Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, originally named Prada Challenge, then Luna Rossa Challenge, is an Italian sailboat racing syndicate first created to compete for the 2000 America's Cup. It won the

Louis Vuitton Cup The Louis Vuitton Cup is the name of the Challenger (America's Cup), Challenger Selection Series sailing competition from 1983, named after its Sponsor (commercial), sponsor, Louis Vuitton. The winner of the competition became the Challenger (A ...

on its first attempt in 2000, but then lost the America's Cup match against the defending champion team,

Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a Sailing (sport), sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as Emirates (airline), Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competiti ...

. Luna Rossa challenged again for the

2003 America's Cup The 31st America's Cup was contested between the holder, Team New Zealand, and the winner of the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, Alinghi. Build Up The 2002–2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, held in the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand saw nine teams from ...

but was knocked out in the semi-finals stage of the

. In the

2007 America's Cup The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and '' Match Race'' in the sport of sailing. As per the Deed of Gift ...

, held in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain, the team reached the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup but was again defeated by

. When the competition moved to

AC72 The AC72 (America's Cup 72 class) is a class of wingsail catamarans built to a box rule, which governs the construction and operation of yachts competing in the 2013 Louis Vuitton and the America's Cup races. The class was subsequently replaced ...

catamarans for the

2013 America's Cup The 34th America's Cup was a regatta, series of yacht races held in San Francisco Bay in September 2013. The series was contested between the defender Oracle Team USA team representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and the challenger Emirates Team ...

, held in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, Luna Rossa was the last team to challenge, entering a partnership with

. The Italian team reached the final of the

, losing to the Kiwi team. While Luna Rossa planned to participate in the 2017 America's Cup, setting up a new base in

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

and starting development on the new boat, it withdrew from the competition in protest of the decision to switch the class of yachts to the

AC50 The AC50 (defined in the America's Cup rules as AC Class yacht, or ACC) was a wingsail catamaran development rule that governed the construction of the yachts used in the 2017 Louis Vuitton Cup and the 2017 America's Cup. Like the larger AC72s ...

catamaran. After

won the Cup back in 2017, Luna Rossa issued their challenge for the next edition, becoming the Challenger of Record for the

2021 America's Cup The 2021 America's Cup in March 2021 was the 36th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. It was contested on the inner Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, New Zealand, between the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Circolo della Vela Sicilia of Italy ...

; after winning the Prada Cup, it lost 7-3 against the Kiwis. The team is owned by

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding ...

CEO

Patrizio Bertelli Patrizio Bertelli (born 6 April 1946) is an Italian businessman and former co-chief executive officer (CEO) of the Prada Group, a role he shared with his wife Miuccia Prada. Life and career Born in the Tuscan city of Arezzo in 1946, Patrizio ...

and it is sponsored by that Italian fashion brand. Additional sponsors were

Telecom Italia TIM S.p.A. (formerly Telecom Italia S.p.A.) is an Italian telecommunications company with headquarters in Rome, Milan, and Naples (with the Telecom Italia Tower), which provides fixed, public and mobile telephony, and DSL data services. It is ...

between 2005 and 2007 and

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

from 2018.

History

1997–2000: The first challenge

In February 1997,

CEO and avid sailor

met with Argentinian yacht designer German Frers to discuss the construction of a cruising yacht. Frers asked suddenly "Why don’t we consider the America’s Cup?". Within 15 days, the core group behind Luna Rossa's first America's Cup campaign was established; the team challenged for the 30th America's Cup on behalf of the Yacht Club Punta Ala and under the name Prada Challenge. Starting from October 1999 in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, the team raced in the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup with its two IACC yachts ITA-45 and ITA-48 (the latter only for the first two Round Robins) skippered by Francesco de Angelis. After ranking first in the Round Robin stage by winning 26 out of 29 races, and first again in the knockout stage after winning 8 out of 10, Luna Rossa disputed the finals against AmericaOne, skippered by Paul Cayard. In a long battle across 9 races, Luna Rossa ultimately prevailed 5–4, winning the

on 6 February 2000, the second time ever for an Italian team after Il Moro di Venezia in 1992. Having earned the right to challenge for the 2000 America's Cup, Luna Rossa lost 5–0 to defending Cup champion

