America's Cup in Naples, Gulf comes alive: thousands line the waterfront for Luna Rossa's debut

Naples' waterfront filled with thousands of people on the first day of America's Cup pre-races, the Louis Vuitton Cup that precedes the 2027 competition. As Il Mattino reports, the promenade from Molosiglio to Mappatella Beach transformed into a grand walkway with stands, souvenirs and stadium-like cheering, with "Live is Life" serving as the soundtrack before the official crew presentation.

Nine boats, three days of competition

From today through Sunday, nine AC40 vessels compete against each other: two from Luna Rossa (senior team, with promotions for Marco Gradoni and Maria Giubilei, and the Youth&Women team), two from defending champion Team Emirates New Zealand, two British boats, plus vessels from ARC Team Usa, Alinghi and Le Roche Posay. The Australians will arrive only for the 2027 races. Each day features three fleet races, with Sunday's final being a match race between the top two from the round-robin.

"Naples is a wonderful place to race," said the skippers in unison during a press conference at Castel dell'Ovo, highlighting the ideal wind and sea conditions in the Gulf.

The terrace pontoon on the Gulf

The day's main novelty is the pontoon built by Sport e Salute: a 37-by-30-meter structure weighing about a thousand tons, capable of hosting up to one hundred people, moored in front of Villa Comunale at the Aquarium. Constructed at Molo dell'Immacolatella Vecchia and transferred by sea, the pontoon joins wooden platforms installed on the rocks, with loungers and beach chairs at water level that transformed a stretch of coastline into a living room overlooking the sea.

The platforms themselves were the focus of a request from citizens to mayor Gaetano Manfredi during his walk among the stands: don't remove them after the event ends. "I believe there's a tremendous desire to reclaim the sea," replied the mayor, who announced his intention to discuss the matter with the Superintendency and ministry to make them permanent at least in summer.

Manfredi spoke of "enormous popular participation" and updated on Bagnoli construction projects, with the goal of completing sea works in the first ten days of October. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi also commented on the start of the pre-races: "It's a dream beginning to take shape."

Races are scheduled for early afternoon, between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. approximately, with the same indicative timing through Sunday.