Yachting: Ooh, you sexy thing, Kiwi women tell skipper

By Suzanne McFadden

Francesco de Angelis has evolved from a boffin trying to make bigger cows into a sex symbol in New Zealand.

Prada's skipper has been voted the second-sexiest man around - after Latin pop superstar Ricky Martin - in a poll in a Kiwi women's magazine.

"Oh my God! No!" said an embarrassed de Angelis. "I think that's too much."

The lanky, 39-year-old father of two is recognised by strangers in the streets of Auckland - unlike the avenues of Milan.

It has all come as a shock to the man who never dreamed of making a living as a professional sailor. His life's goal was to be a geneticist "making big cows without chemicals."

De Angelis is astounded by the way New Zealanders have embraced the Prada syndicate, although he has been warned that this phenomenon could fade this weekend when they start racing Team New Zealand.

"I have never seen so many people following a boat race in my life. It's very emotional," he said.

"For sure it is better than we would get at home. Maybe in the future, after this," he said with a cheeky grin.

He does not know why the Italian crew scored all the adulation during the challenger series. Maybe, he said, because Prada spent a lot of time here before the Cup.

Perhaps it was all the Kiwi women who have taken the Italians to their hearts?

"I don't think so. I saw a lot of boys cheering for us too."

As a boy, de Angelis had no idea about the America's Cup. He did not start sailing until he was 16 - he had spent his childhood under the water in Naples, snorkelling.

"I started sailing with some friends, and in the beginning it was just a game," he said.

"I never thought it would be a job. Sailing is not that popular in Italy, so I went to university."

Then he started getting serious about boats. He was in line to go to the 1980 Moscow Olympics in the Finn dinghy class until the boycott, but moved on to bigger yachts and has won five world titles.

De Angelis was working with Paul Cayard to sail in the last round-the-world race when he got a phone call from Prada fashion mogul Patrizio Bertelli inviting him to join his America's Cup challenge.

"I took a long while before I said yes," de Angelis said.

It turned out to be the right call.

He has loved every day of his outstanding debut in the Cup, but takes exception to the belief that he is unemotional behind the wheel of Luna Rossa.

"People say I'm quietly spoken, that I'm not a street fighter. Is this just because I measure my words and talk slowly?" he said.

"If I was not passionate, then I would not have given two or three years of my life to this. On the water, we are fired up enough."