10 days to go… In the absence of any real news from Port America’s Cup, here is some flotsam from around the media.
Good friend Bob Fisher has an excellent piece on the sabre rattling that is coming from the Alinghi camp. Meanwhile, Sailing Anarchy has a interesting essay on the nationality rule debate.
Update (15/6): John McBeth has some words for Team NZ supporters in Valencia, and Dalts has also taken time out to write a quick update on Team NZ that is worth a read…
“We are here to have a shot at winning the America’s Cup. To do that we have to have a good boat, faultless crew work and great support on shore. Revenge doesn’t come into it. We want to win yes. Grudge match no.”
Good to see the healthy discussion going on in the comments sections here, keep it coming guys (and girls Vale). Lets have some predictions for the upcoming series…
June 14, 2007 at 11:57 am |
G’day Peter. Sabre rattling indeed. It wouldn’t be the AC we know and love without it. Hopefully the Kiwis will respond in the best way – with a solid win.
Prediction – ETNZ 5 – Alinghi 3. The Cup is on its way home, brother! I hope Emirates has that first class seat booked!!
How are things going in Turkey with Provezza? And tell me, what is Jeppesen (or maybe Ergin Imre) thinking with that bloody huge wheel on Provezza V1. The windage alone must be massive, not to mention getting in the way of running back stays and the crew! Ha, ha. Cheers David G
June 14, 2007 at 12:36 pm |
For what its worth, here are my opinions on this whole storm between Bertarelli & Dalton.
1. I don’t support any kiwi being threatening towards Kiwis in the Alighi team, despite strongly disagreeing with the way they left TNZ high and dry. This is simply because us Kiwis should be above that sort of rubbish.
2. Bertarelli is just a pretender to the throne with regards to the AC. I have zero respect for him and the way he won the AC. He didnt really set up a team and go through the process. He just went and purchased the key components of the best team he could find.
Personally, I have far more respect for Larry Ellison, since he took over an existing team that would have otherwise folded and has subsequently tried to place that team in a position to be a successful challenger.
3. With regards to the nationality rules, I think they should be tightened back up again and something done to prevent the cup remaining unattainable to all but the most well funded teams.
One way to do this might be to put a “salary cap” on teams either as a whole or just on the boat.
Anyone have any comments about doing this?
June 14, 2007 at 1:25 pm |
Bertarelli is sounding like someone kicked his sand castle. There there.
For the America’s Cup to keep being the America’s Cup there needs to be some rules in place to make the teams representitive of the countries they represent. I had no issue with Ron being on the boat in 92, and have no issue with Terry being on board this time, but there needs to something. I’d imagine the compromise solution would be percentage based but whatever it is it’ll depend as much on what the challenger of record thinks as what the winner thinks.
One positive though: the fact that Ernesto gave that press conference means he’s less than 100% sure he’ll successfully defend the cup.
June 14, 2007 at 1:28 pm |
Dunno Carl, he might just be “precious” and upset that we downunder are not falling over ourselves in gratitude to him.
From what I have observed, many of the worlds mega-wealthy are utterly narcisistic and cannot imagine why the people of the world don’t worship them.
June 14, 2007 at 1:35 pm |
Precious, yes that was the word I was looking for. And on the other side you get Grant who is so down to earth his red bands are probably submerged in mud.
I gotta say, I’m with Grant on this one. Ernesto and Larry’s vision for the America’s Cup doesn’t have much common ground with the cup I’ve been following religiously for the last 15 years.
June 14, 2007 at 1:47 pm |
I hear you Carl, I’ve likewise followed this thing since 1986 and the heady old days of KZ-7.
June 14, 2007 at 1:56 pm |
Jays, I couldn’t agree more. Enesto really dosn’t get it, he bought our team, (with daddys money) stole our cup, and now expects kiwis to like him because he lent Dalts some pocket change!!!!. GET A GRIP BUDDY!!!. Alinghi will never have the friendship with kiwis like luna rosa , spain or dare I say it even Denis conner. Old Denis had to work for the cup, and even though kiwis love to hate him (well we used to any way) no body would ever deny his passion for the event, and guess what under Ernesto’s rules people like Denis can’t really compete. Reduce the influence of billionairs and bring back the strong personalities. Bring back the Denis!!!
I say it again I HOPE WE THRASH THESE GUYS FIVE FLIPPIN ZIP!!!!!!!!!!
