This weekend, the Italian team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli decisively won the Prada Cup Final, eliminating INEOS Team UK by 7 races to 1. Luna Rossa is now preparing for the final America’s Cup races against Emirates Team New Zealand beginning on March 6th. The final races for the Cup between Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand will be a rematch 21 years in the making.

Team Luna Rossa won the Louis Vuitton Cup on their first America’s Cup attempt in 2000 but then lost the competition in the finals against the defending champion team, Team New Zealand.

In the 2003 America’s Cup, Luna Rossa was eliminated in the semi-final selection races. In the 2007 races, Luna Rossa made it to the finals only to be defeated by Team New Zealand, which went on to challenge and lose the Cup to Team Alinghi.

Luna Rossa was the last team to enter the 2013 race and though they made it to the final selection races, was defeated again by Team New Zealand. In 2017, Luna Rossa initially entered the competition but resigned in protest over the choice of the AC50 catamaran for the races.

Now the old rivals will square off in early March. Luna Rossa has the advantage of having the experience gained in their victories during the Prada Cup while Team New Zealand, no doubt, will benefit from all the data gathered from observing its rival racing.