Italy's Luna Rossa wins first Women's America's Cup after beating British boat

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli won the first ever Women’s America’s Cup after beating Britain’s Athena Pathway on Saturday.

America’s Cup organizers said they launched this all-women competition as a platform to get more women into the elite sailing event. Women have sailed in previous America’s Cups but none are on the crews of this edition of the 173-year-old regatta.

“We demonstrated that we are very good sailors, that we can do what we want with these kind of boats.” said Luna Rossa helmswoman Margherita Porro. “And I think we sent a good message to the world of sailing. So what comes next? I don’t know. But I think this is a big step not only for us, but for every girl that was out there with us.”

Luna Rossa led from the start and won the six-leg match race off the Barcelona beach front eight seconds ahead of the British boat.

The event included 12 teams, six sponsored by the America’s Cup teams and another six teams that were invited to participate.

The teams sailed AC40 foiling boats, which were also used in the youth competition, that seat four sailors compared to the larger AC75 boats with their eight crewmembers used in the America’s Cup.

Trimmer Maria Giubilei said their performance should boost the chances of women getting back on the major America’s Cup boats.

“I think that would be a good thing, especially because I really want to go on the Luna Rossa boat one day,” she said. “I think it would be great for women at some point if there was not a race just for us but we were mixed in with all the other sailors.”

Athena Pathway skipper Hannah Mills said the loss hurt but that the future looked bright for the team she founded with INEOS Britannia CEO Ben Ainslie.

“Ben and I set up this program, Athena Pathway, to try to inspire, particularly, young girls coming through the sport of sailing or ones who might want to try sailing to showcase that there is much more opportunity coming, whether it’s on the water, racing, or off the water in shoreside roles,” the two-time Olympic champion said.

“We’ve really delivered on that in terms of what we’ve created here, so that for me is everything.”

Luna Rossa also won the youth competition. Its America's Cup boat was eliminated in the Louis Vuitton challengers’ final series.

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Joseph Wilson, The Associated Press