Italians in America’s Cup, the “case” of American Magic’s design team
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L‘Italy and the America’s Cup have a bond that has been going on now since 1983, since the time of the first legendary Azzurra-branded challenge, with an almost uninterrupted presence to this day of homegrown crews and sailors engaged in the most prestigious and oldest sailing trophy there is. Recent history, from 2000 onward, has been marked by the rise of Luna Rossa, not to mention the challenges of other teams that had the tricolor aft.
Such a constant presence of our country in this event has meant that not only sailors, but also professionals of various kinds enter the world of the America’s Cup. That is why Italy in the America’s Cup today is Luna Rossa but also much more, as we tell you in these pages. Luna Rossa today is undoubtedly Italy’s centerpiece in the America’s Cup, but it is no longer the center of the world for Italian professionals with ambitions to join this Trophy.
Our engineers, boat builders, and designers, also because of the high level of training that our universities such as the Politecnico di Milano provide, are also in great demand outside Luna Rossa, and indeed it is often their prior international experience that takes them directly beyond our borders and beyond Team Prada Pirelli.
The most “Italian” of all teams participating in Barcelona 2024 is undoubtedly American Magic, with 7 Italians, followed by Alinghi Red Bull Racing with 3, but Ineos also has an Italian engineer on its design team. So let’s find out who are the 7 chosen by the New York Yacht Club union and included in the design team.
Italians in the America’s Cup – The American Magic “case”
One of the undisputed Italian veterans in the America’s Cup is Mario Caponnetto, 52, now with American Magic after having competed in the last America’s Cup with Luna Rossa. The Genoese naval engineer and mechanic began his Cup experience in the 1990s with Moro di Venezia, then went on to Luna Rossa, Oracle, with whom he won two America’s Cups, and the British BAR in 2017, before returning from Luna Rossa and then joining the New York Yacht Club syndicate. Same for Davide Tagliapetra, an aerospace engineer and structural engineer who moved with the Americans from Luna Rossa; he too is now a veteran of the Cup.
Replenishing the ranks of veterans is, also in American Magic, Giorgio Provinciali, 50. The Aerospace Engineer is in his second consecutive campaign with American Magic, but his previous America’s Cup experience has also been through Luna Rossa.
American Magic, on the other hand, we find Andrea Mannarino, 35, an Aerospace Engineer who comes from the Polytechnic University of Milan and has already gained experience in Formula 1 with Mercedes and in Cup with Ineos. Also from Polytechnic, still in American Magic, comes Aeronautical Engineer Paolo Motta, 33, who has actually been on the star-studded team since 2018, ready for his second challenge.
Who is an absolute newcomer to the America’s Cup is Ligurian by adoption, Milanese by birth
Pietro Pinucci
, also in the large group of Italian professionals with American Magic. A 34-year-old naval engineer and sailmaker at Quantum Sails, he will also be doing just that with the New York Yacht Club team.
The New York union’s “youth” group is rounded out by Franco Lovato, 33, also in the design sector of the Americans. Another figure coming from Milan Polytechnic, Multi tasking engineer ranging from aerospace, aeronautical, and naval engineering, for a design team that definitely speaks our language.
Mauro Giuffrè
THE FULL REPORT WITH ALL THE PROFILES OF THE ITALIANS INVOLVED IN THE AMERICA’S CUP 2024 CAN BE FOUND IN THE MARCH ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF SAILING PRINT EDITION
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