America’s Cup, the story of Azzurra in a (beautiful) podcast. Listen to it now!

Listenable on all streaming platforms, Pianozero Media’s podcast, recommended by the Giornale della Vela, traces the stages of Azzurra’s birth against the backdrop of a fragile Italy, recently emerged from the years of lead and in search of credibility before the rest of the world. That of Cino Ricci’s crew thus becomes the symbol of a people who, against all odds, raise their heads and look toward the future.

PIECE 1 – The project that was born from a “no”

The history of the America’s Cup and its prestige, sparked in first lawyer Agnelli and then a group of entrepreneurs the intuition to have Italy participate in the selection for the challenger of the 25th America’s Cup as an act of redemption. A course that, however, even before it could begin, collected a series of “NO’s”: Italian sailing was not ready, the country was coming out of a deep crisis and had lost credibility, and the regatta establishment was struggling to accept challengers other than Anglo-Saxon speakers.

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Yet determination and a series of subsequent events led a famous Italian shipowner to purchase the hare boat Enterprise, an ideal model from which to begin building the challenge. It is 1980, and the time is ripe; Ishmaelite Prince Karim Aga Khan, president of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, knows this, saying he would like to be part of the adventure if others, like him, would join the project. Following him, without delay, are the lawyer Agnelli along with Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, crucial figures in giving birth to the Azzurra project, to be followed by several other figures in Italian entrepreneurship at the time. Leading the technical side, however, will be Cino Ricci, a Romagnolo racing master who has clear ideas in his head.

PIECE 2 – Azzurra, a boat made in Italy.

The name Azzurra was born, the design was given to young architect Andrea Vallicelli and the construction to engineer Marco Cobau of Officine Meccaniche Pesaro, for a 100% Made in Italy project. The crew is formed by Cino Ricci who, by placing an ad in the Sailing Newspaper, brings athletes from all over the country, even those with no experience with the sea, to Marina di Ravenna. The only thing missing is the helmsman, and that’s when Mauro Pelaschier, a sea dog with a thick blond beard who immediately became a symbol of that adventure, steps in. The Aga Khan presented the challenge on the last possible day of April 1981, and from that point on, the serious business began.

Azzurra PIECE 3 – Sailing that makes people fall in love.

The day of the launch arrived: On July 19, 1982, Azzurra was put in the water and Godmother Begun Princess Salimah “baptized” her in front of an enthusiastic and excited Pesaro. Just a few days after the historic victory of the “Mundial” in Brazil by our national soccer team with a 3-1 result over Germany, another sports adventure is ready to make the hearts of Italians beat faster in a world, the sailing world, that suddenly finds itself invested with a strong popularity. No one really believes it, but everyone is hoping for it, as if in a kind of collective dream where the whole of Italy is beginning to realize that something important is setting out for Newport.

Once in America, the Italian team must come to terms with a new world, an environment to which they are not accustomed. Training, outings with other crews, galas, and the first notoriety began. Even Italian journalism is beginning to speak the technical language of racing and to tell about that America’s Cup so different from the one we know today.

PIECE 4 – Writing the story

The first regattas immediately show that the “Azzurra project” is very good. The crew manages to beat all challenger boats at least once, including Australia 2, considered unsurpassed and the keeper of a mysterious secret. Access to the final challengers, however, is lost to minor breakdowns due, in part, to the end of the budget, and somewhat to neglect.

But in Italy the fever has broken, the crew members are regarded as heroes and are expected back home with great excitement. The return to Italy on a special flight provided by Alitalia direct to Olbia is triumphant: the sailors are welcomed as heroes.

Although then, they had not actually competed in that edition of the America’s Cup, which proved to be historic as, after 132 years, the Old Jug left Newport to go to Australia and rewrite a new page of the world’s oldest trophy where, even today, Italy leaves its signature.

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