Britain) – 42

GB2 (Great Britain) – 36

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.