An encouraging day for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with the technicians doing a stellar job in ironing out the gremlins from the team’s new AC40 and delivering a fully functional platform on Saturday for the sailors to begin commissioning
The weather though in Cagliari was up and down with a dense rain-laden weather system filtering off the Capoterra mountains early in the session
and delivering gusts up to 20 knots before clearing and leaving very marginal foiling conditions of just 7-8 knots
Umberto Molineris and Andrea Tesei brought all the foiling tricks into play
flying low with windward heel and bow down whilst oversheeting the traveller to windward in the patches
Francesco Bruni gave a super-positive interview afterwards
delighted that the early technical issues that the team faced with the AC40 have been sorted and is looking forward to the week ahead where the team will be running a two-boat programme with the AC40 and the LEQ12 that will be coming back out with upgrades
one of the undoubted superstars of this America’s Cup cycle
runs through his initial observations of the AC40 in comparison with the LEQ12 and breaks down the day for us
Much more to come next week from Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and with a decent forecast for the week ahead we will see the Italians really pushing both boats
On Water Recon Unit Notes: The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli AC40-6 hull rolled out from the shed at 07:50 along with the mast which was stepped for 30 minutes
perhaps resulting from an impact with Chase2 in wavy conditions on the previous attempted sailing day
the team conducted the usual routine checks as dock-out was scheduled for 10:00
The forecast models showed pretty patchy and unstable conditions with several fronts passing above the Gulf
With Chase2 flanking the AC40 on its port side
the team left the dock and quickly started hoisting the mainsail before even exiting the harbour
At first the team found light WNW breeze of approx
8-10 knots with some early sights of incoming SE swell with 0.9m and 7s
a system coming down from the mountains of Capoterra extended over Cagliari’s harbour with increasing rainfall and gusts up to 20kn
The AC40 was then back on tow line behind Chase1 and the main was lowered waiting for the front to pass behind the pier
the AC40 was towed for 10 minutes towards Capoterra for some more pressure and rehoisted the sails
Considering the NW light air not exceeding 7-8kn
the mainsail was paired to the biggest jib J1
The first attempted self-take off was observed at 11:40 resulting not feasible due to the light breeze and sea state
a first touch & go tack was recorded before splashing down afterwards
Another 4 tow ups followed with approximately a minute foiling time each
As the breeze seemed to drop completely the team called it a day and more commissioning will follow up in the upcoming week [Michele Melis AC Recon]
Weather AM: Cloudy/ Rainy 19°C (11:00)
An EU-funded project has made adjustments to the Rio San Girolamo and Rio Masone Ollastu river basin in the municipality of Capoterra
The aim was to reduce the risk of flooding and ensure the safety of local residents
The project included reshaping the final stretch of the river and transforming it from a small concrete channel to a wide
soil-based channel surrounded by vegetation
The result that we are delivering to the people of Sardinia today shows that things really can change
that we must not give up in the face of difficulties and that with great commitment and determination it is possible to achieve things that had seemed completely impossible
This is the first lot of the works that have been awaited for 9 years
we will continue with the work on the next lots
The riverbed of the Rio San Girolamo is now is 1 380 m long and 44 m wide
as opposed to 11 m wide prior to the project
120 000 m³ of earth was moved
about 10 000 m³ was used to build up the riverbanks
and some 62 000 m3 was used to lay the foundations of a new road nearby and to improve agricultural land
the watercourse should be able to contain volumes of water similar to those that caused the October 2008 floods
which were the kind of exceptional event that
based on the available data prior to the event
has a recurrence interval of over 500 years
Four people died in the floods of 22 October 2008
spewing some 5 million m³ of water and debris including mud
vehicles and other properties near the river
and public infrastructure such as roads and bridges
the floods caused an estimated EUR 15 million in damage
about 370 mm of rain fell in approximately 3 hours
a rate similar to the peak rainfall levels of Hurricane Katrina in the USA in 2005
The streets were flooded and no communication was possible for several hours
Although an event of such gravity has not occurred in the area since
the Sardinian regional authorities continue to categorise the Rio San Girolamo-Rio Masone Ollastu basin as being at very high risk of flooding
Work under the project was carried out following the performance of preliminary studies and assessment of the likely costs
It constitutes the first of five interventions to be implemented between the mouth of the Rio San Girolamo and the mountains near Capoterra for a total financial commitment of over EUR 50 million
The objective of this series of actions is to mitigate the risk of flooding in the coastal villages within the municipality of Capoterra and in and around Poggio dei Pini
Subsequent interventions foresee the reconstruction of the crossings of state highway 195 over the Rio San Girolamo and the Rio Masone Ollastu
and adjustments to the river basin and rebuilding of infrastructure between these crossings and the mountains
a new bridge is to be built over Poggio dei Pini lake
while work is to be done to secure the dams in the area and to connect the dam system to the river
Total investment for the project “Hydraulic adjustment of the Rio San Girolamo-Masone Ollastu river and reconstruction of damaged public infrastructure in Poggio dei Pini and other settlements – from the mouth of the river upstream” is EUR 11 178 212
with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 5 589 106 through the “Sardegna” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period
The investment falls under the priority “Environmental protection and risk prevention”
Centro Regionale di Programmazione - Assessorato della Programmazione
Assessorato dei Lavori Pubblici – Regione Autonoma della Sardegna