June 14, 2007 at 2:01 pm |
Damned straight Daniel!!!
Even though Dennis used to p%ss me off right royally, he at least won the damned thing in an honourable manner through guts, determination and persistence!
Same with Larry Ellison. He may be spending a tonne of money on this thing, but he didnt just go and buy someone elses team. Well, actually he did. BUT, they wanted to sell it.
Dunno about thrashing Adinghy tho, I am still pretty frickin nervous about our prospects. If we have even boats, then I am sure our superior team cohesion will win it for us. But…..
Oh AC god who art somewhere in ValeNZia…..
June 14, 2007 at 2:08 pm |
We gave Dennis heaps and rightly so, but he’s really quite a likeable guy. His desire to get the cup is as strong as ours is. Let us not forget he was the one who made the sport about professional sailors sailing with sponsorship money, ie. a true sporting event, in the first place (too bad in doing so he doomed the NYYC’s reign with the cup. No wait…).
June 14, 2007 at 2:15 pm |
U know, I dont remember Dennis ever whining about how “nasty” we were to him.
He knew he was behaving badly and took as good as he gave.
I’m not saying his behaviour was good, but at least he didnt proclaim innocence and hurt feeling when we dished it back to him.
June 14, 2007 at 2:16 pm |
….. hallowed be thy name. Give us this day our daily bread and help us to trash the living bejesus out of Adinghy!! Ha, ha. Love it, Jays! Hehehe.
But… if you have the money (bags of the filthy stuff) and you want to win the Cup, why go to all the trouble to work up a challenge over many years and tears, when you can just go “Kaaaaching” with the cash register. Do you think the great soccer clubs of Europe would rely soley on their youth training programmes to win. I don’t think so. So what’s the difference with the AC? It is after all as I’ve said before, a professional sporting code.
Go ETNZ and knock the bastards off (to quote Sir Ed…sort of). Cheers, David G.
June 14, 2007 at 2:24 pm |
I hear what you’re saying David, its just not the way this has been done in the past and its not something I would like to see done in the future (to NZ or any other team for that matter).
Imagine how the Italians would feel if Prada were pillaged in this manner? They would feel rightly p%ssed off.
Also, what kind of personal achievement does Bertarelli thing he has accomplished by buying the success of someone elses team? Does he honestly believe it makes him a worthwhile man like previous winners of this cup?
I suspect he does, and that probably indicates a large dose of narcissim as I said before.
To me, his achievement is akin to Tonya Harding beating Nancy Kerrigan after giving her knee the old “harlem shuffle”.
June 14, 2007 at 2:32 pm |
When we beat Dennis in 95 he was gracious in defeat, I think the old boy even shed a tear. Dennis has since paid the kiwis their dues, and I think he was glad that it was NZ that won it off him, from some of his comments.
Well I can’t wait for the opportunity to send Ernesto crying to mummy, ooh baby lost his rattle (very old and expensive silver rattle) can you imagine the wobbly he will throw. You are right Jays, 5 zip will be hard to pull off, but if we can win this thing back, it will be oh so SWEEEEEEET!
June 14, 2007 at 2:37 pm |
Ha ha ha Jays, love that Tonya Harding “harlem shuffle” analogy.
June 14, 2007 at 2:40 pm |
Sweet alright! I’m just not trying to get my hopes too high.
Given a choice between this and the Rugby World Cup, no contest I choose this
June 14, 2007 at 2:41 pm |
Bertarelli helped ETNZ at the beginning of this AC campaign because he is an extremely clever businessman who happens to love boat racing (unfortunately I think money goes first in his list of priorities). There is no doubt about that. These days the America’s Cup needs the Team New Zealand presence. In particular this AC 32nd edition in which Bertarelli foresaw the chance to get a NZ-Swiss final and he got it. And there will be millions of people watching those races and buying Estrella Damm beer and buying tickets to fly with Emirates and the wealthy ones will be buying Audemars Piguet watches and so on for the rest of the sponsors.
Here you have a guy that sold his pharmaceutical mega business to fully dedicate his efforts to become the Bernie Eccleston of the America’s Cup. If he succeeds is now in part on ETNZ hands. So GO TEAM NEW ZEALAND! And I hope if ETNZ wins brings a bit more balance between evolution of the sport and tradition.
