Luna Rossa dominates the second race and leads the provisional ranking of the America's Cup in Naples

The wind takes a long time in the Gulf of Naples but almost at the end of time the north-east wind arrives and gives Luna Rossa a first day to remember in the second preliminary regatta of the America's Cup.

The senior Italian crew finished behind American Racing Challenger in fleet race 1, then dominated the second race, breaking the resistance of the Swiss Alinghi team and taking the lead in the provisional general classification with 19 points out of the 20 available.

The excellent feeling between the tricolor AC40 and the Neapolitan waters, already demonstrated yesterday in the official tests, was confirmed in an afternoon that seemed haunted: over two and a half hours of waiting in search of ideal conditions, as were also two regattas that started but were immediately neutralized because the boats did not have the right push. The problem was always the same, the significant difference in wind intensity between the two sides of the race course: at the start the speed was around ten knots, which then dropped to four knots in the lower part with the boats reaching the windward mark and falling off the foil.

Only at 4.40 pm can we start (the official start was scheduled for 2 pm), but at that point it is unthinkable to complete all three scheduled regattas, so we have to settle for two races. And the first opens immediately with a surprise: on Lungomare Caracciolo everyone is looking for Luna Rossa or the reigning America's Cup champions of Emirates Team New Zealand, but the Americans of Arc Team USA take center stage. Perfect performance for stars and stripes athletes who take the reins at the start and never let go. Luna Rossa senior is second, the Youth and Women crew are fourth, with the English GB2 in the middle. New Zealand, however, started quietly and with its two AC40s did not go beyond fifth and seventh place. A few minutes and we're off again, but this time the main Luna Rossa crew doesn't give us a chance. The helmsmen Peter Burling and Marco Gradoni design the trajectories, the trimmers Maria Giubilei and Gianluigi Ugolini take care of the sails, and the first joy arrives for Italy. Good second place for the Swiss Alinghi who redeemed the last place in the previous race and placed themselves ahead of the two New Zealand boats. Quinta Luna Rossa Youth and Women, while the French from La Roche-Posay fall into the water after a risky maneuver.

American Racing Team is only seventh and slips to second place in the general classification with 14 points, the same as the main boat of Emirates Team New Zealand. Tomorrow we start again at 2pm with three more fleet regattas. The last two will be on Sunday before the final match race between the top two in the standings.

"It happens that you wait a long time and then have to go from light wind to strong wind. Today we had gusts that are not very trivial to manage on boats like this, but we managed to do our best" says Gianluigi Ugolini, the Luna Rossa trimmer whose turn it is to comment on the first day of racing. "The long wait turned into a beautiful day with two races with winds up to 17 knots: it's nice to be up there but the race ends at the finish line on Sunday evening. So head down and focus, tomorrow is another day."