Italians matched in resources - if not style

By JULIE ASH

Two years ago Prada were the darlings of the America's Cup.

Backed by the fashion house, they were the glamour syndicate of luxurious lifestyles, charming Italian sailors and striking, silver Luna Rossa yachts.

But the Italian fairytale ended when they were beaten 5-nil by Team New Zealand in the match.

Two years later, the swish Italians are back, richer in experience but well aware the game has evolved.

"Every time you take part in a sporting event you need to start from scratch with the intent of improving yourself and your previous effort," said Prada skipper and helmsman Francesco de Angelis. "We learned from the racing side and the technical side but in reality, what we learned was learned by everyone else."

He admits his side were tired going into the cup match last time but believes the revamped format will benefit the challengers.

"I think we had done something like 45 matches and then there were only a few days before the America's Cup match.

"When the Louis Vuitton races took a lot of effort, it was hard to peak again for the cup match. It worked for the defender, not the challenger."

Prada's budget was the biggest among the 11 challengers last time, but this time syndicate row reeks of wealth.

The budget of Larry Ellison's Oracle BMW Racing is understood to be on a par with Prada's $190 million while Craig McCaw's OneWorld and Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi are not far behind.

De Angelis sees a solid group of challengers who are well prepared.

"All the newcomers start with your experience from the past. They have been watching you, they have learned from your mistakes. They start where you start and they train just as hard."

Alinghi, headed by former Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts, have been labelled favourites to win the challenger series, but that does not faze de Angelis.

"There is the knowledge of two successful campaigns in that team so it is natural for the focus to be on them.

"They are a very strong team for sure but if you want to win the right to challenge for the America's Cup, you have to walk over all of them."

Prada, rated second-favourites, see continuity as one of their strengths. They have retained more or less the same team over the past five years and, with bases in Auckland and Italy already in place, more money is available for research and development.

"Money is important because it provides you with tools. "But the use of time is more important.

"Every team has the same amount of time, it just comes down to who uses the time best."

And Prada have used plenty of their time experimenting with crew combinations.

This year they tried using New Zealander Gavin Brady as helmsman in the prestarts before de Angelis took over.

With tacticians Rod Davis and Torben Grael and navigator Matteo Plazzi already in the frame, the question is whether they will pursue the Brady option in the series.

"We did a lot of things differently during the training period," said de Angelis.

"We have a group of afterguard members and we are trying to match up the people in a way that is best for the team."

After spending the summer in Auckland, Prada went home for the winter where they launched ITA74 in May.

They returned to Auckland this month to launch their second yacht, ITA80, but some have questioned whether they have left their return too late, considering some of the others have been training out in the gulf with their new boats for some months.

"I would ask how much sailing the teams that stayed here did. I heard there was bad weather and not that many sailing days.

"I am not making comparisons with anybody, everyone makes their own choices. From 1998 we have spent 50 per cent of our time in Auckland and 50 per cent in Italy. We might have come back a bit late but on the other hand I think we had a good active period in Italy."

Ten days out from the start of racing, de Angelis said there was the same feeling of excitement in the team that there was three years ago.

"It is not until you go racing for the first time you really see where you are at.

"The next few days will involve fine-tuning to make sure everything is working.

"And then we'll just take a deep breath."

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