Olympic Classes vs. America’s Cup. The “cold war” between FIV and Luna Rossa.

We were so loved. No, the protagonists of this film are not Vittorio Gassman and Stefania Sandrelli as in the historic film, but rather FIV President Francesco Ettorre and Luna Rossa Team Director Max Sirena, and, to use the imagination, Ettore Scola, the film’s director, could be Patrizio Bertelli. Irony aside, we can say without delay that a kind of “Cold War” has broken out between the Italian Sailing Federation and the Italian team that will once again try to win the America’s Cup.

Galeotta was Cagliari and the “case” of Marco Gradoni cha left the Olympic 470. In the days of the very delicate Olympic test event in Marseille (with only one crew per nation), where the Games will be run next summer, evidence of a broken understanding between the IVF and Luna Rossa seems to be coming to the surface.

In fact, one of the two top Nacra 17 crews-Ruggero Tita / Caterina Banti (reigning Olympic gold medalist) or, alternatively, Vittorio Bissaro / Maelle Frascari-was not summoned for the test. The call came for the still-strong Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei. Tita and Bissaro are also involved with Luna Rossa. Coincidences? The excellent results of Ugolini-Giubilei, however, have taken the Federation out of the equivocation.

America’s Cup (and Luna Rossa) on the hunt for young people

To explain what has happened on the Cagliari-FIV axis, we need to take a step back and tell how America’s Cup talent is very different today than in the past.

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It used to be that experienced profiles came to the Cup, who had already gone through the whole rigmarole of the Olympic classes, perhaps had already participated several times in the Games, and continued their careers in search of the Holy Grail of the America’s Cup. Today everything has changed, and the Auckland Cup in 2021 confirmed this for us.

The new America’s Cup is not a sail for “old men,” we need young, fast minds, sailors who are accustomed to new technologies and who know how to steer a boat flying at 40 knots via a joystick. Luna Rossa’s very narrow defeat against Team New Zealand in the 2021 final demonstrated this paradigm: on the AC 75, young people are needed, in all roles; there is little room for the “over”.

And so Luna Rossa has in fact rushed to the rescue, including Marco Gradoni, Ruggero Tita and Vittorio Bissaro, basically the 3 strongest helmsmen that Italian sailing has among the under-40s. The first two, Tita reigning Olympic gold medalist paired with Caterina Banti, fished from the sidereal national Nacra 17. Marco Gradoni, after winning three Optimist World Championships, was instead pursuing his Olympic campaign in 470 with Alessandra Dubbini.

The understanding between FIV and Luna Rossa seemed total: the Olympic national teams moved to Cagliari and the three “tenors” divided their time between training with Team Prada and training on Olympic classes. All perfect. Then something broke down.

Luna Rossa vs. IVF – The beginning of the “cold war”

What happens is that the air of the America’s Cup pleases Marco Gradoni all too much, and he is beginning to feel little desire to sacrifice himself on two fronts, 470 Olympic and America’s Cup campaign. Meanwhile, reigning Olympic gold medalists Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti start their season in Nacra 17 quietly: fourth at the Princesa Sofia Trophy in Palma behind the other two Italian crews (Bissaro-Frascari second, Ugolini-Giubilei third), only 11th at the Hyeres Olympic Week. This is enough to raise the temperature of nervousness in the Federation.

Net of the results, the best Italian crew in the Nacra 17 after the first two events of the season becomes the one on paper with the lowest odds: Ugolini-Giubilei (third in Palma and Hyeres), the only ones not engaged, at least so far, in Luna Rossa’s program. And so it is that the FIV officiates the convocations for the Olympic test: out Tita/Banti and Bissaro/Frascari, in Ugolini/Giubilei.

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“Slammed out” after Hyeres.

It would seem that the timing for communicating the decision was a bit abrupt: it appears that the communication came at the end of the Hyeres regattas (the previous pre-Olympic regattas, before the Marseille event). Had the convening criteria been disclosed earlier? Rumors are mixed, but it seems that the Federal decision has nonetheless left its mark.

Premise: Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei are two very strong sailors, and they are proving it these days at the test event in Marseille, where they collected three first places in the second day of racing. They are, however, the least experienced crew of the top three in the Nacra 17 national team, and it is clearly noisy that the reigning gold medalists, Tita-Banti, and their main antagonists, Bissaro-Frascari, were not called to the Games test. If the Federation has decided to bet on what, at least on paper, is the “third horse,” it is sending a strong signal that in Cagliari is not known to have been taken.

FIV – Luna Rossa, truce sought

It seems clear that it is the sailors themselves, as well as the two parties in question, FIV and Luna Rossa, who may come out of this situation of silent tension as damaged. The balances of a high-level team, be it the Olympic national team or an America’s Cup union, are difficult to maintain.

Right now the balance is broken. Gradoni has abandoned the Olympic campaign, Ruggero Tita seems to have lost steam on the Nacra, and FIV now looks to Cagliari more worried than hopeful. The problem is that Luna Rossa already has her mind on Barcelona, and Marseille thinks too little of it.

Mauro Giuffrè