We spoke with Francesco Bruni co-skipper of the Italian Prada Luna Rossa team, to find out how the Italian team, finalist in the last America’s Cup in Auckland, is preparing.
Born in Palermo 50 years ago, Francesco Bruni has an enviable track record. He has participated in five editions of the Copa América, always with Luna Rossa except in Bermuda, where he joined the Swede Artemis when he was absent from the Italian team. He has three Olympic participations in classes as different as the Laser (Atlanta 1996), 49er (Sydney 2000) and Star (Athens 2004), and also has seven world championships, five Europeans and twenty Italian championships.
In the last Auckland Cup 2020, he combined the wheel of Luna Rossa with Jimmy Spithill, an unprecedented solution that other teams will probably copy in Barcelona 2024.
How are the training sessions going in Cagliari?
The truth is that good. Cagliari is a good place / spot and although in winter you cannot sail every day, but we have a good average number of navigable days. We are doing a good job testing different things, foils, rudders, sails, etc. We are making continuous small modifications that we test in the water to have a continuous development of the whole boat. It has been a very productive winter for us.
Of the mods tested, have you dropped many of them for good?
Of course we test them several days to be sure, some work better than others, but we always take a step forward. In this sense, the most notable setback was the breakage of the mast.
How did this unavoidable long pit stop affect you?
The boat was unable to sail for a long time and the test plan we had planned was delayed by two weeks. When these things happen, the important thing is to use this time to work more in another way, and that’s what we did. While the mast was being repaired, we carried out other work on the boat and thus tried not to waste all the time.
Have you evolved sailing With Jimmy (Spithill) sharing the simultaneous steering?
Sharing the helm, one on each tack, has always been good from the start. The most important thing that has changed now is that we have two guys who alternate and from time to time they also drive the boat. One is the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion and dominator of the Nacra 17 class Ruggero Tita, and the other, even younger, triple world champion of the Optimist class Marco Gradoni, who in all probability will be the skipper of our team in the Youth America’s Cup. It’s going perfectly for us because sometimes Jimmy or I can’t sail and having one of them replace one of us allows us not to lose days of sailing. We are very happy with them. In addition, it is very interesting to have other people contribute their point of view. Even if they are just starting out, their fresh opinions without conditioning or prejudice are very valuable, their contributions are truly very interesting.
In San Francisco, Bermuda and Auckland there were no waves, are you training a lot with waves thinking about the conditions of the regatta course in Barcelona?
I think the theme of the waves is going to be very important. We all know that Barcelona will have this different element. It’s not very frequent, but when we have waves in Cagliari we take the opportunity to train. In training for the other editions of the AC, when there were waves we didn’t sail, it didn’t make sense as it was a condition that wouldn’t exist in those regatta fields, but in Barcelona there could be. Now it is the opposite, you have to take advantage of the days with waves. Regarding the intensity of the wind, we also know that anything can happen in Barcelona, so we also sail in strong wind conditions. We must not rule out any possibility regarding the navigation conditions and we must prepare for everything.
Do things change a lot?
Of course, but not only regarding the navigation of the boat, but also for everything that surrounds a training session. The monitoring of the tenders and their observation is complicated. Sailing so fast without flying and jumping waves is not easy, it is a challenge for them.
There is a year and a half left for the start of the competition. Are you better or worse prepared now than you were eighteen months from the Auckland finals?
It’s hard to say. The truth is that now we all have the experience of the previous edition. All but the new Swiss and French teams. You can’t make a comparison, but it is true that our LEQ12 40-foot prototype is very important to us. In the last edition we only had a small 20 foot prototype, and the size was very different with the big boat. In addition, we also launch ship 1 on these dates, and now no one can do it. Personally I think that we are a solid team, with a good group and that we are working well.
Speaking of your LEQ12 prototype, what is its real use as a test bed for the future AC75?
We can test foils, rudders, sails, etc., while on the old big ship if we put one of those new parts to test it subtracts us from those limited by the rules for the new ship. At the moment it makes no sense to do so, and I doubt it won’t in the future either. That’s why it’s better to navigate our 40 feet and be able to try new ideas. As for mere navigation, it is not the same as sailing with the big boat due to its difference in size and size, but alternating one and the other seems to me a very good solution.
The possibility of cycling grinders changes quite a few things. Have you rehearsed it on the big ship?
The old big ship does not incorporate the system for cyclists, so they train in the gym. We still haven’t 100 percent decided whether grinders will work with their arms or legs. We are evaluating this option, we want to be sure of the choice. It is evident that with the legs you can get more watts of power. The differences vary depending on the type of effort required, reaching up to 20% additional power. On the contrary, the position can be inconvenient. When the stability is not good and the boat moves a lot, the jolts impair the work of the cyclists. You have to study it, try it and decide, as everything has pros and cons. Let no one think that the improvement is extraordinary, double or triple. The goal is to always have the best solutions, so just having a favorable balance of 5% is already important. With the sum of different small improvements, a considerable profit can be obtained.
What are your future plans in broad strokes?
Our plans depend a lot on the dates that are decided for the regattas with the AC40s. At the moment (March 1) we only know about some options that the three planned regattas will be in Barcelona, Italy and France, there is talk, but there is nothing official. We are assessing when to move to Barcelona, we will do it with enough time to get used to everything, but we still do not know if it will be two, five or ten months in advance. The date when the new big ship will be ready is also important for the relocation of the team. There are many variables, and the first is the dates of the previous regattas.
Do you plan to sail at the end of summer in Barcelona?
Yes, it’s one of the things we’re seriously considering. We could do it with the AC40 that we will have in April or maybe with the big old boat. Personally, I would really like to be able to do it in the same period of dates as the 2024 competition to get to know the Barcelona regatta course and start to get used to it. It seems to me that it is very likely that we will do so.
Is weight the most important ship rule change?
Of course also the larger size of the foils. Saving almost a ton of weight means many changes, the most visible being the ability to fly in less wind than before. The larger size of the foils is also important and will also help to better support the boat in light winds. One of the goals of the new rule was to make these boats capable of flying in light wind, and both changes will make that easier.
And will the greater ease of foiling change things in the tactics of the starts?
Hmm, I don’t think so. Silence…
Do you have plans for other regattas other than the Luna Rossa program (TP52, maxis,…)?
Until this AC is over I want to be as focused as possible on our team, my decision is to keep my mind fully focused on this America’s Cup. I will not compete in the 52 SuperSeries because the TP52 circuit requires a lot of time and commitment. In maxis it is different, maybe I can do some of the Porto Cervo regattas, but it would be if two or three weeks before I see that I have the dates clear and an opportunity arises, but I am not going to schedule anything more in advance, it will be a decision of the last moment (last minute).
Not in Moth either?
It is a boat that I love, but I am putting my plans aside until after October 2024. There will be two very interesting championships that I would like to do, a world championship in New Zealand at the end of the year and in 2025 the world championship will be in Italy, on Lake Garda. The boat is fascinating and the number one school for foiling. She also has very technical and challenging development possibilities. The class gift is very simple with just ten lines of text and few restrictions, leaving many fields open to develop concepts. Except for the beam length and the maximum sail area sail area, the rest is almost free. Even in the sail you have to consider if the maximum size is the most convenient or not. Each season you can use two foils and two rudders, but to decide you can draw several and then choose the pair. That already gives you an idea of the many options if you can prepare and develop your ship well with enough resources. Being a small boat, everything is more affordable. Every year, in the world championships, the boat sails half a knot faster, it’s impressive. I remember when I started about seven years ago, now you sail upwind at 20 knots or more speed and at first it was only 15 knots.
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