June 14, 2007 at 2:46 pm |
Good one, Jays. I can see you’re passionate about this ‘mercenary’ thing. Good on you. I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. But you do make me (and Daniel obviously) laugh. You’re a funny bugger. Ha, ha. Cheers, David G.
June 14, 2007 at 2:56 pm |
Uhuh, I’m passionate about all things ETNZ and NZ in general.
I already told my colleagues to expect me to be off on “bereavement leave” if we lose and “party leave” if we win.
Dunno what the hell is gonna occupy my mind once this is all over. I guess my wife would like to spend some time with me, but dammit she doesnt have a keel, rudder nor any chance of winning any sort of yachting trophy!
Actually, I think she is starting to hope like hell that ETNZ wins too, otherwise I am gonna be as grumpy as hell for the forseeable future.
June 14, 2007 at 2:58 pm |
Well said Andy. Thats the key, to develop the event without losing the heart of the event, which when you think about it, is people and their passion to win. Sir Peter Blakes letter should be part of the AC constitution.
June 14, 2007 at 3:02 pm |
I’m sure your wife has some nice appendages, though.
How our friends, family and coworkers will put up with our highly sleep-deprived states for a week or two is anyone’s guess. Just another reason we need to bring the cup back to a more hospitable timezone.
June 14, 2007 at 3:02 pm |
Hey Jays, its generally bad if your wife has a “keel” so don’t worry to much about that!!!
June 14, 2007 at 3:04 pm |
Yeah, there are just some key teams and personalities that the AC clearly benefits from. I think losing Luna Rossa for example would be easily as big a loss as ETNZ.
They have always competed with a great deal of heart, pride and decorum.
To be honest, I am starting to believe that those Latin Rascals are destined to become a key part of the cup also. Not because of how they placed, but just cos they are such likeable buggers.
June 14, 2007 at 3:05 pm |
Yeah, these real wives don’t seem to have some of the more exotic attachments that the blow-up variety have *sigh*.
She does have some benefits though
June 14, 2007 at 3:09 pm |
Jays,
Scary thought your wife with a canteen keel, eh!
Anyway… I so understand what you said. It’s the same at my place. I have a baby (18 months) and I managed not to wake him up at night for the whole LVC series except for just ONE night… oh man… three days of grief for that.
BTW , guys, don’t you have some work to do? LOL
June 14, 2007 at 3:13 pm |
Might as well use my day off for something constructive, right Andy?
June 14, 2007 at 3:17 pm |
Day off? Nah, work is paying for my contribution
U poor bugger Andy, we don’t have any kids yet.
Mind you, I am already mid-30’s, so when we do have them I’m gonna need to chase after them in a walking frame
My wife is an “imported model” from Vietnam, so she has absolutely NO APPRECIATION for any sports that us kiwis care about.
:D:D
So, if I wake her up cheering on the black boat, she will practise some of her Viet-Cong techniques and just take me out!
June 14, 2007 at 3:50 pm |
man, i love this blog. feels a bit like being at the pub of a yatch club (but being at the office) (lucky you Carl)
missing the beer though
June 14, 2007 at 3:56 pm |
Yep, its got a bunch of good people that are at least reasonably well informed about the issues around the AC if not indeed the finer points of yachting.
Its nice to have a place to share our enthusiasm for this thing.
.
Sure as Ernesto wears diapers, you and I aint gonna get that from our wives Andy
All thats missing is the bar and some beer-wenches to tell us to p%ss off when we grab their arses in the midst of an alcohol induced haze!
June 14, 2007 at 6:07 pm |
Im self employed so this cup thing is knocking productivity a bit, the sooner we win this thing the better!!! I feel for the Italians, they had to put up with this twice!.
Hey Jays you had better be careful your wife dosn’t read these posts or you might end up losing your “keel” and doing a one australia on us!!!
June 14, 2007 at 6:15 pm |
Oh snap! You wouldn’t want that to happen.
June 14, 2007 at 6:18 pm |
Hehehe, you reckon I might get lucky and she loses a keel and ends up going down on me?
But seriously, shes a pretty good sport. She HAS to be to be married to me.
As long as I don’t wake her up in the middle of the night and don’t complain about how knackered I am, shes pretty much happy to let me do my own thing cup-wise
Gotta be honest tho, some days at work have felt 40 hours long cos of PCTSS (Post Cup Traumatic Stress Syndrome for the uninitiated
)
I get sooooo damned engrossed in the race that I swear I am more hyped up than Dean and the boys
June 14, 2007 at 6:31 pm |
Hi mates! This morning, reading your posts made me laugh heartily..
