Luna Rossa: never been so close to winning the America’s Cup

Max Sirena, Luna Rossa’s skipper, is sure: in the race to win the next America’s Cup to be run in Bermuda in June 2017, Italy will be there.

He told the Repubblica newspaper, pointing out that there will be a lot of technology made in Italy because, “We have pulled the best of Italy on board. I personally went to look everywhere for the best possible technologies. And it is incredible the wealth of resources and knowledge that Italy has.” In Pula, a stone’s throw from Luna Rossa’s base in Cagliari, they have struck a deal with Crs4, a computing center that is virtually unmatched in the world, where they are simulating the best solutions for the new 62-foot (19-meter) catamaran. He also mentions a Pavia-based company with which: “we are designing onboard watch-computers. Crazy devices that maybe one day will even find a commercial outlet. When I walked in it was like being in NASA.”

About the team he fears most, Sirena is scared of the British and explains why: “The most feared, perhaps, are the British. Partly because of Ben Ainslie-whose role in Oracle’s comeback over New Zealand is universally acknowledged-but partly because the royal family has been directly behind the British challenge for some time now, behind the image of Pippa Middleton; and they have been raiding sponsors, investments and people ever since. Sirena knows something about this because at one point he had tried to bring Cagliari Adrian Newey, the genius of Formula One aerodynamics. But the latter before giving up sailing and renewing his contract with Red Bull had already received enough pressure in England to decline the made-in-Italy proposal. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however. When you rely on such a famous designer, you have many opportunities but you also run the risk of going down the wrong path.”

Regarding the controversy over the America’s Cup-holding team, those of Oracle, Sirena spends calming words: “After the Australian team, which had at first been chosen by the American defender as challenger of the record (the first of the challengers, the one with whom to discuss the rules, which, in the America’s Cup, are always ultimately decided by the holder anyway), it was decided to change the structure of the competition, and the rules are now decided (more or less) all together, as if it were a kind of league. This way everything is more harmonious and functional. “It was a very good thing. Russell Coutts (the man who runs Oracle along with Ellison) is a smart man. He realized that continuing down that road would not get them far. And it changed everything. Of course, it works now because we are far from the competition, we have to see how we will come when we are on the eve. But if we decide the bulk of it now, then I’m sure it will be fine.” The interview ends with a certainty: “”Rarely has an Italian challenge approached an America’s Cup with this premise. We want to win, we can do it, and we will do everything to succeed.”