Stories and winners from the Vele d’Epoca di Imperia 2024
16 September 2024
Second installment – The men and women stars of the America’s Cup in Barcelona
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As we await the start of the America’s Cup in Barcelona, last Preliminary Races on August 22 and Louis Vuitton Cup from the 29th, we are telling you(reread the First Installment) who are the most influential men and women in the various teams, those who in some way and with their work can influence the performance of their team.
Sailors, designers, managers, technicians, there are so many professionals who revolve around the Cup world and serve in the syndicates.
The men and women of the America’s Cup
Dalton Grant The “Grand Old Man” is the real puppet master of this America’s Cup that will take place away from New Zelan- da, as well as the leader of the Kiwis.
Once a key man on board, he now works behind the scenes of a team that has put all its eggs in the youth basket and that he has rebuilt after the ashes of San Francisco 2012, when the New Zealanders came out psychologically devastated by Oracle’s resounding comeback.
He had the courage to dare, to az- zerate the team is start from scratch, and the results have resoundingly proved him right with a new winning cycle.
Undying. Delapierre Quentin From the Nacra 17 to the Sail GP, all the way to appro- dare in the America’s Cup, Delapierre will be one of the two helmsmen of Orient Express Team France and the pair with Kevin Peponnet (the other driver) has already shown he can function as seen in the Preliminary Regattas with the AC 40s.
The Frenchman’s talent is not in question, it remains to be seen how competitive the transalpine’s boat, the last launched among the challengers, will be.
If the performance is similar to that of the other 75s we will see him scratch.
De Nora Matteo Origins, also entrepreneurial, Italian, but a key man at the helm of Team New Zealand as Team Principal, Matteo De Nora has espoused the Kiwis’ cause since 2003.
After New Zealanders lost to Alinghi in 2003, he made a pact with Grant Dalton: to take the Kiwis back to the top and win back the Cup.
It took him more than 10 years to achieve the goal, but always remaining in his role: behind-the-scenes backer, and a bit of a guardian angel.
Detrey Yves The Swiss has been part of Alin- ghi’s core since the first winning challenge in 2003.
He was also there in the victorious Valencia di- fesa in 2007, and he has also been part of the Swiss team in racing seasons in the GC32s and the Extreme Sailing Series.
A veteran of the group, his quality has also been called upon on the AC 75 where he is the most experienced trimmer on the sailing team. Dubois Bruno The CEO of Orient Express, of Belgian origin, has a long experience as a sports team manager, and has been the man behind many French challenges to the Volvo Ocean Race, including winning it.
In fact, Dubois already has a past in the America’s Cup, as he was the initiator of the 2007 transalpine challenge, K-Challenge, one of the most competitive French Cup entries in recent history.
Fletcher Dylan If there is one sailor who knows how to beat Peter Burling this is Dylan Fletcher, since in 49er, at the 2020 Olympics, with Stuart Bithell, he took gold just ahead of the New Zealand pair Burling – Tuke who now pulls the strings of the team defender.
On Britannia he is one of the “cockpit” men, will be proba- bly employed in the trimmer role, and Ben Ainslie trusts him a lot.
He goes to complete a crew where talent is certainly not lacking, with Ben Ainslie and Giles Scott the British one is practically a Dream Team very fearsome for the other challengers, and not only for them. 
Goodison Paul The 2008 Beijing Laser gold medalist in American Magic has been promoted from mainsail trimmer to coxswain after Dean Barker’s exit.
He will pair with Tom Slingsby, going on to form a helming duo that in the foil world are two aces of the Moth.
Goodison will also be tasked with bringing back to the Americans’ cockpit the calmness that seemed to be missing at times in the 2020 Cup, challenge that “shipwreck” with the famous scuff. Gradoni Marco We will hardly see him among the starting helmsmen on the AC 75, although the 20-year-old Roman has been employed several times during training with Luna Rossa, but he will be the key man in the Italian Young challenge.
Max Sirena has shown enormous confidence in him by starting him as a starter on the AC 40 at the Jeddah Preliminaries: the young man has not trembled; on the contrary, he has even scored victories by helming as a veteran paired with Ruggero Tita.
The future is all on his side.
Grindley Jo Mark her name, because if Ben Ainslie is the sailor we know today, and if British challenges to the Cup exist, much is also due to this woman.
