Veteran: America’s Cup has never been tougher

Italian veteran Max Sirena believes Auckland 2021 will be the most competitive America’s Cup.

The Luna Rossa skipper sees the three heavyweight challengers and defenders Team New Zealand having the budgets and expertise to make the 36th edition of sport’s oldest trophy fascinating.

Six challengers are lined up but Luna Rossa, INEOS Team UK and the New York Yacht Club’s American Magic, have advantages over the three latecomers in terms of time and experience.

‘‘The British, the New Zealanders, the Americans have budgets, men, know-how. There has never been an edition with three or four teams so strong that they could win the Cup,’’ Sirena told La Stampa when asked to address Luna Rossa’s main opposition.

This is Sirena’s fifth Cup challenge with Luna Rossa and his seventh in all. When the Italian syndicate hasn’t been involved in recent years, Sirena has used his expertise elsewhere to actually win the Auld Mug – in 2010 with Oracle Team USA and with Team New Zealand at Bermuda in 2017.

He’s out to make amends in his home colours.

‘‘I have only one dream . . . to win the Cup for Italy with Luna Rossa,’’ he said, adding it would take a mix of hard work and luck.

Luna Rossa are in the thick of the build of their first boat and there is huge anticipation around the delivery and performance of the first batch of foiling 75-foot monohulls.

Sirena, who has had input into the new design, described them as ‘‘very complex’’ and knows teams will push them hard to find the optimal performance levels.

He said America’s Cup veteran Jimmy Spithill, a twotime winner with Oracle but now in the Luna Rossa ranks for Auckland 2021, ‘‘could not contain his amazement’’ when he was using the simulator recently.

Luna Rossa intend to launch their first boat around July. They would then look at what improvements could be made as they eyed the build of their second boat in November. That boat would be the one sailed in the Prada Cup challenger series in Auckland with the winner of that contest going on to sail against Team New Zealand for the America’s Cup.