ACWS @Naples: AC45 Graduation Day for Bruni & Slingby

All images © ACEA / photo Gilles Martin-Raget. The final day at Napoli was just incredible, I saw early the start for the F1 , and it was quite interesting as Vettel, Raikonen and Alonso fight for position in the first laps, with several passes and great handling ability.
Today the AC45s Show had nothing to envy to the F1 Circus.
Luna Rossa gave veteran tactician Francesco Bruni a ride to helm LR Piranha. Bruni affirmed before the final MR, that he had advantage on his Matc Racing experience over Slingby, and he walk the talk in the start schooling Oracle in great form.

But Slingby maintained calm, I like how he was telling the team what he was doing and what he felt, really a nice way to lead a salling team. That easy going but focused behaviour payoff when the came back after trailing Luna Rossa for 200mtrs to take the lead and the final MR Cup at Naples.

Bruni for sure was quite disappointed, blowing a lead at home waters and the Italian crowd ready to cheer his perfect start of the match. Tough loss , but he had a second chance and a payback in the final fleet race where LR Piranha came from behind to take the lead from Slingby and Guichard, that were leading and covering each other. It was a perfect win for Bruni and it showed how he felt after losing the MR, as the Italian passionate blood (that he in Arg we have as a strong heritage from early 20cent immigrants) arose in full bore shouting as a mad men in joy from grabbing that perfect win that also crwoned them as overall fleet regatta winners.

Slingby was just cool and relaxed, flying with a solid team, and handling the 45 as his own Lasers.
So it was graduation day for Bruni
and Slingby at the AC45 Top Gun school, two experienced monohull/dinghy sailors that grabbed the Cat feeling just as good as the fastests sailors in the fleet, of course the AC45 Dark Horses for 2012, the French multihull commando team led by Ian Guichard, that were performing but missed a race on a hardware failure and today although speeding as always failed to race the course to maximize that advantage.

The future of the ACup is looking good for AC35 with hopefully the french involved, plus the current participants like LR, Oracle, Artemis, New Zealand, and surely some others. One of the best days of racing in the AC45s series and a perfect final event before the AC72s ACup.  After seeing this great show I went to train for next racing weekend and it is just great how can you relate the drive and inertia of the 45s on the F18s.

Responding again to Vsail bitter question regarding multihulls… ‘Is this the future of sailing?’ You bet it is.
 
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 More reports and results at https://www.americascup.com/en/news/4/events/15333/luna-rossa-oracle-team-usa-winners-at-americas-cup-world-series-naples
Replays in previous posts.