I’m sure even you kiwis would rather see Alinghi racing the AC with a canting keel than meeting a woman with the same horrible thing! 
Thank you for your appreciation toward Italian teams Jays!
If TNZ wins, and I hope so, I’d like to see Luna Rossa the Challenger of Records again.
Cheers Giulio
PS
It’s Luna Rossa, not Luna Rosa! (rossa=red, rosa=pink)
June 14, 2007 at 6:38 pm |
Hehehe, sorry about that Giulio. Will try to remember the extra ’s’ in the future.
I think either Luna RosSa
or the new English team are obvious choices for Challenger or Record if ETNZ wins.
Personally, I think it should be LR since they have a long standing tradition of fair play and deserve to be held in such high esteem.
Gotta say tho Giulio, I love the other Italian teams just as much as LR.
What is it about these Italian teams? They all have such wonderful spirit and a sense of fair play.
I think MOST of the teams in this LV cup were pretty good sports actually, with only a couple of teams not so great.
I was REALLY disappointed when +39 wasn’t allowed to accept the offer of a 5G mast as a loaner whilst their own mast got repaired.
Fortunately, racing was delayed enough for them to repair the old one before it cost them any races.
June 14, 2007 at 7:13 pm |
I like the other Italian teams too.
There is of course a bit of rivalry between them and their supporters (especially Luna and the Rascals) , but that’s normal, even funny.
I admire Vincenzo Onorato (Mascalzone Latino) and he is a good sailor himself.
I’m first of all an Italian supporter!
We really wanted to bring the Cup in Italy and I think we have lots of places here where racing would be great!
If Mascalzone had gone to the semis it could have been a totally different story for them. Their boat was very good. I’m 100% sure they will be very competitive for the next Cup.
+39 laked only money, and time! Everybody liked them here.
It will be hard to see them again, but who knows?
It was fantastic to have three Italian challengers in the same edition of the Cup, and at least two of them quite competitive!
Now we are waiting to see if Luna Rossa will continue her beautiful story in the AC.
Patrizio Bertelli recently said that he wants to, but it depends from where it will be (NZ? Valencia?? Dubai??? …) and the new format.
He doesn’t like very much the Bertarelli vision of the AC but I think that another campaign in Europe is seen as easier and less expensive.
June 14, 2007 at 7:21 pm |
I have a question.
Can the defender choose the Challenger of Records?
According to the Deed of Gift it should be the first challenging Yacht Club.
But maybe they (ETNZ and Alinghi) already have unofficial requests in their pocket and they can choose.
June 14, 2007 at 7:21 pm |
I think it all very tough and either be
5 -0 or 5 -1 either way
Whichever team gets on a roll
Both boats will be evenly matched in speed is my prediction.
June 14, 2007 at 7:36 pm |
You can’t “officially” choose a Challenger of Record, but if you meet a team principal who shares a similar vision to you, you can ask him to be the first challenger. This is what Bertarelli and Ellison did. This is why Dalton said he couldn’t imagine being able to work with Bertarelli if he was Challenger of Record, he was basically telling him to stay away.
My understanding is Dalts and Mike Sanderson get on pretty well, so the British challenge is quite likely to get a sholder tap if ETNZ wins. I imagine he’ll try to prevent Alinghi/Oracle/Shosholoza/China Team being the Challenger of Record by getting a favourable syndicate to challenge first.
June 14, 2007 at 7:44 pm |
Thank you Carl!
So it’s very likely that Team Origin will be the next COR.
June 14, 2007 at 8:17 pm |
The one aspect of Ernesto Bertarelli’s “vision” (if you can call it that) that I hate is reducing the cup cycle to only 2 years.
Thats just crazy and will make it sooo damned hard to fund a challenge for the smaller teams.
I still think that LR is the logical choice cos they are affable, fair and have been there before. I think Dalts will see it that way too.
But HEY! We gotta win the damned thing first and that is ANYTHING but assured.
June 14, 2007 at 9:38 pm |
hi guys!!! I agree with jays about bertarelli, and talking about oracle, I want to tell you that I am very upset about the way italian press treated Chris Dixon…I think that everybody can get wrong, and that races depend on luck too! so I absolutely disagree with people who said bad things about Dixon…
Anyway, my prediction for AC is that NZ win 5-3!!!!!
regards
Vale
June 14, 2007 at 9:55 pm |
Hi there!
