Yachting: Unbeaten Italians not ready to relax yet

By Suzanne McFadden

After the final race in the first step to finding a challenger for the America's Cup, Prada skipper Francesco de Angelis was asked: "Why are you not smiling?"

After all, the graceful Luna Rossa boat he drives had just won 11 out of 11 starts - including a resail - and survived unscathed in the difficult conditions of the first round of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

A small grin crept across de Angelis' dial. "I was thinking to the next one."

Eighteen hours later, the two Prada boats were back out on the water, duelling in an imaginary race, getting ready for round two, now only a week away.

Maybe, they say, they will take a day off tomorrow. But the way the first round dragged on has upset everyone's schedule between rounds. Most teams will work right through to the next race.

Prada are determined not to rest on their laurels after their opening success.

"I'm happy. But that part has already gone," de Angelis said. "Now I look forward to what is going to happen.

"We did mistakes for sure. We need to make some gear improvements and fix some crew work."

De Angelis believes Prada's unbeaten run was helped by the crew spending two full summers in Auckland, learning the nuances of the turbulent Hauraki Gulf.

But there is no denying that the big-budget team have a swift boat in ITA45, with a sister that may be even faster.

The Italians are by no means streets ahead of their closest rivals. Young America were on course to beat Prada until a shackle broke with the finish-line in sight. And AmericaOne had bad luck against them when their spinnaker exploded a breath from the line.

Everyone inside the sparkling white Prada compound was smiling yesterday. Back in Milan, their boss, Patrizio Bertelli was a happy man.

Bertelli, the man and the money behind the syndicate, was 17th man on board the boat in their two closest races.

Back on land there was no day off for the challengers either.

At a meeting of all 11 challenging syndicates, it was agreed to amend the rule which turned the Hauraki Gulf into a comic drama midweek.

The challengers - who write their own rules for the Louis Vuitton Cup - have decided that no boat can request a postponement to repair a breakdown after the five-minutes-to-the-start gun.

The America's Cup Challenger Association now have to approve the change before it can be used in round robin two, starting next Saturday.