L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano PAGE��� 26 THURS DAY, ��� MARCH��� 28, ��� 2013 America's Cup Summer of Racing Launch Event. Luna Rossa will arrive soon in the City ROBERTO���NATALINI While Naples in Italy is getting ready to host the ninth and final America���s Cup World Series event (AC World Series, Apr. 16-21), before the final Louis Vuitton Cup and America���s Cup in San Francisco, the City by the Bay will host the Summer of Racing Launch Event next week. As the America���s Cup Finals start in four months time, Stephen Barclay, CEO of the America���s Cup Event Authority, will present several most important features: Pier 27/29 transformation into the America���s Cup Park, Marina Green���s transformation into the America���s Cup Village, The America���s Cup���s pledge to free- Luna Rossa Piranha launches off the waves at AC World Series Naples 2012 (�� ACEA 2012 / Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget) With a view to the next Louis Vuitton Cup, the America���s Cup Challenger Series scheduled for July 4 ��� September 1, 2013, San Francisco will shine anew to receive the fastest boats and the best sailors in the world, in competition to be selected for the race against the Defender in the America���s Cup Finals (starting September 7). to-enter sites & viewing, The race course, The race schedule, The Best Seats in the Bay ticketed on-water, bleacher & hospitality opportunities, last but not least The America���s Cup Concert Series. ���The AC World Series has created memorable images of the crowds lining the shore and cheering like the fans at a foot- ball match. If you ask any of the sailors if they get a buzz when they hear the roar of the crowd, you will get a very vocal ���yes,��� said Stephen Barclay. ���The America���s Cup World Series has achieved what it was set up to do. The challenge now is to develop it into a financially sustainable sports property that is connected to the America���s Cup. It is certainly what the sailors want.��� Starting with the Louis Vuitton Cup, America���s Cup Challenger Selection Series, and culminating in the America���s Cup Finals, with the Red Bull Youth America���s Cup and Superyacht Cup in between, there will be up to 50 days of racing on the Bay Arena. At the Summer of Racing Launch Event next Wednesday, April 3, there will be opportunities to meet race officials and view the newly completed Cruise Ship Terminal. Italian Team Luna Rossa has finished the hard preparation and training for the 34th America���s Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, and last February the team announced two key roles have been assigned on its AC72 afterguard. Chris Draper has been chosen as helmsman and Francesco Bruni will be the tactician. Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena declared: ���In all Team Luna Rossa Piranha during the last training session with Emirates Team New Zealand America���s Cup challenges you reach the point when this decision needs to be made. During these months Chris Draper has proved to be the best candidate to cover this role and I am convinced that his partnership with Francesco Bruni as a tactician will be one of our strengths������ At the upcoming America���s Cup World Series event in Naples, Italy in April, Draper will helm one of the Luna Rossa AC45s, with Bruni driving the other. Now that Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 has reached the end of its training program in New Zealand, Skipper Max Sirena says the team is in the midst of packing the AC72, wing sail and assorted containers for shipping to San Francisco. ���Our time here has been fantastic,��� says Sirena ������one of the best summers in New Zealand in the past 15 years. Wind-wise it���s normally not big breeze in the summer, but we���ve been lucky because we���ve had a lot of days over 18 knots. ���Our goal is to start sailing on May 10 in San Francisco. In the middle we have the event in Naples, and then we���ll take the opportunity for a couple weeks of holiday for the shore team, designers and sailors. The team needs this because it���s been a long and intense push since we started the campaign last year.��� A fleet of nine crews is expected when the America���s Cup World Series will return to the waters off Naples, Italy, April 16-21. Austrians Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher, double Olympic Gold medalists in the Tornado catamaran, have recently entered the upcoming World Series. The duo will sail under the banner HS Racing and race under the US flag in partnership with Oracle Team USA. HS Racing is one of nine crews entered in the regatta, which will also feature America���s Cup World Series leader Oracle Team USA, second-placed Luna Rossa Piranha, third-placed Artemis Racing White, J.P. Morgan BAR, Energy Team, Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa Swordfish and China Team. The second AC World Series started in San Francisco last August and October, 2013, and marked the first time the teams raced in the host city of the 34th America���s Cup. The second season of the AC World Series sees the challengers for the 34th America���s Cup collect points towards a Louis Vuitton Ranking which will confer an advantage at the beginning of the Louis Vuitton Cup in July 2013. Summer of Racing Launch event Wednesday April 3, 10am-1pm (10:00 ��� 11:00 AM: Presentation to the media, followed by site tours) The James R. Herman Cruise Ship Terminal

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