Just one thing about the comment of +39 and them not being able to use the V5 mast…
it was, in part, due to another of the Italian challenges. Take that however you want… It sure made me pretty annoyed as the guys had been through quite hard times already and they were pretty likeable.
On the other hand, I’mless and less sure of my predictions for the Match… I’d keep it 5-4 for Alinghi (sorry guys, I really like ETNZ but I’m valencian and want the Cup to stay in Europe!)
Hope you don’t hate me for that, after all, this is only a sport…
June 14, 2007 at 10:34 pm |
Hola Valencian!!! Como estas? Unfortunatly, I am not a kiwi, but I wish I were!!!Anyway, I am very sorry for you…the cup will go to Auckland!!!!
hasta pronto!
valentina
June 14, 2007 at 10:50 pm |
Don’t worry about the cup leaving Europe if TNZ win. The NZ government is going to use some of our massive tax surplus and tow NZ to the mediterainian for the summer so we can all go on holiday, and you guys don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to watch it on TV.
June 14, 2007 at 10:59 pm |
I wouldn’t say no to some Mediterranean weather ’round here. Well, assuming we get some actual wind unlike Valencia. :p
I’m interested, Vale, what were the Italian press saying about Chris?
June 14, 2007 at 11:03 pm |
P.S Giulio I am also very sorry for calling your team “pink” I am sure the Luna Rossa blokes are very masculine.
June 14, 2007 at 11:25 pm |
PINK……:-)
Daniel, you ‘re right! Not masculine as kiwis!!! 
Carl, I heard on tv…I think that is not good doing names here.. Let me think…but, I like Chris Dixon and I think that he is a very good sailor, you can’t imagine how I was sad for him, especially in the final race ( I disagreed with Larry Ellison’s decision) …I think that is very important to respect the others, and that everybody has to be professional……..Guys, are you in Nz? It’ s time to bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!For me, on the contrary, it’s time to lunch!!!!!
Vale
June 14, 2007 at 11:32 pm |
It’s only about 11.30pm, so not bed time for all of us.
You’ve got to feel for Chris, he’s come second, third, third, second, and third (fourth?) in the LVC now. In the scheme of things that’s not bad at all considering the competition he’s up against but you’ve got to wonder if he’ll ever make it stick. Bruce Farr likewise. I always thought he should have challenged for the America’s Cup defence in 2000, maybe we wouldn’t have lost the cup (or at least lost so badly) if there was a second defence syndicate in 03.
June 14, 2007 at 11:40 pm |
Hey Valencia AC Fan, we will hate you but will do so with a smile!
Haha, just kidding. Sure, you are entitled to want the cup to hang around in your home port.
I am unsure of the outcome and I desperately want ETNZ to win!!!
I wish it could come to MY home town (Wellington), but the harbour is too small, the wind too strong and those bloody Aucklanders would never share anyways
Also, with regards to +39 not being able to use a mast. I believe that there was more than one of the challengers that objected. If ETNZ was one of them (I don’t think they were), then I would be genuinely upset.
The +39 guys seemed to do remarkably well in Act 13 of the LVC buildup given their almost non-existent budget.
And besides, us kiwis always love the underdog.
Honestly, if God and the Devil were fighting for possession of our souls, us stoopid kiwis would probably consider supporting the Devil just cos he was the under dog!
June 14, 2007 at 11:49 pm |
It’d be pretty awesome to see the big IACC boats racing in 50-60 knots and big currents in the Cook Staight, too bad it’ll never happen. Well at least you get a coast; spare a thought for us poor buggers who are landlocked.
June 14, 2007 at 11:54 pm |
Hehehe, where are you Carl? Not Switzerland?
Yeah, if you took an IACC yacht out to the cook straight, both ends would “clap hands” in about 5 seconds flat and the boat would go down quicker than Camilla on old “Jug Ears”!
June 15, 2007 at 12:06 am |
I agree Vale, as I told in a previous post, Italian sport press is really a shame!
But they treated Chris Dixon better than our guys…
Our journalists maybe think that they could win the AC themselves if only they could have a boat. I wonder why Bertelli still prefer Spithill, De Angelis and the others..