2001–2003: The second challenge

Luna Rossa was the first to issue a challenge to

for the 31st America's Cup and therefore contested the

2003 Louis Vuitton Cup The 6th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2003. The winner, Alinghi, went on to challenge for and win the 2003 America's Cup. Teams The Yacht Club Punta Ala was the challenger of record. Alinghi Founded by Swiss business ...

as the Challenger of Record. The team built two new IACC yachts, ITA-74 and ITA-80, which did not perform as expected. Still skippered by Francesco de Angelis, Luna Rossa was eliminated in the semi-final stage by American team OneWorld.

2004–2007: The third challenge

After

Alinghi Alinghi, or Alinghi Red Bull Racing because of the sports marketing branding by Red Bull, is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup, as well ...

's victory in the

, the competition moved to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, for the first time in Europe. Luna Rossa was the first of the 12 participating teams to set up a base in Valencia, with a restructured team compared to the previous two campaigns. Now competing as Luna Rossa Challenge with

as an additional sponsor, the team challenged on behalf of the Yacht Club Italiano, based in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, one of the oldest yacht club in the Mediterranean. The sailing team was enriched with new members, most notably Jimmy Spithill as helmsman, while Francesco de Angelis remained skipper. The team built two new IACC yachts for the campaign, ITA-86 and ITA-94, the latter of which raced in the

2007 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain, from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, two ...

. After ranking third in the Round Robin stage, winning 16 out of 20 races, the team beat

BMW Oracle Racing Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club. ...

5–1 in the semi-finals. Luna Rossa then lost 5–0 in the

finals against

Emirates Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competitions since 2007. Team New Zealand be ...

2007–2011: The Cup on a hiatus

With the extensive court challenges leading to the

2010 America's Cup The 33rd America's Cup between Société Nautique de Genève defending with team Alinghi against Golden Gate Yacht Club, and their racing team BMW Oracle Racing was the subject of extensive court action and litigation, surpassing in acrimony ev ...

, there was no Louis Vuitton Cup competition planned for several years. During this period, Luna Rossa Challenge joined other teams racing IACC yachts in the 2009 Louis Vuitton Pacific Series and in the 2010 Louis Vuitton Trophy, La Maddalena event. Furthermore, the team remained active racing in the Maxi yacht circuit in 2008 and 2009 with an STP 65' yacht, skippered by Robert Scheidt, and raced in the Audi MedCup in 2010 with a TP52 yacht. In 2011, Luna Rossa joined the Extreme Sailing Series, racing for the first time in catamarans. During this series, Luna Rossa was skippered for the first time by Max Sirena, who had been mid-bowman in Luna Rossa's previous three America's Cup campaigns and had a key role as wing mast manager for

's trimaran USA-17 that won the

. Luna Rossa won the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series at its first and only participation in the circuit.

2011–2013: The fourth challenge

In October 2011, Luna Rossa challenged for the 34th America's Cup on behalf of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, based in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. Luna Rossa Challenge was last to enter the event, which was to be contested with a new class of yachts, the

catamarans. The team bought two AC45 catamarans to get the team up to speed with multihulls and compete in the newly developed America's Cup World Series. The two boats, called ''Piranha'' and ''Swordfish'', raced for the first time at the event in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

between 11 and 15 April 2012 and were helmed by British sailors Chris Draper and Paul Campbell-James but with a primarily Italian crew, including skipper Max Sirena and Francesco Bruni as wing trimmer. 'Luna Rossa Piranha' went on to win the overall 2012/2013 season of the America's Cup World Series, following the disqualification of

Oracle Team USA Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Cl ...

. To overcome the late start in the

campaign, a deal was signed with

to share information on the design of their

catamarans. Luna Rossa constructed only one

, which was launched in Auckland in October 2012. Luna Rossa's catamaran was characterised by a unique chrome livery. Luna Rossa ranked second in the Round Robin stage of the

2013 Louis Vuitton Cup The 8th Louis Vuitton Cup was held during July and August 2013, in San Francisco, California, United States of America. The three contenders were Artemis Racing (Sweden), Emirates Team New Zealand (New Zealand), and Luna Rossa Challenge (Italy). ...

