BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Before the last America’s Cup, Italy’s sailing team had what helmsman Francesco Bruni called a “crazy” idea: run the boat with two skippers, each taking turns steering as the foiling yacht crisscrossed the race course.
While the other crews lost valuable time as their sole skipper scampered back and forth with each tack or jibe, Bruni and Jimmy Spithill stayed put, each manning their own helm on their side of the boat.
It turned out to be a stroke of genius.
The innovative setup helped Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team win the challengers’ series and advance to face Team Emirates New Zealand three years ago, when it lost to the defenders but not before a hard fight.
“It was a crazy idea back in the day, but we felt strongly (about it), and we keep it secret for quite a long time,” Bruni told The Associated Press. “And then it was too late for the other teams to react.”
The move was so successful that now all the boats, including that of the almighty Kiwis, have copied it at the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona.
“There’s no copyright on good solutions,” coach Philippe Presti said about the other teams following his Luna Rossa’s lead.
Luna Rossa is back in the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup for the challengers in a rematch of the 2021 final when the Italians beat INEOS Britannia. The first-to-seven series starts on Thursday. The winner will get a shot at dethroning New Zealand next month in the America’s Cup match.
Even though its rivals are also now going with a two-skipper scheme, Luna Rossa is counting on its experience edge thanks to this being the second campaign with Bruni and Spithill in sync.
“It’s something that’s pretty special. You know, we’ve had this partnership from the last campaign,” said Spithill, a two-time America’s Cup winner with Oracle Team USA in 2010 and 2013.
“The fact that you’re going through more of these high-pressure situations when you do things well, but more importantly, when you make mistakes, that’s actually a critical time," he added. "And we’ve built up a really good relationship.”
Bruni said that the genesis of the dual-helm idea was hatched about three years before the 2021 America's Cup in Auckland. Presti said that it came out of a long brainstorming and problem-solving process involving several minds.
The problem to solve was how to deal with the huge sails that come right down to the deck and cut off half the visibility of the skipper. As Bruni described it: “You need to think about a car that has a big blanket in the middle and you can't see one side.”
“It was not something that someone one day woke up (and said), ‘Oh, we’ve got to do that',” Presti said. “It was really a work in progress. And then all of a sudden we find ourselves lucky that Checco (Bruni) was a lefty and, Jimmy was right-handed.”
The relationship between the two helms varies on each team.
Ben Ainslie, the most successful sailor in Olympic history, is clearly the leader of Britannia, where co-helm Dylan Fletcher said he defers to his judgment. Two-time America's Cup winner Peter Burling also has the last word on the New Zealand boat.
On American Magic, ousted by Luna Rossa last round, former Olympic rivals Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison said each would be in charge when they were on the helm. But when Goodison was injured from a fall and had to be replaced by Lucas Calabrese, then the more experienced Slingsby said he needed to become more vocal.
Communication became key for success. The non-driving helm feeds information and paints a picture of the other side of the race to his partner via a microphone and earpiece.
And, as Bruni summed up his partnership with Spithill: “There is no finger pointing.”
The complementary characters of Spithill and Bruni also helped Luna Rossa, Presti said.
“The two are totally opposite in their character. Jimmy is pretty calm, really kind of the ice man, while Checco is volcanic and really alive, full of emotion,” Presti said. “That’s the beauty of this setup: you’ve got some different personality, different feedback, and huge respect.”
That difference was clear when they finished off American Magic. While Spithill kept his elation to a smile, Bruni shouted with joy over the team radio on crossing the finish line.
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