Jo has been by Ainslie’s side for 17 years, and she is the one who was responsible first for raising funds and sponsorship for the champion’s Olympic campaigns, then for those in the America’s Cup.
With a past in high finance, and a present in the world of sports marketing and communications, we can consider her the “deus ex machina” of the British challenge.
Hutchinson Terry The wise Terry after American Magic’s capsize in Auckland, in which he risked his life in 2021, has taken a step back.
No longer a crewman, wide open to youth, for Terry the U.S. team has carved out a different role, he still remains the skipper of the boat and the head of the sailing team.
His experience will in any case be crucial to team cohesion. Junior Josh Who said that only sailors who specialize in foil go on AC 75s?
Josh is a finnist,has been on Team NewZealand since 2017, and has won the America’s Cup twice. He is preparing for his third challenge with the Kiwis, where he will have a secure place among the New Zealanders’ trim- mer.
One of the uo- mini on which the team was re-founded is him.
Kandler Stephan After a break returns for a second Cup campaign as CEO of Orient Express.
He had already tried with K-Challenge in 2007, a credible and convincing challenge; this time he got off to a late start, and the French will therefore not start the Cup among the favorites.
The feeling, however, is that they should not be considered in the “buffer” crew, even for Kandler’s ambitions. 
Maloney Andy His presence on Team New Zealand dates back to the Youth America’s Cup in 2013, and from then on his career has been inextricably linked to the New Zealand dream team, with which he was a key player in the 2017 and 2020 double victory.
Maloney is another sailor with a “classic” background, as he comes from the Finn and Laser, and is one of the youngsters the union has focused on for the team’s revival after the 2013 defeat, drawing from its own green line. Maxime Bachelin The fate of Alinghi Red Bull Racing also passes through the hands of the talented Swiss, who will be one of the two helmsmen and is on the team’s roster of Bertarelli for a few years already with the GC32s.
Velistically, he has also trained in Olympic classes, 49er in particular, and more generally is one of the new generation of sailors who has already grown up on fast or flying boats.
Melvin Pete If American Magic is one of the most fearsome sfi- dants, with a very interesting hull and extremely aerodynamic profiles, credit is also due to him.
Indeed, the American design guru is a key man on the New Yorkers’ design team and one of the designers who have most influenced the Cup in the modern era.
He was behind the design of Oracle’s mega-catamaran in 2010 and it was he who formulated the box rulex for the AC 72s with which the Cup was raced in San Francisco in 2012.
A great innovator.
Molineris Umberto In 2020 he was one of the new faces inside Luna Rossa, but in the meantime Umberto Molineris has become the titular, and immovable, trimmer of the Italian crew.
Indeed, his seems to be the most solid place inside the Team Prada crew, quietly winning Sirena’s trust until he became a certainty.
His past in 49er has helped him adapt to the ultra-fast sailing that is imposed by the AC 75s. Muyl Benjamin Lui is head of design for Orient Express Racing Team, and has long experience in the America’s Cup gained first with Oracle and then with Ineos Britannia.
His job for this challenge is to best optimize the basic design acquired from Emirates Team New Zeland, but he is also busy developing a new type of AC 75 simulator.
If the challenge of the French turns positively, it will also be because of him.
Outteridge Nathan The Australian is the icing on the cake of Team New Zealand’s crew, which with him secures a top-notch cam- pion, flying boat man, as well as a thoroughbred of the Olympic classes between 49er and Nacra 17.
With Peter Burling he composes perhaps the strongest pair of helmsmen in this edition of the America’s Cup.
He already has America’s Cup experience, he was involved in the Bermuda edition with the Swedish team, in 2020 he was just a commentator for TV, now he is back in the front line to defend the Jug with the Kiwis. 
Peponnet Kevin The 2018 470 World Champion was chosen as helmsman of Orient Express Racing Team, but he has already been part of the French team for some time having also been the helmsman of Team France at Sail GP.
His impact in the America’s Cup has been good at the Preliminary Regattas with the AC 40, he has shown that he can steer the bar competitively and can play on a level playing field with the others.
The game with the AC 75s will be another sto- ria, however, and for him as for all of Orient Express what has already been said applies, they are not starting favorites, but they have the technical qualities to be able to make an impact. Presti Philippe The Luna Rossa coach is one of those sailors who knows how to win the Ameri ca’s Cup, as he has won it twice with Oracle.
He has six Cup campaigns to his credit, as a sailor and as a coach; this is his second in the role of coach of the italia- no team.
