Training the key for Prada

By LUCA BONTEMPELLI

Senior yachting writer for La Gazzetto dello Sport

Francesco de Angelis is the least Italian character you could ever imagine. That is why Luna Rossa has been such a success.

The boss of Prada, Patrizio Bertelli, understood perfectly that to win the America's Cup you have to be almost un-Italian in your attitude.

Sure, de Angelis has a lot of passion - which is something you must have. But more importantly he is very intense, cool and the master of shy.

Prada's secret has been training, training, training.

The crew remember the "darkest day" in the build-up to the Louis Vuitton Cup.

At the very beginning of training in Punta Ala, the coaches had the crew changing the jib while tacking. They spent a whole day doing thousands of jib changes, even though they knew they would not be using that system on the boats for the America's Cup.

They did it to the feel the pain. That is not very Italian - but it has worked.

This time the Italian campaign is keeping very quiet. The lesson Italy learned we were given in 1992 has been learned well.

During the Il Moro campaign, people around us like Peter Gilmour were ready to bet money that Il Moro was faster than America3. The trouble was, it wasn't.

So no-one is saying anything this time. Everyone will be more confident after the first cross in the first race.

No matter what happens to Prada now, it will still be the best achievement in Italian yachting history since we won our last Olympic gold medal in 1952.

Winning the Louis Vuitton Cup is the closest comparison to that day.

It's true, we won the challenger series eight years ago, but the helmsman was a hired gun.

The success of Luna Rossa has already surpassed the glorious fame of Il Moro.

This time the feeling is that it is the first time, because the people on Luna Rossa are our people.

There is also a feeling that these results could be the base for building a new generation of Italian sailors.

We have been good enough in big boats and the Admiral's Cup þ we won it in 1983 and have been in the top spots ever since.

But what we are missing is Olympic success. We are looking forward to good results in Sydney, but four years later we should be even better. Patrizio Bertelli's investment in our sailors has made us pretty optimistic.

It is not all about the money, either. The lira spent on this campaign is not a big deal in Italy.

The fashion industry is huge. In Milan people queued to buy things from Prada stores well before the America's Cup.

While $100 million may sound absurd to spend on a boat race, in terms of business it is a very small amount. Prada the business is 20 or 30 times bigger.

So can Prada beat Team New Zealand? They have to pray that New Zealand are not much faster like they were in 1995.