Champagne fountains and beaming faces on board the beautiful "Luna Rossa", tears of joy on the face of team boss Max Sirena: this Sunday was all about Italy's America's Cup chasers. With two more victories, the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team prevailed in the challenger final against Sir Ben Ainslie's Ineos Team UK. Patrizio Bertelli's racing team won the Prada Cup 7:1 and for the second time since 2000 will be competing in the 36th America's Cup. Just like 21 years ago, the Italians will face New Zealand's Cup defenders. Back then, the Prada Challenge lost 5-0 to the Kiwis, but this time things are set to be different.
The live broadcast in the replay: How the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team won the challenger final on Sunday
After a dominant preliminary round in the Prada Cup final, the beaten Brits were no longer able to compete on equal terms with the Azzurri. The obvious light wind weakness of their "Britannia" proved to be too high a hurdle in mainly light to occasionally medium winds. With two further clear victories on the final day, the Italian opponents demonstrated once again that they had put together the better overall package for the task. This was helped by the exclusive idea of competing with two alternating helmsmen: three-time Olympian and multi-talented Italian dinghy and yacht sailor Francesco Bruni from Palermo and experienced Australian Cup heavyweight Jimmy Spithill from Sydney. Team boss Max Sirena said: "Both are very different but super talented. They are really good, respect each other and push each other. The good thing is that the team follows them. That's the key to this success."
Britain's most successful sailor in sporting history and his team will now have to make do with the spectator's bench in this edition. Four-time Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie, his strategist Giles Scott and Ineos Team UK failed for the second time in a row, but went further than at the 2017 premiere and referred to their still young team history. Ainslie, who won the America's Cup in 2013 as a last-minute hero with Oracle Team USA, wants to keep fighting for the historic first British Cup victory. After his team's elimination, the 44-year-old said on Sunday: "We wanted to win the Cup, but we didn't manage it. That's a huge disappointment. It was great for our team that Jim(Editor: Racing stable owner Jim Ratcliffe) came on board first right after the last race. It's still a bit early, but we certainly hope that we can continue. I don't think the story is over yet."
The British story in this 36th Cup cycle, however, is over. When asked whether the English might be available to the Italians as sparring partners on the water in preparation for the clash against New Zealand, Ainslie replied: "We've done our bit. From now on, may the best team win." However, Ainslie didn't know or didn't want to publicly guess which team that might be - Italy or New Zealand: "At the moment, I wouldn't know which of the two teams to put my money on."
For Italy's Cup hunters, after the race was before the race. They have 13 days to prepare their boat and team for the showdown on 6 March. Max Sirena said: "We have to work even harder and see if we can find a weak point in Team New Zealand that we can attack." Asked for his assessment of the New Zealand boat, Sirena continued: "They have a very nice boat in a nice colour and look very fast. It's always difficult to judge the performance of another boat. They look fast and have certainly got even faster since December. Let's face it: It's like Jimmy and Checco(Ed.: Nickname of Francesco Bruni) have already said. We've sailed a lot and that could be an advantage. But you are defenders for a reason."
What the skippers, helmsmen and strategists had to say after the Prada Cup final: Jimmy Spithill, Francesco Bruni, Max Sirena, Sir Ben Ainslie and Giles Scott at the press conference
With their entry into the 36th America's Cup match off Auckland from 6 March, the Italians are making millions of fans in their home country dream of the ornate silver jug for the third time in total. Before Patrizio Bertelli's attack at the turn of the millennium, it was Raul Gardini's "Il Moro di Venezia" with helmsman Francesco di Angelis and Brazilian Torben Grael that sent Italy into a collective frenzy of joy in 1992 when they made it into the Cup duel. In the Cup match itself, Gardini's team was later defeated 1:4 by Bill Koch's US team. Are all good Italian Cup things now three, and can the Azzurri shake the New Zealand throne or even knock the Kiwis off it? Bertelli's "Luna Rossa" racing team has plenty of experience in their sixth attempt at the summit. Under the "Luna Rossa" flag and in the glow of the "Red Moon", the Italians have now added their name to the exclusive list of only 36 challengers to race for the America's Cup in the 170-year history of the Cup for the second time. What all this will be worth in the duel with the Kiwis will have to be proven on the water.
Addendum: The last two decisive races for the Prada Cup on Sunday were once again clearly in favour of the Italians. Race seven was won by "Luna Rossa" with a lead of one minute and 45 seconds, in the final eighth race the Azzurri finished 56 seconds ahead of "Britannia". Thanks to their outstanding speed in winds of around twelve knots, even a starting penalty and surprising last-minute manoeuvres by the British were unable to stop them. "Fantastico!" shouted Francesco Bruni into the microphones after crossing the finish line. The British skipper Ainslie was left with nothing but the fair loser's gesture: "Well done, Luna Rossa. Well done, Italy. It's a huge deal for Italy to reach the America's Cup again. Congratulations to Jimmy, Checco and the boys. They sailed brilliantly and deserve to win this final."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
