6 February 2000

In one of closest series the America’s Cup has ever seen, Prada Challenge came back from 4-3 down to beat AmericaOne in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, meaning that for the first time in the event's 149-year history, no US boat would be competing in the America’s Cup Match.

Patrizio BERTELLI (ITA), the man behind the business-side of the fashion empire Prada, launched Prada Challenge in 1997. For a man used to success the aim was straightforward – victory!

Francisco DE ANGELIS (ITA) skippered the Italian team through to the Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup. There they would meet the AmericaOne challenger from the St Francis Yacht Club, led, in an interesting twist of fate, by Paul CAYARD (USA), the man who had skipper Italy’s previous Louis Vuitton Cup winner, Il Moro di Venezia in 1992.

The America’s Cup is often called the Formula 1 of sailing and one of the resemblances is that much of the racing can be very spread out, with the competing athletes unable to make up for differences in design. With very few exceptions through the event’s long history the fastest boat wins – and usually by a distance. But with two very closely matched boats, racing that saw the lead chop and change regularly, and both teams coming back from significant deficits, the final of the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup in Auckland, New Zealand broke the mould.

The first race of the finals offered a taste of what was to come. CAYARD was able to put a penalty on DE ANGELIS in the pre-start, but the Italians benefited from a windshift to give them the lead at the first mark. With both boats very evenly matched, racing around the course was close, but ITA 45 was able to eke out enough of a lead to offload their penalty and still lead at the final mark. The Americans gained on the final leg, closing to within half a boatlength, but could not get ahead and Prada Challenge won by 24 seconds to go 1-0 up.

In light winds for race 2, AmericaOne’s John KOSTECKI (USA) won the tactical battle with Prada’s Torben GRAEL (BRA) to level the series at 1-1. A mast problem on USA 61 cost them race 3, and after swapping the boat’s rig overnight, the Americas were soon 3-1 down. In one of the most exciting races of the series, the Americans narrowly won the start and held a slight advantage through the race. A tacking duel just a few hundred metres from the finish resulted in a penalty on USA 61 and a 9-second win for the Italians.

From 3-1 down, AmericaOne stormed back, winning the next three races to put themselves within touching distance of victory. A perfect dummy gybe put an end to the Italian challenge in race 5, whilst another close finish saw the Americans square things up with a win in race 6. Another winfor USA 61, this time by 1 minute and 6 seconds, put the Americans in pole position, just one race away from victory.

With the pressure having shifted onto the Italian team, the pre-start in race 8 was tightly fought but ended with USA 61 and ITA 45 at different end of the line. Prada Challenge held the advantage at the top mark and although AmericaOne fought back strong, the Italians were able to put a penalty on their rivals to square things up at 4-4 and send the match into a ninth-race decider.

DE ANGELIS and CAYARD squared up after eight fantastic races, knowing there was little to choose between the two boats and victory would go to whoever could hold their nerve. BERTELLI’s Italian team were competing in their first Cup, whilst AmericaOne were battling to maintain the USA’s record of appearing in every single America’s Cup Match since the event’s beginnings in 1851.

With the pressure at maximum it was DE ANGELIS and GRAEL that came up with the goods. After benefiting from a wind shift on the first beat, they sailing a near-perfect race to lead the America’s on every leg and win by 49 seconds. BERTELLI and Italy had triumphed and for the first time the America’s Cup would be contested without an American challenge.

Where Are They Now

The Italian challenge for the 30th America’s Cup was brought to a shift and emphatic end by the Kiwi Defenders, with Sir Peter BLAKE’s (NZL) Team New Zealand thrashing Prada Challenge 5-0. Since then BERTELLI’s teams have lined up for both the 31st and 32nd America’s Cups. They lost out to the American OneWorld challenge in the Semi Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2002, but in 2007 line up again in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, this time against Emirates Team New Zealand.

ISAF In 2000

At the 2000 ISAF Annual Conference, the Yngling was chosen and match racing dropped from the 2004 Olympic Sailing Competition, whilst the ISAF Sailor Classification Code was launched.