De Angelis: “America’s Cup in Naples is an extraordinary success”

At 65 he still enjoys a world to reach and enthusiastically awaits the next Giraglia – the most prestigious hill competition in Italy – where the tactician of a brand new boat will be from the ordinary such as Magic Carpet and the Wallycento of Sir Lindsay Owen, the Welsh manager who led the L’Oreal group from 1988 to 2011 before dedicating himself to his great passion. Second in the Regatta dei Tre GolfiDe Angelis aims to win the Giraglia but finds the time for a comment on the assignment of the America’s Cup 2027 in Naples, his hometown and where he grew up sailing ship. In his great career he played three campaigns with Luna Rossa and in 2000 he was the first non -Anglo -Saxon skipper to conquer the Louis Vuitton Cup, the regatta of challengers.

Did De Angelis expect the designation of Naples for the next edition?

“It was not an absolute surprise, the city was among those on the list and there were not many alternatives. But it is an extraordinary success for our country, the city and the territory. I think there are all the conditions for doing well, both on the ground and at sea but it is essential to act quickly: 2027 is around the corner”.

Many think it will be a America’s Cup for very few teams.

“Certainly, it is very difficult for a new consortium to organize a serious challenge in such a short time. And even for those who have experience it is not easy to find quadrature in just two years: between my first campaign and the second three years passed and between the second and third four years. There were months to train in the location that would have hosted the regattas. Today, you are preparing at home”.

Perhaps the New Zealanders could extend the times to 2028: there would have been more teams and you could better prepare for the event.

“Perhaps, but we should enter the head of Grant Dalton. I read many different hypotheses, I saw the protests of some challengers and I notice that a lot of foreigners on board is made, even if with the current rules for many it would be impossible to change teams. Until the publication of the protocol, it has practically no sense to give judgments on the work of the Defender”.

There is a lot of talk about any changes to the use of foreigners on board: it seems that the Defender does not want to give anything to the Challenger who instead want to be able to make a ‘market’ to enhance themselves. For example, Peter Burling is free.

“It is funny fantas it up until reading the protocol that could actually change something. At the moment, if a team had hired Burling could use it on the ground and not on board: it does not seem to me the same thing. Then, what matters, it is the set of the group: when we won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000, the only birth foreigner who was part of the crew was Torben Grael, the right place.”

Can we at least say that the regatta field will be ideal for AC75?

“In the right period certainly. But even in this case, one account would be to compete before the summer, in the height of summer or towards the end of the season. If you can speak seriously after the dates will be known”.

Many technicians think that the New Zealanders, in order to find a location for the event, took an excessive risk to go to the house of the historical enemy, namely Luna Rossa. Almost an own goal …

“Playing at home can help and I expect a great cheering, obviously for Luna Rossa, but today the greatest knowledge of the field affects less than the past, precisely because of the different type of boats and regattas. Then, I have my belief: if you are strong in sport, you are everywhere. So it will be a real undertaking to tear the trophy to the New Zealanders”.