Launch of the AC75 Luna Rossa team boat during an official ceremony at the home base in Cagliari, Sardinia. Photo / Photosport
Launch of the AC75 Luna Rossa team boat during an official ceremony at the home base in Cagliari, Sardinia. Photo / Photosport
His team will be the last to arrive but there is an air of confidence about Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena as he prepares to leave Sardinia for Auckland and ramp up preparations for the America's Cup.
The Challenger of Record has confirmed all its travel plans are in placewith MBIE approval and the team is starting to arrive in small groups over the next few weeks.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Herald, Sirena dismissed any concerns Luna Rossa could suffer due to being off the water for at least the next month as they relocate from their home for the last three years in Sardinia, to Auckland's waterfront. Their first boat is on its way in a cargo ship and due to arrive at the end of next month while the second boat, which is nearly complete, is scheduled to be flown down under at the beginning of next month with a view to launching in late October.
"The goal for us would be to do the sea trial around the 18th of October. We are making a lot of effort to try to achieve that because it's a big challenge, but cross fingers it looks promising," Sirena said.
American Magic have been sailing in Auckland since late June and have just taken possession of their new second boat while INEOS Team UK's boats are due to arrive in the next couple of weeks and expected to be on the water before the end of the month. But despite their later arrival, the Italians are comfortable with their timeline.
Team NZ boss Grant Dalton speaks with Luna Rossa skipper and former Team NZ member Max Sirena. Photo / Photosport
Sirena has revealed Luna Rossa will measure both their boats ahead of the Prada Cup, believing either will be capable of competing for the Auld Mug should they ultimately win the Challenger series. It's potentially a big advantage for the Italians over their rival challengers American Magic and INEOS Team UK who have both made it clear their second boats to be unveiled in Auckland next month will be what they are pinning their Cup chances on.
"We decided from day one to push pretty hard on boat one to find the limit with this boat to make sure we are going to be bulletproof with boat two," Sirena said.
"We are going to measure both boats and want to be able to use one or the other boat. We feel pretty confident with our boat one. The performance of boat one is pretty high. We stopped [sailing] actually a week earlier compared to our schedule, to do some modifications to boat one to make sure we don't have to touch it anymore when it arrives in NZ, so if we had to it's going to be ready to race."
The second boat is due to leave the Persico Marine shipyard and loaded onto an Antonov cargo plane on October 1.
"There's a lot of expectation on boat two. It's going to be the same family but different and more refined and a lighter boat than boat one."
Sirena thinks the best all-round boat will ultimately win the Cup.
"It's going to be a global package, it's not going to be only the boat wing or sail, and the full package will make a huge difference in performance - you are not going to win the Cup only by the wing or the foils."
Launch of the AC75 Luna Rossa team boat during an official ceremony at the home base in Cagliari, Sardinia. Photo / Photosport
The change of tack from the Americans and INEOS Team UK, who quickly realised their first wider hull designs were inferior to the sleeker narrower skiff designs of Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa, comes as no surprise to Sirena who as Challenger of Record admittedly had more time to get their heads around the new class of boat than their rivals in the initial design phase.
Sirena will leave with around 40 team members to Auckland on Friday and can't wait to get out on the water among the other teams next month. While the Italians will have only had around six weeks on the water with their second boat ahead of the first time the syndicates will line up against each other at the Christmas Cup regatta, that's not a concern for Sirena.
"I don't think there is any advantage or disadvantage to be there. It's just a matter of where you are in your plan - in terms of schedule, if you are on target. Keep in mind American Magic didn't sail for four months almost, so we actually sailed from middle of April to a week ago with no stops.
"No one really knows where we are in terms of performance because we haven't had a chance to race against each other. But we have some feelings because obviously everyone is spying on the other teams and everyone is looking forward to racing the first event in December."
There has been a lot of chatter in sailing circles of a fractured relationship between the Challenger of Record and defender Emirates Team New Zealand. The challenging syndicates were certainly miffed by the holder's efforts to get the second American entry Stars and Stripes to the start line by seeking approval for them to use Team New Zealand's first boat Te Aihe. It was predictably thrown out by the arbitration panel last month.
Sirena didn't exactly dispel the rumours, offering a wry grin and response when asked if they've patched up their differences with Team New Zealand.
"It's part of the game of the America's Cup. At the beginning we are all good friends and looked forward to going out to dinner. But then as soon as you get close to key moments in the beginning of the race everyone is looking after themselves.
"The thing with Stars and Stripes probably went on for too long - we were supposed to shut it down earlier but it's part of the game. The arbitration panel did the right thing. It's the America's Cup - it's not just racing."
This time next week Sirena will be on the way to Auckland, and is taking a pragmatic approach to the prospect of spending 14 days in hotel quarantine.
"We are going to sit in a hotel – [we're] not going to be in jail, or in a cave moving rocks.
"Luckily the time has arrived and it has been a long time. We started three years ago and we are looking forward to sailing in New Zealand. Auckland for us and for Luna Rossa is a second home."