June 15, 2007 at 12:23 am |
GO ALINGHI!!! Only kidding,
I live in the Waikato. Having a boat go the way of oneAustralia might make for a nice dive attraction, well assuming it’s not one of ours!
Giulio, Jimmy Spithill is one of the very best matchracers in the world, some would say he’s second only to Coutts in an America’s Cup boat, and De Angelis did an incredible job making a unified, focused team. The problem with the campaign this year was a lack of boatspeed (Luna Rossa were slower than Desafio and I’d imagine much slower than Alinghi) and the Italian challenges were too fractured.
If there was a single Squadra Italia with the combined resources of the three Italian teams instead I have a feeling you guys would have been unstoppable.
June 15, 2007 at 12:30 am |
Guys…I was wrong with the time!!! I thought Nz Was 12 hours ahead!!!!!!Hi Giulio, how’re you today? always in love with Luna Rossa????Jays, what news from Wellington? I remember my walks taken along Cuba street…absolutely wonderful!!!
Giulio, I don’t want to do names, but what do you think about the Tv press? I had some difficulties to watch it, supporting Nz…I agree with you about the treatment towards Luna Rossa, but I can’t stand the way they used towards Nz and Chris Dixon….
June 15, 2007 at 12:31 am |
Dunno if LR’s boat was slower than Desafio Carl.
I personally think we took longer to dispatch of Desafio cos our team didnt fire as well as they did against LR.
But, could be wrong. Its just hard to believe LR could get their boat speed THAT wrong.
June 15, 2007 at 12:44 am |
Guys, if we talk about the speed, we are talking however about a team’s features!!! so, adfirming that ETNZ beat Luna Rossa ’cause of the boat, doesn’t mean something different. In AC regatta we have to consider different aspects ( crew, boat and team meteo)…so if Nz won, it was because all those things made the team stronger than others!!!!
June 15, 2007 at 12:54 am |
I certainly think so. In fact, their boat didn’t look much slower than Oracle to me at all. Reichel-Pugh boats have been underappricated for a number of cups. In 2000 the general view is that Conner’s sailing prowess and drive took him to third place despite having a very tight budget but my view has always been that Reichel-Pugh gave him an incredibly fast boat given the lack of money for R&D. Desafio also bought OneWorld’s boats for their design base, and I consider Laurie Davidson to be the single best designer in the IACC class.
Luna Rossa on the other hand have been on the back foot boatspeed wise for a while now. Remember Bertelli firing Doug Peterson after four races in 2003?
June 15, 2007 at 1:01 am |
Could be right.
Anywho, the MOST important thing boat-speed wise at the moment is NZ vs Alinghi. Now THATS a hard one to answer!!!
I doubt even TNZ and Alinghi know that answer for sure.
June 15, 2007 at 1:19 am |
Especially given that NZL-92 and SUI-100 are hugely different considering how similar IACC boats tend to look to each other. I’d envisage we’ll be better in tacks and the Suiss will be better in a straight line but as to overall speed we’ll only know by drinking lots of coffee come next friday.
June 15, 2007 at 1:30 am |
Of course Vale!
) TNZ didn’t race with100% of its power against them. But it’s true we had a speed problem, especially in the wind we’ve found.
I want to belive Luna Rossa was faster than Desafio (which had a very good boat and crew indeed). I’m with you Jays, I think (hope
Carl, I think a “Squadra Italia” would be impossible..
Italy is a beatuiful country, a coloured beautiful mosaic where, for historical reasons, every region, or even small town, has always had and wants to mantain a strong identity and cultural independence.
Nowadays you can see this in the many differnt regional dialects (sometimes almost different languages) still spoken, especially by old people. In the hundreds of different regional cuisines or in the strong rivalry between the football teams.
It would be very difficult to create a Team that could alone represent the whole country, there would be too many cooks..
And consider that here most people are interested in sailing only once every 3 or 4 years.. (but then it’s a full immersion…) and we have three challengers for the America’s Cup… (Us have just one, UK none…)
It’s more likely that in the next AC (maybe in New Zealand) we could have 4 or 5 Italian Teams in a separate Cup (let’s say a Luigi Vittone Cup
) and the others in the real LVC 
Cheers
Giulio
June 15, 2007 at 4:52 am |
Thoughts about Ernesto Bertarelli.
he was born in Rome, Italy and he now lives in Switzerland He preferred not to race for his own birth country, nor to defend the Cup in Italy, choosing Spain instead.
