Yachting: Italians - Cayard criticism a bit rich

By Suzanne McFadden

Patrizio Bertelli had had enough. Yesterday, the Prada boss let fly at rival America's Cup challenger Paul Cayard - tired of his allusions to the Italian team's wealth.

As Cayard bowed out of the contest, taking America's hopes with him, he once again bemoaned the fact that he had not had as much money or time for his AmericaOne syndicate as the victorious Italians had.

But Bertelli - who has funded the Prada syndicate alone from the fashion house he controls in Milan - hit out.

"All of Paul Cayard's campaign has pivoted around saying we weren't the best challenger, just the richest," Bertelli said.

"He even went as far as saying there was not much talent in this team. That was a gross mistake. Money is not everything in this - it's about passion and commitment."

Where Cayard battled for a budget of $US30 million, Prada were comfortable with $55 million in their coffers.

"Paul Cayard has said we have spent $100 million, but that is not true.

"We spent our money on research and boat activities. Remember, we had to start from zero.

"We are on the opposite side of the world to New Zealand, while it is only 12 hours from San Francisco. That meant the logistics and organisation was more complicated for us.

"Paul Cayard was able to fly his second boat here. We couldn't have done that - it was too risky to fly a boat with two stopovers.

"We kept a low profile and didn't have to enhance the Prada brand. Cayard had to support his patented brand and that took some time and energy away from his work."

Prada design team member Doug Peterson joined in, adding "a lot of money was spent on the image - after all, we are Prada.

"That's not directly related to going fast on the race course. When you look at it the amount of money spent on the boats was very similar to other teams."