By LUCA BONTEMPELLI
In Italy, they are crazy about the America's Cup. But there is one thing they want more of - Francesco de Angelis' voice.
We want to hear Francesco yell, we want to hear him singing for joy, we want him screaming for penalties.
After all, the Italians are famous for
having big voices.
But de Angelis is considered the gentleman of the America's Cup. That is great for parties and television interviews, but there is no room for gentlemen in today's America's Cup.
Even the Prada crew want him to speak up. Last night they had a team dinner together, looking for motivation from their skipper.
So turn up your microphone, Francesco. He met Luciano Pavarotti in Auckland a few months ago, so maybe he should call the great tenor for some lessons on how to improve his voice.
Prada are confident they have the faster boat, and the better crew around the marks. All they have to do is stay away from trouble with the jury.
A worrying statistic for the Italians since the beginning of the Cup is the penalties that have been dished out in their races - seven against, and only one in favour. It is the worst balance of all the challengers.
That is Prada's Achilles heel.
The Italian people cannot get enough of the America's Cup. Even though live coverage on television is in the early hours of the morning, the Cup is grabbing 50 per cent of the audience.
Even when Ferrari was fighting for the Formula One grand prix title, their share was a lot less.
We are seeing a response that is even bigger than Il Moro di Venezia got for reaching the finals of the 1992 America's Cup.
Italians consider this as our first true Italian challenge - everyone is Italian, except our Brazilian tactician Torben Grael. But everyone loves Torben so much that we feel he is 100 per cent Italian.
* Luca Bontempelli is the sailing writer for La Gazzetta dello Sport, Europe's largest daily sports newspaper.