There are also two Olympics in his career, in Finn and Soling, and many titles in the match racing and monotype world.
His experience will be crucial in being able to perfect the strategic details of positioning on the race course, with the long video sessions he will subject the crew to.
Scott Ferguson Ferguson is head of design for American Magic.
He has long experience in the America’s Cup, having previously worked with Luna Rossa, Oracle Team USA and American Magic itself. As designer specializing in masts has been involved in the Volvo Ocean Race for a long time with various.
He coordinated a design group that produced one of the most interesting AC 75s.
Scott Giles Two-time Olympic gold medalist Fin is one of Britannia’s super stars.
On bars seeking maximum aerodi- namics, with sailors now tucked away, his height of 197 cm must not have been easy for those who had to pro- ject his helmsman’s station, but Giles Scott is one of the linchpins of the British team.
After Ben Ainslie, he is one of the technical leaders of a group that is on the hunt for revenge after two lackluster participations. Sibello Pietro We had grown accustomed to seeing him pop- pa of Luna Rossa, but the paths of Pietro Sibello and the Italian team have followed different paths, although the Ligurian had been one of the best elements of the last Cup.
At Alinghi Red Bull Racing, they have carved out a coaching role for him, with the task of instructing the young Helvetic cockpit on running the AC 75.
Sirena Max In Luna Rossa from the very first hour, he now heads a syndicate whose goal is to return to play for the Cup against the New Zealanders.
Needless to hide that the pressure on Max Sirena will be great, and that a result that does not include winning the Louis Vuitton Cup will be considered disappointing.
This Luna Rossa is in his image and likeness, he has chosen the men in each department, it will be up to him to decide which of the many champions will take the helm of the Italian boat.
Commander Massimo. 
Slingsby Tom After the end of the relationship with Dean Barker American Magic was looking for a coxswain who had the killer instinct of the outfielder, young enough to have experience in the foil world, but also accustomed to the America’s Cup game: he was the perfect identikit of Tom Slingsby, an Australian with an American passport, Olympic gold medalist in the Laser, and already a Cup winner as Oracle’s ranist in San Francisco.
A great shot in the arm for the Stars and Stripes team. Spithill James Despite the great competition for Luna Rossa’s helm, with Ruggero Tita pawing the helm, it will not be easy to take the wheel out of James Spithill’s hands.
The Australian is a veteran of the Cup and still knows how to be decisive when the going gets tough, as well as being an absolute specialist in the to match racing.
His killer instinct at the start may still be useful, which is why we will most likely con- tinue to see him at the helm, at least for part of the races.
Tur- nover with Tita remains an option, however.
Stalder Alexandra Helmsman in 49er FX since 2018, Alexan- dra is a Swiss-Italian with dual nationality who lives on Lake Garda.
Before focusing on 49er FX with which she won the U23 Worlds in 2019, she sailed in 420 and Optimist.
She has good foil experience having sailed in the 69F circuit, she was chosen by Alinghi to go and reinforce the women crew. Tita Ruggero May be the Trentino champion the turnaround man for Luna Rossa?
Keeping someone like the Olympic gold medalist on the bench will not be easy for Max Sirena, who has had to deal with Tita’s preparation for the Olympics, which has kept him away from Luna Rossa for some periods.
Ruggero, however, is one of those who can make a difference, a winner, with leadership skills at the helm, on flying boats, that has few equals in the world right now.
Imagining a turnover with Bruni or Spithill may not be just fantasy, because Luna Rossa to aim to win also needs the talent of the boy from Rovereto.
Tuke Blair With Peter Burling they have formed the ultimate winning couple for over 10 years.
Hard to sum up their pal- mares in a few lines, and certainly star Burling today would not be what That is without the decisive contribution of Blair Tuke.
The adjustment of Team New Zealand’s sails will pass through the capable hands of this young man who, under a gentle smile, hides the instincts of someone who will go out on the water with the sole objective of continuing to win, as he has always done in his sailing car- rier between Worlds, Olympics and the America’s Cup.
Vandamme Mathieu Trusted man of Franck Cammas, the two gave as a pair on the Nacra 17, and was part of Groupama’s challenge at the 2017 Cup.
Vandamme trained on multihulls, including ocean multihulls since he was also part of Spindrift’s Ultim team.
In Orient Express Racing Team he will have the role of trimmer.
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