, with 4 losses against

and 4 forfeit wins against Artemis Racing, who did not participate in the first stage of the competition after a disastrous capsize. Then, Luna Rossa contested the semi-finals against the Swedish team, easily winning 4–0. Luna Rossa and

ended up facing each other in the challengers’ final, which the kiwi team won 7–1.

2013–2017: A challenge withdrawn

In June 2014, Luna Rossa confirmed they would compete for the 2017 Louis Vuitton Cup, which was to be contested in AC62 catamarans. The team set up a new base in

and started development on the new boat. In April 2015, before the preliminary 2015–16 America's Cup World Series started competition, it was decided that the 2017 America's Cup would switch to a smaller class of yacht, the

catamaran, without the unanimous consent of all competitors. Luna Rossa Challenge, which was already in an advanced design stage for a yacht according to the original rule, withdrew in protest. Following Luna Rossa's withdrawal, the team lent resources and key personnel to

in their effort to win the Cup against current defender

. Most notably, Luna Rossa skipper and team director Max Sirena joined the kiwi team in a management role. As soon as

won the 35th America's Cup on 26 June 2017, Luna Rossa challenged the kiwi team on behalf of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia and became the Challenger of Record for the 36th America's Cup.

2017–2021: Return to New Zealand

Now branded as Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli following the addition of sponsor

, the team organised and participated in the 2021 Prada Cup, due to its position as Challenger of Record. The competition returned to monohulls with the establishment of a new class of foiling yachts, the AC75. Luna Rossa's operations initially took place in their base in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, where the team's first AC75 yacht was launched in October 2019, and moved to Auckland in September 2020, where they launched a second AC75 in October 2020. The Italian sailboat raced in the 2021 Prada Cup with a unique dual helmsmen configuration, with Jimmy Spithill on

starboard Port and starboard are Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z), nautical terms for watercraft and spacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the Bow (watercraft), bow (front). Vessels with bil ...

and Francesco Bruni on

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

, while skipper Max Sirena stayed off the boat. Luna Rossa ranked second in the Round Robin phase and then beat American Magic 4–0 in the semi-finals. In the 2021 Prada Cup final the team won 7–1 against Ineos Team UK, earning the right to challenge for the

Horacio Carabelli Horacio Carabelli (born 10 February 1968 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is an international Sailing (sport), sailor and engineer. Early life Horacio Carabelli was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in a family of sailors. Son of an Argentine boat builder, Anib ...

was the design coordinator. Facing defender

, Luna Rossa managed to win one point on each of the first three days of the competition, after which the two teams were tied 3-3. Nevertheless, the defender eventually prevailed and won the

with a score of 7–3.

2021–2024: Barcelona

Since 2021 team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli is preparing itself for the new challenge.

Results

The boats

A total of 10 boats have been built for America's Cup campaigns, all named ''Luna Rossa''. Of these, two won the Challenger selection series and went on to officially challenge for the

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

(in 2000 and in 2021), both times losing to the defender

. Two more reached the challenger selection series final (in 2007 and 2013), losing again to

on both occasions. Since the

, all Luna Rossa boats have been built by Persico Marine in

Nembro Nembro (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italy, Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo, on the right bank of the Serio River. Nembro borders th ...

, Italy.

Notable sailors

* Francesco de Angelis – Skipper (2000, 2003, 2007) * Max Sirena – Mid-bowman (2000, 2003, 2007), Skipper (2013, 2021, 2024) * Francesco Bruni – Afterguard (2003, 2007), Tactician (2013), Helmsman (2021, 2024) * James Spithill – Helmsman (2007, 2021, 2024) * Chris Draper – Helmsman (2013) * Torben Grael – Tactician (2000, 2003, 2007) * Gilberto Nobili – Grinder (2003, 2007), Operations Manager (2021, 2024) * Matteo Plazzi – Navigator (2000, 2003, 2007) * Pietro Sibello – Wing trimmer (2021) * Philippe Presti – Coach (2007, 2021, 2024)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1999 establishments in Italy Prada Luna Rossa Challenge