Luna Rossa nosedives during training in Cagliari

Luna Rossa cut short its 15 July training session in Cagliari, part of the AC75 commissioning programme, after an incident during a gybe and a hydraulic issue that surfaced more than once during the day.

In the first on-water session, following an initial round-up, the yacht showed significant windward heel, with the leeward wing nearly submerged while still in sailing mode. As it bore away into the next gybe, from starboard to port, in a bow-down trim, the rudder pierced the water's surface and the bow dug in. The rudder elevator had already come out of the water before the bow made contact. The damage was limited to a broken wand and several fairings, later taped together.

The new rudder design, introduced earlier in July, uses a smaller elevator than before; the horizontal foil provides pitch stability and lift, and the team is still adapting to its characteristics. After an inspection, the crew resumed sailing, but technicians later boarded to check the stern for a suspected hydraulic problem.

The day ended at 2:30pm, with the boat towed back to the Molo Ichnusa base in the port of Cagliari.

The session had begun at 9:10am, when the boat was craned in; additional GoPros mounted on the starboard wing were removed, while the newer cameras on the mast stayed in place. With the offshore Maestrale still dying down, the dock-out was pushed back to 11:15am to wait for the sea breeze.

The starting crew, on port, comprised Marco Gradoni on helm, Gigi Ugolini on trim and Maria Giubilei in the fifth position; on starboard, Peter Burling on helm, Vittorio Bissaro on trim and structural engineer William Brooks in the sixth position. With the day cut short, there were no crew rotations, except for foil designer Francisco Azevedo, who took over the sixth position. Before leaving harbour, at 11:30am the newest mainsail, M2-1, was hoisted and paired with the newest jib, J1-1.

The first session started at 11:55am with a tow-to-foil from the chase boat; the yacht sailed upwind in the lightest breeze recorded so far, 4-6 knots from 145°, over 0.3 metres of residual swell from the same direction. Manoeuvres on shorter upwind and downwind boards were consistent, with mostly dry tacks and gybes even in the light air.

After the gybe incident, technicians gathered around the main track, causing a further delay for a suspected hydraulic issue, which initially appeared fixed. At 1:35pm the boat foiled again for a second session after another tow, but stopped shortly after: the problem did not seem fully resolved. The jib car, main car and mast trim were tested, producing an unusually loud oscillating noise during the usual trim vibration.

No further major issues followed: at 1:48pm the boat took off unassisted, with the breeze building to 7-9 knots. On a couple of tacks, the board drops were inconsistent, without the usual gradual release. Several bear-aways and round-ups were carried out before heading downwind for gybes; on the final one too, the port board appeared heavily canted and did not drop gradually. More tacks followed before the boat stopped.

The sails were dropped and the day was called due to the hydraulic issue. The boat was towed into harbour at 2:30pm, after roughly 33 minutes of foiling time, 15 tacks and 12 gybes in total.

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