Bertelli is yachting's man on a mission

By SUZANNE MCFADDEN

At the immaculate Prada fashion house in Milan, bleary-eyed workers struggle through their day.

Production is down 30 percent. The boss, Patrizio Bertelli, is happy.

His staff, like him, have fallen in love with the America's Cup and his silver and red Luna Rossa boat. The Tuscan fashion mogul could not be more proud.

"You cannot prevent people staying up at night to watch the races," he smiles.

"They arrive at work completely out of their heads through lack of sleep.

"They work for the brand, so they feel like they are part of it. They have Luna Rossa stickers all over the place.

"It's the price we have to pay, but I'm sure we will catch up in some time, some way.

"I hope it lasts right until the end of the Cup."

The 54-year-old Bertelli is apparently a fair man, a good boss.

He is the sole backer of the $110 million Prada challenge, the man who conjured up the idea to bring Italy back into the America's Cup. He brings huge business nous to the campaign.

He met his future wife, Miuccia Prada, when she tried to sue him for making copies of her Prada bags.

They married and turned Prada into a billion-dollar empire known the world over for its elegance and chic. The couple have also produced two teenage sons.

Bertelli cannot stress enough that he did not enter the Cup to sell more evening dresses or silk purses.

"It's an expensive sport and it needs someone to finance it. I have been quite unusual in this respect because I was able to bring my personal passion for saiiling with some organisational skills to the team," he said.

"On the other hand a sponsor who uses the races for other purposes, risks losing money doing something that doesn't fit his abilities and skills.

"You don't get much of a return on America's Cup boats, because they don't on-sell. The only business is selling t-shirts and hats and we haven't done that.

"We have kept a low profile. We didn't need to promote or enhance the Prada brand. It's quite well known already."

Rival AmericaOne skipper Paul Cayard complimented Bertelli on producing the perfect model of Cup campaign - with plenty of money and plenty of time.

Bertelli thanked him: "But I think the right model is not too much bossing around."

Many big-name funders get into the Cup game for the notoriety. But Bertelli has been a sailor since childhood on the Tuscany coast.

In Auckland he lives on his 28-year-old wooden sloop Ulisse, docked at the end of the cup village island. On the Mediterranean, he races Nyala - a 1937 12m yacht designed by America's Cup legend Olin Stephens.

Last year, he chartered KZ7 from Sir Michael Fay for the pricely sum of $1 and won the world 12m championships.

His Cup dream began four years ago, at a dinner with Argentine boat designer German Frers - who drew up Italy's Il Moro di Venezia fleet for the '92 cup.

Frers suggested Bertelli would be the ideal man to get Italy back in the Cup fray. He was convinced easily.

Bertelli then hired his design team and bought three America3 boats from Bill Koch. The story goes that the two billionaires walked out of a restaurant, looked up and saw a red moon - and so the "Luna Rossa" boats earned their name.

Bertelli wanted to "breath down the neck of the New Zealanders so as to build up the tension."

So they moved to Auckland in the summer of late '97, setting up at the Devonport Naval base.

Prada have come a long way since. And Bertelli has loved the ride.

"It's actually above my expectations. The level of competition has been extremely high - the atmosphere here is fantastic.

"What I really, really enjoy is this passion. It's not just about sport - it's the human emotion of people who have devoted years working on this."