New Zealanders doesn’t like him at all… he has “stolen” the best elements from the AC 2000 kiwi team, leaving TNZ defending the Cup in a very difficult situation… and you know the results..
Italians doesn’t like him particularly… he is as Swiss as I am… and I’m not…
Paul Elvstrom once said “You haven’t won the race, if in winning the race, you have lost the respect of your competitors.”
I’ve more admiration for what our little +39 Challenge team did in Valencia this year than for Alinghi winning the Cup in 2003.
This said, I must admit he is a brilliant manager.
His team looks perfect, they have the best things and people money can buy in every field.
He succeeded where most people have failed, and he knows how to spend his money to achieve the results he wants. Maybe Larry Allison should hire him instead of Russel Coutts for his next campaign..
It will not be easy for TNZ to bring back the Cup to Auckland.
It will be very hard, Alinghi is a giant.
Winning may seem almost impossible, almost, but not impossible said a great man.
I hope ETNZ will find the extra speed they will need in the hearts of the thousands, millions of NZ supporters who will spend their nigths following the races. Who every day will go to work still asleep and dreaming for a bed..
This is a thing that nobody can buy, NZ has it, and the same Luna Rossa.
Nobody could ever buy your passion, sportmanship, love for sailing.
Be proud of your men fighting for the Cup.
Even if they will not be the winners in the end.
Giulio
June 15, 2007 at 6:20 am |
NOOOoo!Bertarelli is from Rome!!!
He is married to Miuccia Prada…However I think that if Etnz win the Ac, Luna Rossa (or Rosa 
) will have some problems to go on.. The interviews which bertarelli realised just after the defeat, let me understand that if the Ac goes to NZ, and so to the opposite side of earth, Luna Rossa won’t go on anymore, I think ’cause problems about money…
Giulio, what do you think about that?
…kiwis now are still sleeping…
Vale
June 15, 2007 at 7:26 am |
Sorry Vale but you are confusing Luna Rossa’s Patrizio Bertelli, President and C.E.O. of the Prada group and and Ernesto Bertarelli of Alinghi!!!
Patrizio Bertelli comes from Tuscany and was born in Arezzo.
I think that if Patrizio will find the right sponsors, he will set up another competitive campaign even upside-down..
We will see.
Now my attention is toward the finals!
Five days or more of great sailing!
Here with our kiwi friends.
Bye
Giulio
PS
Do you know where the name +39 (piùtrantanove) come from?
Vale don’t suggest!
June 15, 2007 at 8:09 am |
+39? Thats the international dialing code for Italy isn’t it?
They’re sponsored by some Italian Telco as I understand it
June 15, 2007 at 8:38 am |
Actully Luna Rossa was the one sponsered by Telecom Italia.
June 15, 2007 at 9:59 am |
Yes it’s the international dialing code for Italy.
)
Nice idea, isn’t it?
http://www.piu39challenge.it/eng/index.asp
But Carl is right, it’s not for the sponsor.
Acually Telecom Italia is the second main partner for Luna Rossa.
And Tim = Telecom Italia Mobile.
What about Alice? (This reminds me a song of years ago, not very polite
Don’t ask me why but it’s the name of the broadband adsl internet connection sold by Telecom Italia.
PS
I want to make clear that I don’t work for Telecom Italia.
What is NZ international dialing code??
June 15, 2007 at 10:03 am |
I see that we have the same typing problem Carl! .. actually
June 15, 2007 at 1:33 pm |
+64, Giulio Z. Alice as in Alice in wonderland maybe? Ciao. David G
June 15, 2007 at 3:41 pm |
kinda disappointing to read of the ‘unsporting attitude’ of some of the kiwis over there. Sure, cheer for ETNZ for all it’s worth, but the insults and threatening agressiveness etc etc should be left in the school yard. It tars all kiwis with the same brush and is gonna make us look like right plonkers if we get spanked on the water by alinghi.
John Mcbeth is right – just give alinghi the cold shoulder and silent treatment.
June 15, 2007 at 6:34 pm |
sorry giulio!!! Nowadays I am working too hard, always reading and writing, in front of my notebook…and I’ve read wrong!!!!! Sorry sorry sorry!!!!!!
June 16, 2007 at 12:03 am |
Talk about the lull before the storm! can’t wait for the 23rd.. Been following TNZ since ‘95. This is going to be the AC that 31 should have been… with 92 winning of course