🌊 America’s Cup in Naples: ENEA and ItaliaMeteo Use Technology to Read the Sea

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# 🌊 America’s Cup in Naples: ENEA and ItaliaMeteo Use Technology to Read the Sea

⛵ Currents, temperature and salinity in the Bay of Naples were monitored using advanced oceanographic models during the Preliminary Regatta of the 38th America’s Cup.

Behind the spectacular sight of high-speed racing yachts flying across the Bay of Naples lies an equally fascinating world of science, data and technology.

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During the second Preliminary Regatta of the **Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup**, held in Naples from **24 to 27 September 2026**, ENEA worked alongside the Italian national weather agency ItaliaMeteo to provide forecasts of surface marine currents across the race area.

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The project also provided valuable experience ahead of the main America’s Cup competition that will take place in Naples in **2027**.

# 🔬 MITO: A high-resolution view of the Mediterranean

At the heart of ENEA’s contribution is **MITO**, a high-resolution operational oceanographic and hydrodynamic system.

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The technology can describe the evolution of circulation across the Mediterranean basin while providing information on key parameters including **marine currents, water temperature and salinity**.

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These data make it possible to build a detailed picture of changing sea conditions.

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For an elite sailing competition, understanding such conditions is particularly important, as both wind and currents form part of the constantly changing environment crews encounter on the racecourse.

# 💻 MITO and SHYFEM working together

The technology goes a step further when focusing specifically on Naples.

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Data generated by MITO provide the basis for **SHYFEM – the Shallow Water Hydrodynamic Finite Element Model**, developed by the Institute of Marine Sciences of Italy’s National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR) and operated by ItaliaMeteo.

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SHYFEM makes it possible to increase the resolution of forecasts within the specific area used for racing in the Bay of Naples.

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Oceanographic information can therefore be combined with meteorological forecasts to create a much more detailed assessment of conditions around the racecourse.

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Dedicated forecasts were also made available through ItaliaMeteo’s online area for the America’s Cup.

# 🌬️ Where sailing meets science

The Naples Preliminary Regatta therefore revealed another side of the America’s Cup that spectators may not immediately see.

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Alongside racing yachts, crews and tactical decisions is an advanced scientific infrastructure capable of studying complex phenomena such as ocean circulation.

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Naples thus becomes more than a spectacular venue for international sailing. The Bay can also act as a laboratory where **sport, meteorology, oceanography and technology** come together.

# ⚓ Technology looking towards Naples 2027

The September event represented an important test ahead of the main competition.

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Across four days of racing, the programme included **eight fleet races followed by a match-race final involving the two leading crews**, while forecasting systems provided detailed information about the marine environment.

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The experience becomes even more significant as attention turns towards 2027.

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When the America’s Cup returns to the Bay of Naples for its main event, the city will offer not only one of sailing’s most spectacular natural arenas, but also the expertise of Italian scientific research.

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Alongside the sailors’ ability to interpret the wind and sea, another element will increasingly shape modern sailing: **technology capable of understanding the waters of the Bay of Naples in extraordinary detail**.

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